With the frost out of the ground and more residents enjoying the outdoors with their dogs, a New Canaan veterinarian is urging pet owners to check their dogs for ticks.
Dr. Daniel Hochman of Grove Street Veterinary said dog owners also should use anti-products (“There are topicals and orals”) and ensure the animals’ Lyme Disease shots are up-to-date.
Dr. Daniel Hochman of Grove Street Veterinary with his dog, Trixie (a 4-year-old goldendoodle).
Asked to gauge tick activity right now, Hochman—owner of a 4-year-old goldendoodle, Trixie (see photo at right)—said: “They are out now in force.”
“It [prevalence of ticks] is really variable with where you live, in terms of your landscaping,” Hochman said. “People who have more tall grass with a lot of trees, their dogs are just covered in ticks.”
Hochman said the Lyme vaccine for dogs is “very effective.”
“I see a very low incidence of clinical Lyme Disease in my practice because most all of my clients are vaccinated for it, and use some type of a tick preventative,” he said.
According to the Connecticut Department of Public Health, symptoms of Lyme in dogs include lethargy, arthritis, fever, fatigue and kidney damage.
In humans, deer tick bites may form an expanding red rash and cause flu-like symptoms that can get very serious if Lyme sets in and is untreated, including meningitis and heart palpitations.
Lyme diagnosis is difficult and typically involves blood tests, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says.
In New Canaan, in the last year for which information is available (2012), 15 cases of Lyme were reported, the state DPH said. That’s a rate of about 76 cases per 100,000. The rates in other surrounding towns for that same year were: Darien (14.5), Wilton (88.6), Stamford (15.5) and Norwalk (14). The Connecticut town with the single-most overall cases was Stonington, at 44.