Animal Health Matters: Take time to keep ticks off your pets this spring

In veterinary practice, I had a front seat to the variety of people’s reactions to creepy crawly things I’d find on their pets.

Ticks were a prime example. While some veteran animal caretakers would hardly bat an eye at fat bloated ticks covering their dog, others would become apoplectic at the site of a single insect crawling through the fur.

Personally, I’ve never been freaked out by ticks. Growing up on a farm, I was used to finding ticks on our dogs – and not infrequently on myself, for that matter. I regarded those creepy looking insects as simple nuisances.

Once in vet school, however, I learned of the problems ticks pose for us and our animals.

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Photo Credit: Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies