March is Tick Awareness Month! 

Ticks will become active at temperatures as low a zero degrees.  Ticks are more than just a nuisance, they can transmit diseases to both animals and humans. This is why we wanted to post a friendly reminder that we are participating in The Alberta Governments “submit-a-tick”program, where they will collect ticks from across the province to determine species and what diseases they might be carrying.

Their mission is:

• to identify the tick species present on dogs and cats across Alberta.
• to characterize the tick-borne disease agents carried by ticks on dogs or cats in our region
• to better understand and communicate the risks to Albertans

So how does it work?

-Bring your cat/dog and/or their ticks to WVC. We have all the necessary supplies to submit your pet’s ticks, free of charge.

-We send the ticks from your dog or cat with an accompanying submission sheet in to “Submit a Tick”

-The AB Government will report back to us the type of tick and if it was carrying any disease

To learn more check out the website.

https://www.alberta.ca/lyme-disease-tick-surveillance.aspx?utm_source=redirector

How To Remove a Tick

Here’s a step by step guide to removing a tick.

• Use fine tipped tweezers or a tick removal tool
• Spread your pets fur
• Gently grasp the tick’s body as close to the skin as possible
• Very gently pull straight upward in a slow, steady motion
• Don’t twist the tick as you might break the body from the head, leaving the head imbedded in your pet

If you feel uncomfortable doing this, bring your pet in and we are happy to help!