MAHONING TOWNSHIP -- It's something people don't like to think about: their pets getting sick. But according to the veterinarians at the Animal Care Center near Danville, Lyme disease is something to keep on your radar.
"It's a big deal. We get a lot of Lyme disease, it's probably the biggest thing we see," Dr. Kurt Fuller said.
Dr. Fuller showed us how he checks for Lyme disease on 9-month-old Brillig. He says the outside temperature has to be under 10 degrees for three days in a row to kill ticks. Even with the bad winter, Fuller says his office has still seen an increase of ticks.
"The map of the Lyme disease and the ticks and the tick amount is spreading every year, it looks like. We're also getting better at detecting it so it's kind of a combination of things," Fuller said.
The vet says the easiest way to make sure your dog does not get Lyme disease is to make sure your pet is vaccinated.
"I'd probably say that over half the dogs that aren't vaccinated turn positive at some point," Fuller said.
Fuller says the vaccine is about 93 percent effective. He also recommends a tick prevention product that dogs can eat.
George Kaczmarczyk of Danville was at the office picking up medicine for his dog, Max.
"When it starts getting warmer out, above freezing, I start doing the flea and tick every month," Kaczmarczyk said.
Kaczmarczyk says his dog has never had Lyme disease, and he hopes to keep it that way, so he buys preventative medication every year.
"It's better safe than sorry because that's a pretty debilitating disease from what I understand," Kaczmarczyk said.
Fuller says the most common symptoms of Lyme disease in dogs are fever, swollen limbs, loss of appetite, and lethargy.