Saskatchewan is in peak tick season. What you can do to keep you and your pets safe

Tick season is in full force in Saskatchewan and USask’s veterinary college is making sure pet owners know what to do to keep themselves and their animals safe.

“Ideally if you can pick them off before they attach and engorge, that is best for everyone,” said Emily Jenkins, veterinary microbiology professor at USask.

Jenkins said people are seeing “surges” of ticks as they head out between rain breaks.

“When it rains, (ticks) take cover, but what might be happening is they are all coming out during the time periods between the rain,” she said.

According to the veterinary college, ticks like to attach to dogs in places like the armpits, ears and places where they can hide and avoid being scratched off.

Jenkins said there are tons of oral and topical medical products for dogs and cats that can provide up to a month’s protection from ticks.

“This would be the time of year to really double down on those,” she said. “Talk to a vet and get a prescription product because those are really well tested, on label and labelled for the ticks that we have.”

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She reminded pet owners to read the fine print and be cautious if choosing to buy from a pet store without consulting a vet.

Jenkins added people should always check themselves, too, paying attention to the elastic bands of their socks and waistbands, in their hair and behind ears after being out in the grass.

“Do tick checks ideally four to six hours after you have been out in tick habitat, even if it’s 24 hours after, that is still a good time period,” she said. “Most pathogens take a while to transmit.”

USask uses a public submission service to keep track of the tick population each year.

Members of the public can send pictures of ticks found on themselves or on pets to the university for tracking.

“Usually about this time of year we have between 400 and 500 eTick submissions in the province and we are right about there, about 450,” Jenkins said.

She noted only one black-legged tick has been recorded so far this year via eTick, the type of tick that carries Lyme disease, however, she said it is typically more active in fall.

Jenkins also noted the rainy weather has made it difficult for the university to go out and track the tick population themselves, skewing their numbers.