When Rebecca Greenstein gets her dog ready for a walk, she doesn’t simply attach a leash to his harness. Nay—Cliff, the vet’s goldendoodle, sports a light blue onesie.
Though the fluffy fur that sticks out of the ends regularly turns heads, this statement look is all about practicality.
“It helps us to spot ticks, especially small ones, or anything else crawling on him after a walk,” says Greenstein, a vet in Vaughan, Ont., and a veterinary expert with rover.com. “Not to mention, it’s hilarious.”
Cliff’s onesie, intended to keep dogs from shedding or as a post-op onesie, is from Shed Defender. The snug-fitting turtleneck’s design makes it easy to examine his textured, fluffy coat after a stroll through the forest.
That said, the silly onesie isn’t the only way the vet keeps her dog safe from ticks and tick-borne diseases.
When is tick season?
Historically, ticks—particularly black-legged ticks, which carry Lyme diseases—are most active in cooler transitional periods of springtime and fall.
Ticks can be active anytime temperatures are over 0 degrees, “which is now almost every month of the year,” says Greenstein. “It’s become a year-round phenomenon.”
Over the years, their habitat has also expanded. While they used to be predominately found in forested and brush areas, it’s now common to spot them in urban backyards and parks. The warmer climate is favourable to the species, presenting them with greater opportunities to increase their geographic range.
Why should pet owners be concerned about ticks?
Black-legged ticks can carry a number of diseases, including Lyme disease, anaplasmosis, babesiosis, and Powassan virus diseases. These diseases are all listed as tick-borne diseases of public health significance in Ontario.
Nearly 5,000 cases of Lyme disease in humans were identified across Canada in 2023, and preliminary data shows that this number increased last year.
Greenstein has also seen a jump in positive results for Ehrlichiosis this year. Though symptomatically different, these diseases can have potentially fatal impacts on you and your pet.
Plus, “there’s nowhere your dog is going where you aren’t close behind,” says Greenstein. “If your dog is exposed to ticks, you should consider that you’re also exposed.”
Should pet owners still use tick prevention if they use another protective strategy, like a onesie?
Having a physical barrier, such as a onesie, is a way to make manually checking for ticks easy. If your pet has short hair, many vets also recommend using a lint roller to go over their fur after a walk. But these tools won’t prevent your pet from getting sick if they get bit by an infected tick.
Greenstein recommends monthly tick and flea prevention for pets. These can come in the form of topicals applied to the back of the neck and chewable medication.
“It used to be seasonal, but my patients are now on tick and flea prevention for 12 months a year,” she says.
There is also a Lyme disease vaccine that pet owners might consider. “It’s not a core or mandatory vaccine, but it’s a good idea if you spend a lot of time outdoors,” says Greenstein.
How to check your pets for ticks
The key is to check your dog before and after walks.
Having an idea of where bumps, skin tags, and warts are on your pet “gives you a baseline,” says Greenstein. If you identify them ahead of time, you can be confident that a lump doesn’t equal a tick.
It’s also important to pat them down after walks. A good rule of thumb is to check them every night before bed to spot anything different.
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