Ticks are exter­nal par­a­sites that feed on your pet’s blood and are capa­ble of trans­mit­ting dan­ger­ous dis­eases. Tick bites and tick-borne dis­eases can be dif­fi­cult to detect in ani­mals, and symp­toms of tick-borne dis­eases may not appear for sev­en to 21 days or longer after a tick bite. 

“Dogs in par­tic­u­lar are sus­cep­ti­ble to tick bites and tick­borne dis­eases. Vac­cines are not avail­able for most of the tick­borne dis­eases that dogs get and hence, pre­ven­tion is the best med­i­cine,” said Les­ley Rogers, Exec­u­tive Direc­tor, New Brunswick SPCA.

“Pet own­ers should ensure the ticks are removed as soon as pos­si­ble to reduce the chance of dis­ease trans­mis­sion. Tra­di­tion­al meth­ods like burn­ing the tick out or attempt­ing to suf­fo­cate it with oil should nev­er be used,” Rogers said.

Lyme dis­ease is spread by the bite of the black-legged tick or deer tick to both humans and dogs. These ticks are often found in and near areas with trees, shrubs, tall grass, and piles of leaves. Watch your pet close­ly for changes in behav­iour or appetite. Signs that your dog has Lyme dis­ease can be fever, lame­ness, lethar­gy, bruis­ing, or bleed­ing. Your vet­eri­nar­i­an can also do a blood test to deter­mine if your pet has been exposed to Lyme disease. 

Ways to pro­tect your pet from ticks:

• Check your pet for ticks after being out­doors. Ticks often attach to the head, neck, and ears of cats and dogs.
• Care­ful­ly remove attached ticks imme­di­ate­ly with clean fine-point tweez­ers and wash the bite area with soap and water, or alco­hol-based sanitizer.
• Ask your vet­eri­nar­i­an to con­duct a tick check at each exam.
• Talk to your vet­eri­nar­i­an about tick-pre­ven­tion prod­ucts for pets.
• Reduce tick habi­tat in your yard.

About New Brunswick SPCA

Found­ed in 1881, New Brunswick SPCA (NBSC­PA) is the only province-wide orga­ni­za­tion man­dat­ed to enforce ani­mal pro­tec­tion laws. A ded­i­cat­ed team of 15 Ani­mal Pro­tec­tion Offi­cers is vest­ed with the author­i­ty under the SPCA Act of New Brunswick to inves­ti­gate and, if nec­es­sary, lay charges, seize ani­mals, or rec­om­mend court orders to per­sons sus­pect­ed of abuse and cru­el­ty to animals. 

The NBSP­CA is a reg­is­tered char­i­ty that exists to pro­vide province-wide lead­er­ship in the humane treat­ment of ani­mals. We enforce rel­e­vant leg­is­la­tion, ensure shel­ter for neglect­ed or abused domes­ti­cat­ed ani­mals and agri­cul­tur­al ani­mals, and pro­vide pub­lic edu­ca­tion and advo­ca­cy to empow­er New Brunswick­ers to help ani­mals live long and healthy lives. 

To learn more vis­it nbsp​ca​.ca