Alexis is an RVT and groomer who graduated from Seneca College from the Veterinary Technician program with honours in 2016. She also has a Bachelor of Science degree with honours majoring in Animal Biology from the University of Guelph. She’s been working with animals for more than 6 years and has been grooming part time for 4 years!

She has four cats, Lucifer, Lucky, Titten and Pumpkin and a lovely dog named Toro. In her free time, she enjoys playing soccer and going on hikes with her dog.

Tick Season Is Here

With temperatures so up and down these days, ticks can be found year round.  Give us a call to discuss the risk factor for Ticks in Ontario.   As daily temperatures reach 4 degrees Celsius ( and possibly at any above zero degrees) ticks become active and therefore it is time to start your pets tick prevention.  Many prevention products will also prevent fleas at the same time, another pesky parasite. 

Let us recommend the right product to protect

 Lyme disease is a growing concern for pets and people. 

Numbers of reported Lyme positive dogs is just an indication of the issue at hand.  What we need to consider is that true numbers are likely higher because not all dogs will be tested.  In the photo below Idexx has indicated that in 2017 there were 1261 Lyme positive dogs, and in the past 5 years a total of 6215 in Ontario..... keep in mind this is only one laboratory...so the actual count is sure to be higher.   So far there have been 148 cases reported in 2018 !

Why is testing your dog for Lyme disease important?

"There’s some info that suggests canine exposure to Borrelia (the bacterium that is transmitted by deer ticks causing Lyme disease)  can also be an indicator of the risk of human exposure, which makes sense since dogs and people are exposed the same way (i.e. being bitten by an infected deer tick ( Ixodes scapulars) tick)." 

-  from the worms and germs blog

Tracking the incidence of Lyme disease in dogs brings awareness as to where on the map it can be found and indicates that we as humans must also take precautions not to contract it through tick bites.  Some areas on the map may have a higher endemic incidence than others,  but even one Lyme positive Deer tick  in our area indicates we should be doing all we can to protect our pets and our family.

Get Started Today !

As part of your dogs parasite screening this spring; a simple blood test can screen for Tick borne diseases like Lyme,  as well as Heartworm at the same time. Results can be reported in as little as 24-48 hours.

Call us to book your dogs appointment now. 519-624-9760

** As always Heartworm prevention should be started by June 1st !

*** Keep in mind that cats who live with dogs should also have prevention medication on board.
 

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