The Importance of Tick Prevention

This is a bad year for ticks (or a good year from the tick's point of view).

We are seeing cases of lyme disease, anaplasma, and erlichia. Signs are stiffness, limping, lethargy, fever, swollen lymph nodes or some combo of these. Ticks carrying these diseases are in the Minneapolis area, not just "Up North."

At Westgate Pet Clinic, we recommend that all dogs be vaccinated for Lyme's Disease. There is no vaccine for the other tick borne diseases, so it's important to also use tick protection, like Frontline or Certifect, monthly. Dogs that don't have a flea/tick product put on them can bring ticks into the house, and then those ticks can crawl off the dog and bite the people of the house.

Remember to use tick protection through November. Ticks will still be out as long as the temperature is above 50 degrees.