Protect Your Pet: Understanding Tick-Borne Diseases and How to Prevent Them

As the weather around the country gets warmer, our pets spend more time outside. However, being in the great outdoors can expose them to ticks and tick-borne illnesses. Make sure you know what you can do to protect your pets from tick-borne diseases.
 

Ticks aren’t just unpleasant pests—they can transmit serious diseases to both pets and people. Each year, thousands of dogs are infected with illnesses spread by various species of ticks. These diseases include Lyme disease, Ehrlichia, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, Anaplasmosis, Tularemia, and Babesia—all part of a group known as vector-borne diseases.
 

The good news? Many of these risks can be reduced through simple preventive measures and regular veterinary screenings. Annual checkups that include vector-borne disease testing are essential, as symptoms are often subtle or vague—making early detection challenging.
 

The best way to treat an illness is to prevent it in the first place. The same applies to tick-borne disease. Fortunately, there are numerous products available to prevent tick infestations. Topical and oral medications and medicated-collars are effective at keeping ticks away from your pets. Depending on where you live and your pet’s risk factors, your veterinarian may also recommend additional protection like a vaccination for Lyme disease. Although these preventive measures are effective, it is important to note that none provide 100% protection.
 

Since no preventive treatment can be completely foolproof, it is still important to inspect your pet for ticks on a daily basis. Know what ticks look like, study up on the lifecycles of ticks, and give your pet a head-to-tail inspection. Your pet will love the extra attention and you might find a tick before it has a chance to spread disease. Since ticks need to be attached several hours to one or two days to spread most infection, prompt proper removal is critical to minimize the risk of disease transmission.
 

Stay Informed About Tick Risks in Your Area

To learn more about the tick-borne diseases prevalent in your region, visit the Pets & Parasites website by the Companion Animal Parasite Council (CAPC). Their interactive map provides real-time updates on disease activity across the country by county. 
 

When Should You Use Tick Prevention?

Always-ticks are active year-round in many parts of the country, including California. Whether you live in an urban area or take your dog hiking, using preventives year-round is strongly recommended.
 

Tips to Keep Your Dog Safe from Tick-Borne Illness

• Use year-round preventives, such as topical treatments or tick collars. Keep in mind that while these reduce the tick burden, they do not prevent disease transmission entirely.
• Perform daily tick checks—especially if your dog spends time outdoors. Focus on areas around the ears, neck, head, shoulders, and upper legs.
• Remove ticks promptly using fine-tipped tweezers. Grasp the tick as close to your dog’s skin as possible and pull straight out with steady pressure. Avoid twisting or squeezing, as this can release harmful fluids and increase the risk of disease transmission.
• If you’re unsure how to safely remove a tick, please don’t hesitate to call us. We're happy to assist you—tick removals are free of charge (appointment recommended). We also carry specialized tick-removal tools in our lobby that can make the process quicker and easier at home.
• Do not use human tick repellents on your pet—these can be highly toxic if ingested or absorbed through the skin.
• Schedule annual testing for tick-borne diseases. Testing is quick, effective, and can prevent costly treatments by catching illness early. Dogs that are highly active, social, or frequently exposed to ticks should be tested annually—or more often if they are not consistently on preventives.

Common Tick Species in California That Transmit Disease

• American Dog Tick (Dermacentor variabilis)
• Brown Dog Tick (Rhipicephalus sanguineus)
• Rocky Mountain Wood Tick (Dermacentor andersoni)
• Western Black-legged Tick (Ixodes pacificus)

Signs of Tick-Borne Disease in Dogs

Ticks can spread a number of different diseases, so the signs and symptoms can vary depending on the disease. Some of the signs seen in several of these illnesses include: lethargy (loss of energy), loss of appetite, and lameness or reluctance to move. It is important to realize that more often than not the signs of a tick borne illness may be either very subtle or non-existent. In addition, many of the tick-borne illnesses mimic other diseases. Therefore it is best not to wait for symptoms to appear. If your pet has been exposed to ticks call us  immediately about screening tests and preventive products.Symptoms may range from none to severe, and can include:
 

• Fever or lethargy
• Pain or stiffness (especially shifting leg lameness)
• Loss of appetite or chronic weight loss
• Vomiting
• Weakness or depression
• Nosebleeds
• Neck pain

If you notice any of these signs or suspect your pet may have been exposed to ticks, please call us for a screening guidance and or to set up an appointment  with your dog’s veterinarian.

How do you screen dogs for tick borne diseases?

• Heartworm: This marker detects the presence of heartworms or microfilariae, an internal parasite that can be life-threatening if left untreated.
• Lyme Disease: This marker identifies antibodies related to Lyme disease, which is caused by bacteria transmitted through tick bites.
• Ehrlichia &  Anaplasmosis:  These markers detect the presence of Ehrlichia and Anaplasma organisms, which are both tick-borne illnesses that cause a variety of symptoms such as fever, joint pain, and fatigue.

My dog is on heartworm and tick preventatives, do I still need to test?

Yes, it is recommended to test your dog annually even if they are on preventive medications. This will help ensure that the preventives have been effective and your dog is still protected from these diseases.
 

Additionally, while we have access to the best and safest tick preventatives, ticks do need to bite the dog as this is how they receive the drug. Therefore, there is a possibility of disease transmission from an infected tick as tick-borne diseases are transmitted via the saliva of the tick.