Ticks

If necessary, treatments can be done inside the house for ticks – particularly the brown dog tick that likes to hide in high places. A thorough treatment around windows, moldings, and cracks can help to break their lifecycle. If your pets are allowed inside, treating carpets and furniture may be necessary. However, most ticks are picked up outside. Treating the yard and pet’s sleeping areas is effective, but the pet has to be confined to these areas. Otherwise ticks outside the treatment area will latch onto, and host on your pet.

Things you can do to help:

Keeping grass and weeds trimmed in your yard will cut down on harborage for ticks, and make it more difficult for them to get onto potential hosts. You also need to keep your pet’s bedding areas cleaned and/or changed. Be sure to inspect pets for ticks which can be hidden between toes or under ears. Ticks should be removed with a pair of tweezers, grabbing as much of the body as possible. This minimizes the chance of mouthparts remaining under the skin, which cause infection. There are other methods of removing them, some of which can be dangerous. Bathing and treating your pet may also be necessary; it’s best to contact your veterinarian. When outdoors protecting yourself from ticks is crucial. Wearing long sleeves and tucking pants into your socks is an easy way to help keep them off of you. Tick repellants are available, and are good insurance if you are going to be outdoors for a long time.