Articles: ticks

Veterinary parasitologist Dr. Michael Dryden, distinguished professor of Veterinary Parasitology, Department of Diagnostic Medicine and Pathobiology at Kansas State University says right now is when dogs are most susceptible to Lyme disease. Dryden is a guest on my national Steve Dale’s Pet World radio show. Dryden goes agrees there is as an epidemic of tick…

Just about every creature has a place – that includes the ridiculous looking opossum. And for whatever the reason, fall is the time of year these animals are most active. Many consider them an annoyance, and even call animal control just because there’s an opossum hanging out near your trash. It turns out that the…

Dogs are a sentinel for various tick diseases, most notably Lyme disease. You think Lyme, you likely think either New England – where Lyme is endemic – or you think about tick disease when walking through the woods. It’s true you should think those things. But also think urban parks, like Central Park in New…

Nowadays, there’s a top-10 list for everything. I doubt it ever occurred to David Letterman to create a top-10 for cities with the most heartworm, but he would be thrilled to know there is now such a list. This list is based on the highest percentage increase in positive heartworm test results for dogs and cats…

I speak HERE on my WGN Steve Dale’s Pet World radio show with Amanda Smith, lead author of a recent paper on leptospirosis,  “The Descriptive and Spatio-Temporal Analyses of 45 Canine Leptospirosis Cases from Chicago, 2015-2018” We’re talking about leptospirosis here for two primary reasons: The bacterial disease may infect our dogs and potentially cause…

In the early 1970s people in and around Lyme, CT were suffering from puzzling and debilitating health issues. Eventually, their illnesses were connected to a tick disease, now called Lyme. Historically, Lyme disease centered around the New England area, and was primarily only a problem in rural places. However, that’s changed dramatically, most especially in…

K. Wade Burton, DVM, a Medical Affairs Specialist in Infectious Disease at IDEXX, wants people to know about the importance of screening dogs annually for tick-borne disease. People seem to understand that ticks carry disease, but may not realize a single tick bite may carry a pathogen cocktail – passing along several tick diseases with…

Heartworm is not something you want your dog to get, one simple explanation for that: Heartworm can be deadly says CEVA Animal Health Veterinary Services Manager Dr. Todd McCracken on my national Steve Dale’s Pet World radio show. McCracken explains how dogs get the disease. He says it’s “100 percent preventable” IF you use a…

Experts suggest that this season ticks will be in even greater abundance. And where there are ticks, there’s tick disease. Veterinary nurse Beckie Mossor suggests on my national Steve Dale’s Pet World radio show that unless it’s happened to you – you might think it will never happen to you. Once infected, there is no…

The World Veterinary Association (WVA) celebrates April 27 as World Veterinary Day. This year, the theme is “The Value of Vaccination.” In part it is to counter the anti-vaxxer movement. WVA isn’t alone; the World Health Organization is also stepping up to counter misinformation regarding the notion that vaccines create all sorts of medical problems.…