Our furry friends love being outside, and who can blame them? But frolicking in open fields, running through wooded areas, and even playing in our own backyards means our pets are more susceptible to coming into contact with disease-carrying ticks.
Below are some of the pet prevention tips in our toolkit.
Quick Tips
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Avoid areas where ticks may thrive, including areas of overgrowth such as woodlands, fields, and meadows. Keep your pet on a leash if possible to avoid these areas.
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Limit the amount of brush and high grass on your property by raking and mowing regularly.
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Regularly use flea and tick preventatives for your pet. Contrary to popular belief, ticks thrive in all seasons. Using preventatives such as vaccinations or medications in the form of pills, topicals, or collars may help mitigate risk of infection.
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Check your pets regularly, especially if they spend extended periods of time outdoors. Ticks like damp, dark places, so be especially vigilant and check between your pets' toes, around the groin, beneath collars, and in and around the ears. Checking for horses? Don't forget the tail and the base of the mane.
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Ask your veterinarian to conduct a tick check at each exam and have your pet tested as part of their annual check-up routine.
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Found a tick on your pet? Remove it swiftly using the steps below.
Did You Know?
Using proper prevention techniques on your pets can limit human exposure to Lyme disease.
Found an embedded tick? Remove it safely and limit your risk of infection by following these steps:
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Grasp the mouth of the tick or as close to the skin as possible with fine-point tweezers or a tick removal tool.
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Pull straight out with steady, even pressure.
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DO NOT set a match to the tick, squeeze the tick, or try to smother the tick in petroleum jelly or oil. This will make the tick regurgitate, increasing the risk of infection.
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Place the tick in a plastic bag with a damp cotton ball or paper towel and send it to one of the many available labs for testing.
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See your physician immediately for testing and a preventative prescription of antibiotic, and stay alert for symptoms.
Did You Know?
Dogs may not show symptoms until weeks or months after the initial infection.