Ticks
By Dr. Bronwyn Chisholm
Although we are deep in snow, it won’t be long until we hit the balmy temperatures of 0-4°C and it is at this temperature that ticks start to move again. These nasty creatures do not hibernate: they get frozen stiff for the winter, and thaw out when temperatures warm to ~0-4°C. When they do, they start hunting again – and they are hungry! So once snow cover around buildings and fences recedes, usually by April 1st, ticks will again be up and about, looking for a blood meal, and if our pets cross paths with them, a tick bite is probably in their future.
The ticks of concern in Manitoba are the Deer or Black legged tick – considerably smaller than the Wood or Dog tick, which always gets our attention due to their large size. Some Deer ticks (the nymphs) are as small as a spec of dirt. It is the Deer tick that transmits Lyme disease, Anaplasma and Ehrlichiosis to our pets.
To transmit disease, Deer ticks must continuously bite for at least 24 hours, so the preventatives we use in Manitoba kill the ticks before they have time to transmit disease, with Nexgard being the most common prevention we use at Seasons.
In Manitoba, we begin our pet’s tick prevention on April 1st. So give us a call if you have any questions about tick prevention, and what option would be best for your pet, we would love to help!
Breed of the Month:
French Bulldog!
Frenchies are a small breed dog, characterized by an outgoing, kind personality, adaptable to many situations and not typically too barky. They have impressive ears, making them incredibly acute at hearing. They are known to be absolutely lovely companions, sharing their joy of life with everyone they cross paths with.
Here is what Zoe’s lovely family has to say about their girl:
Zoe is such a funny member of our family. She is a lovely, caring, expressive, energetic, spontaneous, stubborn, food motivated little one. Like most frenchies are! Lele (one of her nicknames), lightens up our days with her cuddling, zoomies and unique character. We are very lucky to have her and we can absolutely say she changed our lives in a positive way!
Last Month’s Winner:
Lily and Sahara are having a well-deserved snooze after working so hard to win last month’s trivia contest!
