Hooray! The sun is shining, and the winter appears to finally be behind us.
Many of us are taking our four legged friends walking in the hills, but the rising temperatures can only mean one thing: Its tick season! Ticks can spread a whole raft of diseases, but in our part the the world, the most important of these is Lyme’s disease.
Ticks are typically found anywhere there are animals to spread them about, especially deer.
What Can I Do About It?
I like to go to Lochore Meadows, because it’s near to where I live, but there are lots of ticks there. Wherever you like to go, If you’re off walking in the country, the first thing to do is to protect yourself. Simple measures like tucking your trousers into your socks or boots will go a long way to preventing tick attachment. Using a tick repellent containing DEET on any exposed skin will also help.
For our dogs we have a number of great products to kill ticks, my current favourite being a really palatable tablet that kills all the common tick species found in our area, as well as fleas and mites.
Don’t Forget Cats.
We commonly have cats presented to us to have ticks removed. Cats like to explore rabbit burrows, and as well as picking up rabbit fleas there, will get ticks as well. The range of anti-tick treatments that we have for cats is much more limited, but last year a new product was launched with much longer lasting and better efficacy against the ticks that we see in this area.
So enjoy the sunshine, but take care!