Even though the weather hasn’t been cooperating with the calendar too much this year, spring has arrived. Spring means many things to many people but to pet owners it also signals the arrival of ‘tick’ season. A large percentage of South Bostonians are proud and happy pet owners and love them like family and want to protect them from diseases that ticks can bring; including but not limited to Lyme. Below are some important tips from a veterinarian who is an expert in the field and has shared with South Boston Today a guide to the best ways to protect our canine and feline companions. South Boston Today would like to thank IDEXX Laboratories in Westbrook, Maine for putting together this very important information that can be used as a helpful list to assist in maintaining the health and safety of our animal companions during this upcoming warm season.
What’s the issue?
- Tick encounters are increasingly hard to avoid and ticks are responsible for spreading a wide range of diseases throughout the US.
- A single tick can transmit multiple infectious agents that can cause serious illness.
- And, because dogscan’t tell you how they feel and may not always show clinical signs, it can be challenging to understand the true harm of any given infection to a pet’s health.
- For these reasons (and more!), it is so important for all dogs to be screened annually by your veterinarian for exposure to tick-borne diseases.
Why should I ask my veterinarian to test my dog if I haven’t found any ticks?
- Just because your dog looks healthy doesn’t mean that they are. It is possible that a pet could be fighting infection and not showing any signs of disease.
- To get that information, your veterinarian can screen your dog using tests like the IDEXX SNAP® 4Dx® Plus Test, which is a comprehensive pet-side test for tick- and mosquito-transmitted infections.
- Running a comprehensive test once a year is important to monitor your pet’s health, as recommended by the Companion Animal Parasite Council, an independent group of leading parasitologists.
If my dog seems fine, does he need testing?
- New data shows that dogs with Ehrlichia antibodies in E. canis-endemic areas have a 300% increased risk of kidney disease. Dogs with Lyme antibodies in Lyme-endemic areas have a 43% increased risk of kidney disease. This means that to keep our dogs healthy, we need to know if they’ve been exposed.
- A positive SNAP result (a blue dot on the test) indicating exposure to these ticks can be quickly and easily followed up with routine bloodwork and urinalysis to determine if there is hidden (or underlying) tick-borne disease. Exposure is important to detect.
- Once there is a positive result for Ehrlichia/Lyme, your veterinarian can run the IDEXX SDMA® Test annually to monitor kidney function and identify any potential disease earlier and keep dogs healthier.
What can I do to protect my pet?
- Monthly prevention and annual testing are integral elements to keeping your dog healthy! Check your pet for ticks every time they go outside, use a monthly preventative, and test annually.
- Remember: negative results are the goal. A negative test result for exposure to infected ticks indicates preventive measures are working, which is great news for you and your pet.
We all love our pets. They bring us happiness and unconditional love. In return we can take steps to make sure their lives are safe and healthy. It’s our way of returning that love and happiness they give to us. They certainly deserve it.
