Oscar the West Highland White Terrier was 10-years-old when was bit by a paralysis tick at the end of August.
His owners, Lauren and Josh Stevens, were overseas when their sitter let them know the dog was wobbly on his legs and vomiting.
He was rushed to a vet in Sydney's eastern suburbs, who referred him for scans after not finding the source of the issue.
But after Oscar's health worsened, a second vet later found ticks on his eyelid and neck.
Oscar is being remembered as an “amazing” dog with a “quirky personality”. (Supplied)
Despite medical intervention, he ended up struggling to breathe on his own or walk, and died soon after.
“It's been hard, he was such a big art of our life, and it's been a real adjustment not having him there,” Ms Stevens said.
“He was such an amazing dog, he just had such a quirky personality and he was like my first born.
“You sort of feel like you've lost … a piece of yourself.”
Rapid weather changes spiking tick numbers
A group of veterinarian clinics in Sydney has warned that this year's tick season is expected to be one of the worst yet.
Sydney Animal Hospitals said it was receiving daily reports of cats and dogs in critical condition across the city, with numerous severe cases of the potentially fatal condition tick paralysis.
At its Kellyville branch earlier this month, staff found seven paralysis ticks on a single stray cat, which later died.
A vet in Kellyville, in the Hills district of Sydney, pulled seven ticks from a stray cat this month. (Supplied: Sydney Animal Hospitals)
Tick season mainly takes place in spring and early summer, but in some areas, ticks are active throughout the year.
Veterinarian Angela Phillips, who treats animals in the city's inner west, said 2024 was of concern due to unstable weather, particularly in bushy areas like the Northern Beaches.
“Sydney is becoming more tropical with the current weather patterns — so really hot and dry [conditions] kills the ticks, and pouring rain, if its all the time, kills the ticks,” Dr Phillips said.
“But when you get that wet, dry, wet, dry, high humidity, you have a much greater number of ticks.”
Angela Phillips said prevention was vital to avoid any tick health scares for your pet. (ABC News: Jake Grant)
Of most concern are paralysis ticks, which she said can “suck up to 100 times their body weight in blood”, and destabilise its host with its salivary toxins.
Even when treated by a vet, pets can still end up on a respirator, and in extreme cases, tick bites can lead to death.
On the eastern coast of Australia, the paralysis tick has a mortality rate of up to 10 per cent in dogs, irrespective of treatment.
Prevention routine, measures vital
Dr Phillips said a range of treatments existed to protect pets from ticks on a monthly, quarterly or as of recently, an annual dose.
There are “lots of choices” from vaccination to oral chews and topical solutions, but Dr Phillips said to speak to your local vet to find the best option.
Often cases happen when people forget, or assume another household member had given a pet its tick medication, she said.
Even with treatment, a paralysis tick can cause dog death in 10 per cent of cases in eastern Australia. (ABC News: Jake Grant)
But even with the high efficacy rate of products on the market, there is still a chance ticks can latch themselves on.
For Oscar's family, the tick treatment and time in ICU racked up to $14,000, that pet insurance only covered less than 10 per cent of.
The ventilation alone was more than $2,000 for every 12 hours.
A friend of the family started a fundraiser on GoFundMe to help them with the financial toll.
Monthly, quarterly and yearly tick prevention measures can be administered to cats and dogs. (ABC News: Jake Grant)
“I think people just aren't aware of how much it can cost,” Ms Stevens said of the vet bills.
Dr Phillips urged households that “nothing beats” manually checking a dog for ticks on a regular basis, particularly from the elbows forward.
Ms Stevens said the timing was “bad luck” as her family was overseas when Oscar was bitten.
If an owner observes any symptoms, or finds a bump, they should bring the pet in to a vet as home removal can risk not fully removing a tick's body.
Ms Stevens agreed, saying keeping a dog's coat short during summer can help owners better notice any potential hidden ticks.
“You need to be checking their fur, getting in their regularly and having a look,” she said.
“It's so hard because I feel like if I was there, I would have picked up on [the ticks] myself because I would always be running my hands through his fur and wiping goop out of his eyes.
“It's just all really bad luck”.
