Ask Alex: Do I need to keep up the tick meds?
Dear Alex,
With the cold weather coming, I’m considering stopping flea and tick treatment for the winter. I hate the idea of putting toxic chemicals on my dog, and all the ticks are dead in the winter, what do you think?
James,
Dear James,
I understand your desire to not put yucky, bad smelling tick treatments on your dog, but I really think you could reconsider. In recent years, tick borne illness has been on the rise in MA. With ever milder winters , it is becoming more and more possible for Ticks to be around through the whole winter. As you can see here while cases of tick borne Lyme disease substantially decrease in the winter, MA still see about 50 human cases per month through the winter!
It may seem hard to believe the ticks could still be around when there has been a snow, but Jill tells me that if there is any thaw, she’s back to pulling ticks off me and my companions. Further, my own vet Dr. Leonard, has advised Jill to keep me treated at all times as he sees ticks on dogs on the coldest days of February. So keep your flea and tick treatments up to date, wear long pants in the woods and always do a “tick check” when coming back from a walk.
Alex