Tick-borne diseases including Lyme disease cause significant suffering in dogs and cats. Evidence-based prevention protects companion animals from preventable welfare harms throughout tick-endemic regions.
Tick-borne disease welfare impacts are significant and often prolonged. Lyme disease in dogs causes painful joint inflammation, fever, and fatigue that may last weeks even with appropriate antibiotic treatment. Kidney failure from Lyme nephropathy is a serious welfare emergency affecting some infected dogs. The chronic nature of tick-borne diseases means affected animals may suffer for extended periods before diagnosis and treatment. Prevention using monthly acaricides is highly effective, essentially painless, and inexpensive relative to treatment costs. Owner vigilance in performing tick checks after outdoor activities allows early removal of attached ticks before disease transmission occurs. As tick ranges expand with climate change, previously low-risk areas are experiencing increasing disease burden.