Taking the dog down the coast for Christmas? Read this before you pack the car.

Vets in Canberra and inland Victoria see it every summer: a dog that has never met a paralysis tick, a lovely week at the coast, and then trouble a few nights after getting home. Here's why it happens, and the kit coast locals pack.

Picture the fourth night after you get home.

The car's unpacked. The towels are in the wash. It was a lovely week down the coast: the beach every morning, the grandkids, the dog flat out on the end of their bed every night.

Then, just before bed, her bark comes out hoarse. She gags, like something's caught in her throat. When she gets up, her back legs don't quite come with her.

At the emergency vet, one of the first questions won't be about what she ate. It will be whether she's been down the coast lately.

Because this is how paralysis ticks so often work for dogs from Canberra, Victoria and Adelaide: the tick is picked up at the coast, and the emergency happens at home.

…then the next seven minutes are worth more than anything else you'll pack.

The "homecoming gap": why the trouble starts after the holiday

A paralysis tick doesn't make a dog sick straight away. It has to attach and feed, and its toxin builds as its salivary glands mature. The Australian Paralysis Tick Advisory Panel says signs usually appear from 72 hours after attachment. In the largest Australian study of dog cases, they were usually not seen before the fourth day 1 4. In cooler weather it can take longer 5.

That's the homecoming gap. A tick from the last beach walk shows itself after you've driven home, in a town where the local vet might see a case once every year or two.

What vets inland are saying

• Theo, Canberra. A camping trip to Mystery Bay on the South Coast. He was admitted a few days after the family got home, went downhill again two days after his first discharge, and spent seven days on a ventilator. The bill came to around $20,000 11.
• Seven in a hundred. In the largest Australian study of dog cases, 6.9% of dogs treated for tick paralysis died 4.

"She'll be right, she's on her chew."

That's what most of us say. And keep the chew: a good, current tick product from your vet is the backbone of protection. A South Coast vet's advice to visitors is to make sure it's "one of the better products and not the really old-school ones" 8.

But here's the part nobody explains at the counter. A chew works after the bite, not before it. It sits in your dog's blood, and a tick has to attach and start feeding before it meets the drug 12. Bravecto's label, for example, states ">95% efficacy against paralysis ticks within 72 hours after tick infestation" 13.

The same label says two more things: search your dog every day, and the risk of tick paralysis "cannot be entirely eliminated" 13. Every Australian paralysis tick label we checked asks for that daily search.

And the weak spot is usually a gap. When Gold Coast emergency vets saw a run of cases this August, many were pets whose prevention had lapsed by just a few days 10. On holiday, with a different routine and a different fridge, that's easy to miss.

Where the ticks are while you're there

Warm, wet weather brings more ticks. Vets from the Gold Coast to Cooma have seen cases early and outside the usual months this year 7 10.

The holiday tick kit coast locals pack

People who've lived with paralysis ticks for decades don't rely on one thing. They stack layers, so that when one slips, the next one catches it.

1. The vet's plan, two weeks out. Ask your vet what suits your dog and start it early enough to be working when you arrive. Set a reminder so no dose lapses while you're away.
2. A tick hook in the glovebox, and one in your pocket. Take a tick off straight away, and don't dab it with anything first 5.
3. The nightly check, collar off. Head first: "come straight round the head, behind the ears, under the chin and on the neck" 6. Then chest, armpits, between the toes and under the tail.
4. Keep checking for a week after you're home. "It is important to continue daily searches of your pet while away and for at least one week after your return." 14
5. A first layer on the collar. The one most of us forget. It sits right where the check starts, for the whole trip, there and back.

The first layer: the dogcare pendant

It's a small, soft green clip that slides onto your dog's collar or harness. Inside a sealed capsule are six plant oils: peppermint, citronella, eucalyptus, clove, cedarwood and chamomile.

They release slowly and give off a light scent right at the head and neck, where most dogs' paralysis ticks turn up and where your nightly check starts. In laboratory tests, citronella and clove oil repelled ticks about as strongly as DEET 17.

The chew deals with a tick after the bite. The pendant is there before it.

What owners in Germany, Austria and Switzerland say

Sandra M.★★★★★

"My dog got ticks every single year. Since the pendant, not one."

Monika W.★★★★★

"I was sceptical at first, but wow. My dog's back to relaxed walks in the forest without me checking her for hours afterwards."

Reviews translated from German. dogcare is the Australian edition of a pendant sold in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

3 questions everyone asks

What one tick night costs

Claims data from PetSure 3.

Picture the trip home this time

Christmas morning, the grandkids on the floor with the dog, and nobody watching her back legs.

Evenings on the deck: collar off, two minutes, and the tick check is really just a cuddle.

And the fourth night after you get home is just another night.

Before you pack the car

Free tracked shipping takes 3 to 6 business days. To be safe, have it on the collar before the last day of school:

Free tracked shipping: order today and it's at your door in 3 to 6 business days.

The chew is the last line. Make the collar the first.

Questions before you go