Talking Tails - 5/29/18

Initially, we thought that this did not concern us, since we don’t live in the country and we do not take walks through wooded areas. On the contrary, we learned that the number of tick-reported cases for urban dogs is rising. We were particularly alarmed at the diseases that a tick can transmit, including the most commonly known one, Lyme disease. For those of you who thought this was a human disease only, you were wrong!

Your human should spot check you for ticks after a walk or any time outdoors. Be sure they check some of the less obvious places, such as inside your ears, between your toes, under your tail, around your eyelids, under your collar, and in your genital region – that one is just not cool, Mr. Tick! We cannot stress the importance of being vigilant on checking for ticks because the longer they remain on your body, the greater the risk of disease transmittal.

The risks associated with tick infestation can be reduced with preventive measures, such as medications and tick collars. A monthly preventative treatment kills ticks that are already on your body and repels new ones. Every month our parents give us a preventative, and after hearing about ticks we are so glad they do! Don’t have your human get over anxious, however, and give you more than one monthly treatment. The chemicals are strong and increasing the dosage could make you sick.

Buster had a tick on his nose a few summers ago. Fortunately, our Mom noticed it right away, and removed it before it embedded. He had been on a walk along the river, but the walking path was not heavily wooded. So, take that as an alert!!

Enjoy the summer, take your tick preventative, exercise outside, but stay on the alert for those nasty ticks.

Talk to you soon!

Buster and Joey