Tick season starting earlier than ever in B.C., vets say

Veterinarians say they're seeing ticks earlier than ever this year, and they're warning pet owners to be on the lookout.

It’s tick season, and this year, some vets have been seeing the nasty parasites earlier than ever.

Dr. Adrian Walton, a veterinarian at Dewdney Animal Hospital, said ticks have been showing up on pets at his clinic since mid-February.

“Normally, we don’t actually see ticks until mid-to-end of April, so it was really interesting to start seeing them this early,” he said. “We did not have a cold enough winter to kill off a good portion of those ticks.”

He said dogs are not the only pets that come in with ticks on them.

“We see them all the time on birds, we see them on rabbits and occasionally even snakes,” Walton said.

He said if you find a tick on your pet, you want to get it off as soon as possible.

“All you really need is to go by the pet store (or) Amazon and pick up a tick puller. And the trick is to pull it slowly. A lot of times, people will pull it quickly and it’s possible you will leave part of (the tick) behind,” said Walton.

Ticks can carry multiple diseases, including Lyme disease. There is a vaccine for pets, but nothing yet available in Canada for humans.

“Lyme disease is a pretty serious disease,” explained Dr. Muhammed Morshed, a clinical microbiologist with the BC Centre for Disease Control. “If people are not being treated, it is really, really devastating,”

He said reported cases of ticks in B.C. have fluctuated over the years, though it appears the numbers are slowly on the rise.

According to Morshed, in 2025, 39 people in B.C. ended up with Lyme disease. In most cases, however, the tick bites happened because of travel outside the province.

Anyone who gets a tick bite – or even just participates regularly in outdoor activities – and experiences flu-like symptoms should “definitely should check with their family physician,” he urged.

“If early detection is done … it’s pretty simple to treat them,” the doctor said.

Morshed explained that using DEET when outdoors is crucial to keeping ticks off of humans. The parasites can be found in tall grass and forested areas.

“Walk in the middle of the trail wherever possible and avoid the tall grass,” he said, adding that wearing light-coloured clothing will allow you to spot ticks more easily.

He said you should check yourself over, and check children, after going outside.

If you do find a tick on yourself or your pet, remove it. You can upload a photo of it to an app called eTick, which will quickly let you know whether it’s the type of tick that carries diseases.

Fortunately, less than one per cent of the ticks tested in B.C. carry diseases.

Pet owner Shosana Gomez said she and her mom regularly check their dog Rocco for ticks.

“Especially this year, because we heard the ticks are getting bad. So, we kind of just go through his fur together,” she said. “We’re constantly watching him and make sure if something looks unusual, just to double check.”