Ticks are a growing concern in our area, along with many other areas our clients and patients travel to. Some of these ticks can carry and transmit diseases. Currently the most prevalent issue in our area is Lyme disease spread by the blacklegged tick, aka the deer tick – Ixodes scapularlis.
If you find a tick on your dog – please bring them into us and we will remove the tick for you. It is important to ensure you remove all of the tick, including its mouth parts to avoid creating an abscess in your pet.
After the tick is removed from your pet we can help to identify the species and whether or not your pet may have been at risk for transmission of diseases. In order for transmission to occur – the tick had to be attached and engorged (have your pets blood in it); and as mentioned, certain species of ticks are associated with specific diseases.
If there is risk of disease transmission, we will discuss testing options – either sending the tick out for testing, or testing for your pet in 4-6 weeks. The delay in testing your pet is because we have to wait to see if antibodies are created, secondary to exposure.
Finally, if your pet has been bitten by a tick, it is clearly going into areas of risk and can benefit from a tick preventative product. We have several very effective products to choose from based on your pets lifestyle and can guide you as to which will be best for you and your pet. Ticks can become active anytime over 2o Celsius, and thus we are recommending that cats and dogs that are active outside be on a preventative product between Mid-March/April through to November.