The ticks are out and feeding so it is important to make sure your pet is protected. With the arrival of the warmer weather overwintered tick are looking for their next meal. Ticks are more commonly found on dogs than cats, usually attaching as the pet runs through long grass where they are waiting. Ticks will firmly attach to warm blooded animals to get a blood meal. Ticks can cause local irritation and inflammation but more of a concern is that some ticks can transmit potentially life threatening blood borne diseases including Lymes disease, and in the last year Babesia (a disease not previously seen in UK dogs).
There are numerous tick preventions available and we are happy to discuss which is most suitable for your pet. Even when using antiparasitic protection it is advisable to regularly check your pet for ticks, especially if you live in or have visited an area known to have a high tick incidence. Manual removal of ticks to minimise feeding time can help prevent transmission of tick borne disease. Simple tools like the Tom o tick remover can be used to effectively remove ticks, as shown in this short video clip, it is important to ensure that the whole tick is removed, incomplete removal (typically leaving the mouth parts behind) can result in a painful foreign body reaction.
Please look out for our next newsletter for more information and advice regarding tick borne diseases.