News Photo by Michael Gonzalez Dr. Brandi Stone talks about strategies to safeguard pets from diseases in an examination room at Sunrise Veterinary Services on Wednesday afternoon.

ALPENA — Veterinary clinics are seeing more dogs with tick-borne diseases this year – specifically Lyme disease and anaplasmosis.

Dr. Brandi Stone from Alpena’s Sunrise Veterinary Services said she treats about two to three dogs per week that test positive for a tick-borne disease.

“Ten years ago this wasn’t seen as such a big problem in pet owners’ eyes,” Stone said. “Now it’s something everyone’s worrying about.”

In 2022, the Companion Animal Parasite Council saw 275 total positive Lyme disease cases and 71 positive anaplasmosis cases in Northeast Michigan, data shows. So far, 2023 has already seen 152 positive cases of Lyme disease and 75 positive anaplasmosis cases in the region.

The data also shows so far in 2023, one in 15 dogs in the United States is at risk for Lyme disease.

Stone said the two most frequent ticks seen right now on dogs are blacklegged ticks and American dog ticks. Some of the ticks that can transmit the disease are easily visible, but there can still be smaller ones in their early stages of life.

Stone recommended owners to check a dog’s fur all around and, most importantly, check from their chest to their head. Ticks are attracted to carbon dioxide and will go towards any areas that may give off more of it.

“If your dog is showing any strange signs that they have Lyme disease, you should contact a local vet,” Stone said. “If you’re having trouble pulling a tick off for any reason, we can easily help out with that.”

Stone said a Lyme disease vaccine is very helpful in seasons with higher tick volume, but cannot help with everything. She recommends owners get products that repel ticks and chewable products that will repel diseases inside the dog. Stone said her dog takes both types of products at once.

She also said many homemade repellents are no longer working against ticks.

Some of these products can be purchased over the counter, but many are either unobtainable without going to the vet or they may cost more money independently. Many of these products only repel certain types of ticks, so Stone said it’s best to go to your local vet clinic to understand which product is best in your area.

“If you come in with a problem with your dog, we are not going to judge you for the kind of products you use,” Stone said. “These can get difficult to understand and we want to help your dogs.”

If it’s not Lyme disease, Stone said the illness seen in dogs may be anaplasmosis, which has many of the same symptoms. There is not much to prevent this disease from transmitting to dogs, but prior safeguards can help.

Stone strongly urged owners to vaccinate their pets for other diseases and to check themselves and their dogs for ticks after they’ve been outside. She said it’s best to check every four hours, as that’s how long it takes for these diseases to get transmitted.

Stone said to watch for ticks “as early as March and as late as November to December”.

“These are the toughest ticks we’ve ever seen,” Stone said. “You already want to take care of your pets, but it’s especially important to treat them because these diseases could be transmitted to you – and they’re living in your home.”