06/24/2026
Gather round friends, let me tell you a story about a teeny tiny tick. We had a new kitty come to see us this morning. He's been living outside and when he chose his new family he was a little elusive at first. When they finally gained his trust and asked him to come inside and get cleaned up, he had a few "bugs" on him. His new folks thought what he had were ticks but we honestly were unsure. The last remaining one actually fell off during his appointment and we placed it on a slide and looked under the microscope. It sure had some tick like legs! So, I asked ChatGPT to show me images of an engorged, larval stage black legged tick. It showed me images of exactly this bug! So, it is in fact a tick! The reason I'm sharing this long story is because I want everyone to appreciate how super ridiculously tiny this tick is. I can't tell you how many people tell me they don't think they need tick prevention because they never see ticks on their dog. You would never find this tiny guy on a big hairy dog! I also attached a couple older pictures of Gwenja the Puppy Ninja when she had a larval stage, black legged tick attached to her while hiking. The thing to note about Gwen's tick is the red ring migrating away from the tick itself. That tick had only been attached to Gwen less than TWO HOURS! Ticks are nothing to mess with, they transmit diseases that at best require additional tests and a month of antibiotics and at worst cause long-term health issues and even death for not only our pets but potentially ourselves! Being an integrative practice we do still recommend the use of traditional flea and tick prevention like Credelio or Simparica. Another thing I'd like to mention is Gwen was on Simparica AND wearing a Seresto collar when that tick attached to her. We were hiking in Connecticut so I wanted to be extra cautious. She never went on to develop any tick borne disease and I think that was due to her prevention. Please share these images with your friends and family! Let us know if you have questions about ticks or prevention or really anything!
