Ticks wake up when the ground warms to around five degrees — in Kazakhstan that is late March and April. A second peak comes in September. The danger is not the bite itself but what a tick can carry.
Preventive treatment
A vet chooses it by the dog's weight, age and lifestyle: spot-ons, tablets and collars work differently and do not suit everyone. Start before the season, not after the first bite, and repeat on schedule — an expired treatment does not work.
Checking after a walk
A tick crawls over a dog for half an hour to two hours before attaching, and that is when it is easiest to remove. Look first where the skin is thinner: behind and inside the ears, on the neck and under the collar, in the armpits and groin, between the toes, around the eyes and on the muzzle.
Run your hand against the coat. An attached tick feels like a small pea.
How to remove it
With a tick hook or tweezers. Grip as close to the skin as possible and twist rather than pull — yanking leaves the mouthparts in the skin.
Do not pour oil on it, do not burn it, do not drown it in alcohol. The tick will not come out; it will start regurgitating into the wound, and that is exactly what is dangerous.
Once it is off, clean the spot with antiseptic and write down the date. You can keep the tick in a jar: if the dog falls ill, it will help the vet.
What to watch for after a bite
For the first two weeks: lethargy, refusing food, fever, dark or reddish urine, yellowing of the gums and the whites of the eyes. Any one of those means going to a clinic straight away, not watching until morning.
Babesiosis develops fast and is treated the more successfully the earlier it is caught. This is not a case for waiting.