Maryland veterinarians explain how tick season can be harmful for pets

Did you know that ticks can cause lifelong health issues for you and your pet?

According to experts, we are approaching the peak of tick season, and doctors are already seeing more pets and people who have been bitten.

Ticks latch onto pets

Dr. Megan Dirito said that she found more than 70 ticks on her dog, Louis. who was already on tick prevention medication. She said she immediately gave him multiple baths to get them off.

"He just went into a little grassy area, and we came back inside, and looking at him, he had tiny, tiny, little nymph ticks all over him. They were around his eyes," said Dr. Dirito, a veterinarian at Falls Road Animal Hospital. "They were in his fur on his face."

Dr. Dirito says ticks can create health problems for people and pets year-round.

"In veterinary medicine, we see a lot of ticks, and a lot of people think like ticks are just tiny, tiny little critters, which they are, but they have a huge impact," said Dr. Dirito. "A tick on a pet for two hours can transmit Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. Lyme disease is a little bit longer. It's about 36 to 48 hours to transmit Lyme disease."

"I look at my dog every day, and still ticks show up, and you have to stay very, very tuned in," added Dr. Kim Hammond, a veterinarian at Falls Road Animal Hospital. "But the ticks live in the eaves of buildings and compost piles, they're out there."

Allergic reaction to meat

Candace Mathis and Debbie Nichols are the co-founders of the Alpha Gal Foundation, a group they started after learning a bite from the Lone Star tick caused them to develop a serious allergy. 

"So we started to hear more about this tick-borne disease," said Mathis, the co-founder of the Alpha Gal Foundation and Two Alpha Gals.

"We were each separately, sick for a long time on our own, you know, at least 10 years each, and had gone through to see lots of specialists trying to figure out what in the world was causing all these strange symptoms, everything from GI distress to joint pain and brain fog," said Nichols, the co-founder of the Alpha Gal Foundation and Two Alpha Gals. 

They say tick bites create an allergy to galactose alpha 1 3 galactose, which is better known as alpha-gal, and that's a sugar found in all mammals except for humans and some primates.

Reactions vary from person to person, but can be caused by food or products made from mammals, such as beef, pork, gelatin, and much more.

"And we're now involved in a federal bill to make alpha-gal a part of the major food allergens, which would be the 10th major food allergen, so that you know, would be life changing for our community," Mathis said. 

How to protect yourself and pets from tick bites

Although pets can not get alpha-gal syndrome, the number of impacts a simple tick bite can have on them is just as great and can be prevented with the right treatment.

"It's a lot easier to prevent the disease than to treat it," Dr. Dirito said. 

"You put a preventative on there, you wear socks, you wear long pants, or you do a tick check every single solitary day," said Dr. Hammond. 

There is a lot of information about ticks and how they can impact pets and people. 

So here is a short list of prevention measures for you and your pets. 

Tick prevention for pets 

• Topical prevention treatments
• Vinegar rinse 
• Immediately remove the tick if you see it
• Visit your local veterinarian 

Tick prevention for humans 

• Repellents
• Long pants, shirts
• Self-tick checks

To learn more about Alpha Gal syndrome, you can visit this website.