People, dogs deal with ticks as warm up continues

The sun is shining and the flowers are blooming during the early parts of spring in Saskatchewan and that means one thing is on the way – tick season.

People taking advantage of walking their dogs may have already noticed the tiny bloodsuckers latching on to their furry friends.

While it might seem like it’s too early in the year to be dealing with ticks, Dr. Lesley Sawa, a vet at the Animal Clinic of Regina, said that it’s right on schedule.

“In the last few years, it usually used to just be May that the ticks started showing up but now we’re starting to see them in April,” Sawa told the 980 CJME Greg Morgan Morning show.

She said over the past few years a product called Fluralaner, a pill dogs can take, has proven to be very successful in fending off ticks. Like most other pills, there can be side effects but Sawa said they are pretty rare.

Keeping your dog out of the tall grass is something she recommends for dog owners.

“We’ve certainly seen some animals that come in that are covered in ticks and we have to take them off, but in general when you’re using these products you get one or two ticks and that would be it.”

While Lyme disease is a concern, Sawa said it’s pretty rare for the tick that carries the disease, the deer tick, to be found in Saskatchewan.

“But that doesn’t mean that a bird flying over couldn’t drop one or sometimes near the border you might get closer to having ticks that carry that Lyme disease but here in Saskatchewan it’s extremely rare.”

But what to do if you find a tick on your pet?

“Certainly don’t be doing stuff like putting on alcohol or Vaseline. The best way to do is just to grab it right at the skin and pull it out.”