It’s tick season in Wyoming; be sure to protect pets

POWELL — Tick season is in full swing, so if your pets spend time with you outdoors, it’s important to keep them safe from the blood-sucking parasites. And with the mild, dry winter, ticks never really got knocked back the way they usually do in Wyoming, which means ticks came out earlier — and in higher numbers — than are normally seen this time of year. 

“Areas where you historically have ticks are probably going to be even worse this year,” veterinarian Britt Whitt of Paintbrush Veterinary Clinic said. “If our pets are going to be out with us, it’s very hard to find ticks on them, so a good tick preventative is certainly a good idea, especially as we go into the season.” 

Ticks are more than just a nuisance. They can carry diseases that affect both animals and people.

If you’re already finding ticks on your pets this season, you’re definitely not the only one. 

Tick season in Wyoming usually runs from April through July, with May and June being the peak months. However, this winter has been the warmest in state history, with many areas seeing rain or sunny days in the 50s and 60s in place of frigid temps and snow. This means ticks, which prefer daytime temperatures consistently above 50 degrees, were spotted as early as February.

While tick activity in this corner of the state isn’t quite as prevalent as other areas, it doesn’t mean pet owners shouldn’t be vigilant, especially if you enjoy spending time outdoors, Whitt said. 

Northwest Wyoming — particularly the foothills of the Absaroka — is a hotspot for ticks. 

Grand Teton and Yellowstone national parks also are major epicenters for the bugs in the spring and early summer. 

The Rocky Mountain wood tick is the most common in the region, alongside the winter tick and the American dog tick. They congregate on south-facing slopes, in knee-high brush and along game trails in sagebrush steppe or riparian areas along local river corridors. There they wait to latch onto passing wildlife, pets or humans. 

Ticks love warm, hidden areas, so make sure to do a full-body check after your pet has been outside, especially if they’ve been in grass, brush or near deer activity. 

Ticks carry illnesses like Colorado Tick Fever and tularemia and can make your pets severely sick.

“We’re lucky here, because we don’t have Lyme disease here,” Whitt said. “There haven’t been documented cases.” 

Colorado Tick Fever is characterized by high fevers, severe headaches, muscle/joint pain and sometimes a rash. Symptoms usually appear three to 14 days after the bite. 

Tularemia, also known as “rabbit fever,” often presents with a painful skin ulcer at the site of the bite and swollen lymph glands, accompanied by a high fever. 

It’s important to stay current on tick prevention. For dogs or cats there are oral medications, topical treatments and collars available. And when you are using a fly spray on your horses, Whitt said to make sure it also has good tick repellent properties as well. For cattle, a combination of chemical pour-ons, sprays or ear tags, systemic dewormers and pasture management are recommended. 

Whitt said there are some permethrin-based products that can be set up in cattle oilers or cattle rub so that the animals can self-treat. 

“Those sorts of things can certainly help in those pastures that are infested heavily,” she added. “I’m a big advocate of educating owners so that they know what they can and cannot, or what they shouldn’t, be doing so that they can better help themselves and help their animals as well.” 

When checking your pets, make sure to look around ears, neck, armpits, tails and between toes. For horses and cattle, don’t forget under the belly, udder/sheath area, and along the neck. If you find a tick, remove it immediately with tweezers, pulling straight out close to the skin. It is critical that you remove the whole tick, including the head. 

If you’re uncomfortable taking them off, or if they are in inconvenient places like inside your dog’s ears, you should call the veterinarian. 

You do not automatically need to rush to the vet if you find a tick on your pet, provided you remove the whole tick. Just keep a close eye on the bite area for the next week or two. 

A small red bump is normal, but it should gradually fade. 

However, a visit or a call to your local clinic is necessary if your pet’s bite site shows signs of infection or if the pet develops symptoms of a tick-borne disease in the following weeks. 

Watch to see if the bite site becomes swollen, hot, raised or has yellow/ white pus. Also look out for lethargy, fever, loss of appetite, joint swelling, or sudden lameness. 

Whitt said most of the time tick bites don’t cause any secondary issues in horses besides some sensitivity and localized inflammation. 

If you’ve found a tick, you might consider upping your usage of spay or make sure it’s the best product for the job. 

“It’s important to watch for signs and symptoms,” Whitt said. “I tell my owners and my clients to keep journals on your pets, and so then when you come in and you have a presenting complaint, we can have a much better timeline to work from.”