By Jennifer Herne, LVT

If you haven't yet had any ticks on your pet this year, you are lucky. This is a busy time of the year for ticks. If you are seeing ticks you should start using a topical preventative on your pet as soon as possible. Ticks pose a major health risk for your pet. Ticks play an integral role in the transmission of many diseases. I think the most common disease we think of in our area is Lyme disease. But there are many other diseases spread by ticks, depending on where you live. Some of them include Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, Babesiosis, and Ehrlichiosis, all of these are diseases that ticks carry and can be passed to humans and animals.

The moral of this story is prevention, for you and your pets. Your lawn is a source of ticks, gardens, wooded areas, overgrown brush, tall grasses, wood piles, and leaf litter. Well, these places are everywhere you look, so yes, you guessed it; ticks are everywhere.

You can buy a tick preventive for your pets at your local veterinarian. You should only trust products that are sold by veterinary establishments. Many of those over the counter products are ineffective and a waste of money. Cheaper doesn't always mean better.

If you have a tick on you or your pet, you should follow proper tick removal protocol as issued by your local public health office. Checking yourself and your pets for ticks and prompt removal of ticks are essential for reducing the risk of transmission. You should never try to burn a tick off, use petroleum jelly to suffocate the tick or crush the tick body. These methods are not recommended and can help transmit diseases to you and your pet! Using a tick key or tick removal tool should help you with removing the tick properly. Tweezers are very difficult to use, you must be sure to remove the head of the tick, not just the body. The mouth part is what transmits the disease.

So, while this information is scary, with proper knowledge and prevention tips, you and your pet can still go into the woods and explore!