Veterinary Medicine Essentials: Ticks

Tick tock. These suckers are coming to your area, or are already likely in your backyard, literally and figuratively. The plethora of diseases these suckers carry make tick preventives necessary for all your veterinary patients. Here's an earful on ticks-including details on each tick type-to help convince your clients to protect their pets, and themselves.

Updates on ticks

CAPC study: Lyme disease spreading to regions once thought low-risk

Jan 19, 2019

Condition in dogs could signal increasing threat to people, researchers say. ...

Oh no! A new tick species we have to worry about in the U.S.

Oct 16, 2018

The Asian longhorned tick is relatively small, but hardy, causing trouble for pets, wildlife, livestock and humans. ...

Your client's yard has been treated for fleas and ticks, so they're good, right?

Jul 17, 2018

Residential lawn care companies heavily advertise treatments that reportedly keep fleas and ticks at bay this time of year-but do they work, and are they safe for your veterinary patients? ...

Tick tock, it's time to raise your arachnid radar

Dec 08, 2017

Much less of an occasional blip and more of a perpetual ping, the tick invasion is already in your area. Help your clients batten down the hatches and protect their pets. ...

Talking to ticked off clients

Mar 14, 2017

Let's be real here: giving clients the ''tick talk'' gets repetitive. Here are a few suggestions to overcome common objections. ...

Detecting ticks

Talking to pet owners about the “blue dot”

We can do better than, “Look, it doesn't mean your dog has a tick-borne disease, but it doesn't not mean that.” ...

CAPC Tick of the Month round-up

It's time to get in tick-talk shape. ...

Tick personalities: From friendly to sinister

You may never have considered that tick genera have personalities but Dr. Susan Little has. She may not have given them a Rorschach's inkblot test, but she does give us some insight into their personalities, which also gives us insight into what to expect in an infestation. ...

Myth Buster-Ticks falling from trees

Look! It's a bird, it's a plane ... no, could it be a tick? ...

Parasite myth: Cats don't get ticks

No ticks on cats? Uh huh ... Now, here are the facts. ...

Controlling and preventing ticks

Essential oils for fleas and ticks? Not so fast

Veterinary toxicologist lays out the facts on "natural" parasite prevention products. ...

Identifying and treating 3 tick-borne diseases in dogs

Diagnosis of canine tick-related disease has been occurring with greater frequency, making knowledge of all tick-borne diseases increasingly important. This detailed overview of anaplasmosis, ehrlichiosis and Rocky Mountain spotted fever will help you be prepared when these diseases make an appearance in your veterinary clinic. ...

Client handout: Don't use your dog's flea and tick medication on your cat!

Sharing isn't always caring-especially when it can harm your patients that purr. Educate your veterinary clients on the dangers posed by permethrin with this free handout. ...

Ticks: Have mouth parts, will travel

Ticks, man. There are more of them, they're responsible for more diseases, and they're now found in more places than ever. Question is, why? And what does Bambi have to do with it? Dr. Michael Dryden (a.k.a. “Dr. Flea”) talks ticks. ...

Feline parasite control: Cat-friendly practices and products (Sponsored by Bayer HealthCare)

In this roundtable and accompanying video interviews, experts in veterinary behavior, infectious disease, and feline practice discuss ways to improve preventive care of feline patients, including a discussion of the importance of effective parasite control and the use of flea and tick collars for cats. ...

Tick control: The next step

To keep pet owners in the know, take the next step with these tick tips. ...

Associated conditions

Ticks may hold the key to treating tick-borne disease

DVM360 MAGAZINE - Dec 21, 2018

Research led by University of Maryland veterinary professor examines this parasite's remarkable immune system. ...

Canine tick-borne diseases: When to treat a positive patient-side test result

VETERINARY MEDICINE - Mar 28, 2017

Don't feel bad if you're not sure, veterinarians. Tick-borne disease is a pain, says this CVC educator, and nobody really feels like they know what they're doing. Now dive in for his crash course to get over that hump … ...

Lyme disease subverts immune system, prevents future protection

DVM360 MAGAZINE - Aug 26, 2015

Researchers at UC Davis have found that B. burgdorferi can stop the body from remembering previous invasion and mounting an immune response if an animal is reinfected. ...

Testing for vector-borne pathogens in dogs: The best use of diagnostic panels

VETERINARY MEDICINE - Jul 01, 2013

Serologic and PCR panels can help identify infection-so how do you choose which panel to use? ...

What you should know about... Cytauxzoonosis

VETERINARY MEDICINE - Jun 01, 2012

A new treatment regimen shows promise in managing cats with this serious, often fatal infection. ...

Confidently identify parasites on blood smears

FIRSTLINE - Sep 01, 2011

Read on for tips to help you prepare a readable blood smear and identify what you see. ...

Client education

A handout for every tick!

Tick off the "Beat ticks!" box on your veterinary clients' checklist with these handouts. ...

Two ideas for talking about ticks on social media

Looking for new ways to bring up tick preventives on your veterinary practice's Facebook account? We've got posts for that. ...

Veterinary tick removal handout

Give brave pet owners this handout for tackling tick infestations on their pets at home. ...

Get ticks off your patients' backs: Posts and tweets about tick facts and figures

Use your social media network to educate veterinary clients and raise awareness about tick facts and figures with these tweets and posts. ...

Tick tips everyone should know

Keep veterinary clients (and their pets, of course!) safe from ticks and tick-borne diseases with these educational handouts. ...

Flea and tick life cycles

These handouts give your clients a better understanding of how flea and tick populations develop. ...

Arming your team

The tick control toolkit

Nothing says "ick" like ticks and the diseases they transmit to pets and people. Keep pets safe with these tools. (With an educational grant provided by Zoetis) ...

Sample script: Natural flea and tick repellants

Naturally clients have questions about the essential products they use for their own healthcare. Use this script to talk about natural products. ...

Sample script: Ticks in the city

Don't be the lone star in your practice who can talk about ticks. Be a deer, er dear, and practice this sample tick talk with your veterinary team to bridge the gulf in otherwise rocky tick conversations with clients. ...

Myths vs. facts: The truth about ticks

Share these tick tips with your veterinary clients to help them keep their pets safe. ...

Boost veterinary clients' tick IQ

Offer veterinary clients this advice and they'll be tick experts in no time. ...

Tackling tick talks across the map

Veterinary clients are often in the dark about the risk ticks present for their pets. Use these tips to tackle tough tick talks, region by region. ...