Tickle, fleas thrive in southern Queensland

In southern Queensland, ticks and fleas are thriving as a result of perfect conditions, with vets and pet groomers reporting an increase in the number of animals riddled with the parasites.

Farms, homes and towns are just beginning to dry out after months of wet conditions and more rain is on the way this week.

Gatton groomer Emily Spring said that she had been run off her feet with dogs needing winter grooms, and about half of them had been riddled with fleas.

The average dog is about eight to ten dogs a day and about half of them are coming in with fleas, Ms Spring said.

It's because the grass is long and it's spreading easier because it's been very wet. Ms Spring said she had seen dogs come in with serious skin problems.

She said that she's seen large rashes and dogs that rip themselves apart trying to get rid of the, or just get to the, itch.

It really affects their day to day. Toowoomba veterinarian Dr Dave Hall said he had seen an increase in the number of dogs being brought in for treatment for fleas and ticks.

He said that any time we have increased moisture, there's movement of animals that carry ticks and our domestic animals that aren't resistant to toxins.

You have otherwise well animals that can't walk and have trouble breathing, so it's pretty confronting. They get a false sense of security and are a bit late on the next treatment and then they get into trouble. Dr Hall said not that long ago animals with severe flea infestations had to be euthanased but that was no longer necessary due to improvements in detection technology.

He said that the fleas were so bad even 10 years ago when some of these longer-lasting products came on the market.

How do I protect my pet?

Emergency vet Mark Haworth said the best defence against a paralysis tick was early detection.

Lifesaving measures can be quite intensive and require significant expense when it becomes advanced, so it becomes hard to figure out what is the cost of life-saving measures, said Dr Haworth.

If your animal has tickle, the best thing to do is to identify it as early as possible and get treatment or even better, use preventative methods. Rural residents are the most at risk when it comes to paralysis.

Dr Hall said every year in south-east Queensland children turned up at emergency departments with ticks.

There have been cases of ticks in toddlers and children, but they don't pick up on the irritation as quickly and can burrow in their skin, he said.

Fleas can cause irritation and can go undetected in your carpet for almost six months.

There are good long-lasting products that you can use, which are worth paying extra for.