As spring arrives, so do ticks: Tips to keep your pets safe in Medicine Hat

In Medicine Hat, the eight-legged arachnids are often found in tall grass and prairie land.

Quinn Schotanus, a registered veterinary technologist at Horizon Veterinary Clinic, said if you take your dogs into those areas you should look for ticks afterwards.

This means checking their entire body for bumps, in between their toes, their armpits and ears.

To deter ticks from your pet, you can pick up flea and tick preventative from your veterinarian.

If one does latch onto your pet, Schotanus said a tick remover device is the best option. Tick removers can be picked up at local pet stores, however, you can also use tweezers.

“Grasp the tick right at the head as close to the skin as you possibly can. You want to hold it gently, [but] not so hard that you crush it,” Schotanus said.

“So holding it gently but firmly and then just pulling it straight away from the skin. You want to pull in one direction, not so quickly that you’re going to break the head off.”

Schotanus added that you don’t want to twist the tick off and the motion should be slow.

“[The tick] will eventually just let go and let you pull it out,” she said.

If you are uncomfortable removing a tick from your pet, you can get assistance from a veterinarian.

by Lisa Parent

As spring arrives, so do ticks: Tips to keep your pets safe in Medicine Hat

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