Ticked Off

Sunday, barring any emergencies, is generally my domestic chore day and catch up day sometimes for veterinary medicine reading, and not often enough time for R & R.  Today I did read a bit from one of my occupational magazines.  A short advertising piece caught my eye not because of it's promotional efforts for me to buy their product for my clients, but because of their short and sweet information about ticks and their survival.  In our area, rural, we generally see our worst tick infestations in the spring and in the fall.  Just this week we have started seeing ticks on our patients again.  I thought this excerpt worth copying and pasting.

Ticks are a growing threat.  Due to a number of factors, including changes in pesticide use, explosions in wildlife populations and suburban development, America's tick population is on the rise.  Tick species are now overlapping geographically and carrying new diseases into new areas.

Ticks can transmit serious diseases.  Once a tick attaches to a host, it can transmit bacteria that cause diseases like Lyme disease, ehrlichiosis, canine anaplasmosis and more.  Ticks can spread diseases to dogs and their owners.

All pets need protection from fleas and ticks.  An adult female flea can lay over 2,000 eggs in a 21-day lifespan.  A female tick can lay over 100,000 egges in a single reproductive burst.  Both can inflict torment on their hosts and their host's households.

My advise is year round protection for your pets with a trusted insecticide recommended for your pet's lifestyle by your veterinarian.

Amen.