Vet clinics are warning pet owners to be vigilant as warmer weather brings in an increasing number of tick paralysis cases to the ACT.
Inner South Veterinary Centre director Michelle Keatley, who also works at Canberra Vet Emergency Service, said the emergency service has been seeing three to four cases a week recently, with at least three patients dying from tick paralysis.
Dr Keatley said a number of pets have also needed to go on life support or a ventilator.
Vets have said that pets who travel to the coast or have come in contract with those who have travelled to the area face the biggest risk of contracting the deadly parasites, with ticks sometimes "hitchhiking" on animals or luggage to the ACT.
Canberra's climate has been thought to be a deterrent for ticks but some are concerned that the mites may also be resident in parts of the ACT.
"Five years ago, we would have wholeheartedly just recommended tick paralysis prevention or tick medication only if you were going to the coast or to Sydney, whereas now we are seeing more cases of tick paralysis where the patient hasn't left Canberra," Dr Keatley said, adding that she now recommended year-round tick prevention.
"So we are seeing an increase in cases where there's no direct link to the coast, which is certainly very scary."
Ticks latch onto an animal and feed on their fluids while releasing a toxin that can cause paralysis, respiratory failure and death.
The Village Vet director Kimberly Goodwin said animals who have contracted ticks may show symptoms such as vomiting, diarrhoea, lethargy and wobbliness.
"[They can] have trouble eating and swallowing. One of the signs is change of bark ... because it affects their muscles," she said.
She said her clinic had treated about five cases this year.
"It's a bad tick season, so we're seeing a lot of problems already," she said.
Vets are now urging pet owners to put their furry family members on tick prevention, check them daily for the mites and bring them to the vet if there are signs they have contracted ticks.
Vets and pet services were now also looking to identify trends around paralysis ticks in the ACT, including whether case numbers were growing annually.
Australian Veterinary Association ACT division president Michael Hayward said it was unclear whether case numbers were rising beyond levels seen in previous years due a lack of data.
Dr Hayward said the association has recently launched a survey, asking clinics to provide data on every case they come across to get a better understanding of the trends.
"We hope that all of the veterinary practices will contribute ... so we can start to accumulate how many cases per month ... where did they go before they got the tick," he said. "The aim is to keep that going over years so that we see ... what the trends are."
Pet Ambulance Services has also launched a survey for pet owners in an effort to identify whether there were paralysis tick "hot spots" in the ACT or surrounds.
Dr Hayward said during his 40 years of working in the ACT he has only seen a small number of cases that haven't been linked to the coast but he said other vets may see different trends. "That's why we're trying to get the data, to find out what is the risk to that cat or dog who never leaves Canberra," he said.
