Lyme disease, Ehrlichia, and Anaplasma are rapidly increasing in Florida.
Preventing Lyme disease in pets involves a combination of regular tick checks, using vet-recommended tick preventives, and limiting exposure to tick-infested areas. Other important steps include keeping your yard tidy to reduce tick habitats.
Limit tick exposure
- Don’t let your pet roam freely in grassy, wooded tick-infested areas.
- Keep pets on trails when hiking and avoid dense vegetation.
- Keep your yard well-maintained by mowing the lawn, raking leaves, and clearing brush and debris.
- Consider planting tick-repellent plants like rosemary, sage, or marigolds.
Use tick preventives
- Use tick repellent products recommended by your veterinarian, such as oral or topical medications, or collars.
- Apply preventives consistently, as many are year-round necessities.
Perform Regular Tick Checks
- Check your pet for ticks daily, especially after they have been outdoors.
- Pay close attention to areas like behind the ears, under the legs, around the neck, between the toes, and under the tail.
- Part the fur to check the skin and feel for any small bumps.
- Bathe your pet after outdoor activities to help wash off any unattached ticks.
If You Find a Tick
- Remove the tick immediately using fine-tipped tweezers, grasping it as close to the skin as possible.
- Pull upward with steady, even pressure to avoid leaving the mouth-parts embedded.
- Clean the bite area and the tools you used with alcohol.
- Consider prophylactic treatment for known tick bites with antibiotics.
Symptoms of Lyme
Similar to humans, symptoms of Lyme or other tick-borne infections may not show up for weeks or longer after a tick bite. If your pet shows symptoms, call your vet.
- Limping or lameness
- Fever
- Fatigue or lethargy
- Swollen joints
- Decreased appetite
- Abnormal heart rhythm
It’s important to have your pet examined if symptomatic or if ticks have been found on your pet. The earlier the illness is detected and treatment begins, the better your pet’s prognosis and chance for a complete recovery.
