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March is National Tick Awareness Month, a client-education initiative introduced in 2016 by the CVMA in partnership with Merck Animal Health.
Thanks to the enthusiastic response of the Canadian veterinary community to the campaign, a growing number of pet owners across the country are now aware of the risk of exposure to ticks year-round, and are taking measures to protect their pets and their families against these parasites and the diseases they can carry. In fact, ticks can be active every season - any day when temperatures reach 4°C and above.
The veterinary community may not be able stop tick expansion, but there's still a great deal we can do to help change public perceptions and behaviours when it comes to tick control.
2025 National Tick Awareness Month
The 2025 NTAM campaign kicks off on March 1 with this empowering message: “Will Ticks Get Through? Not With You!” We can make it harder for ticks and the pathogens they may carry to navigate their way to pets by layering these three steps:
- Performing daily tick checks and avoiding locations where ticks can be found
- Using veterinary-approved tick control products for the duration of the risk period
- Considering Lyme vaccination for canine patients
2025 National Tick Awareness Month Tools for Veterinary Teams
Posters highlighting the possible advantages of infected ticks have been sent to veterinary clinics across the country. We are also creating new social media posts you can share on your own platforms to help inform pet parents about increased tick risks. As always, tools from previous campaigns are still available on TickTalkCanada.com.
NTAM Kick-Off Webinar
How to Maximize Pet Owner Understanding and Minimize Gaps in Protection in our Rapidly Changing Canadian Tick Landscape
It’s hard to keep up with the changing tick reality in Canada. It feels like something new is published every week! Dr. Catherine Bouchard, from the Public Health Agency of Canada, shares some “pearls of wisdom” from recent literature and summarizes some key updates related to ticks and tick-borne diseases in Canada with the goal of helping veterinary teams effectively communicate changing risks to pet owners.
Dr. Jason Coe, from the University of Guelph, focuses on how we can help pet owners understand the value of your tick control recommendations and how this understanding can minimize gaps in protection. Using the Spectrum of Care approach, Dr. Coe explores the benefit of providing options to pet owners when engaging in tick control discussions.
2025 National Tick Awareness Month Pet-owner Engagement Tools
As in previous years, the CVMA, in partnership with Merck Animal Health, has created engaging communication materials and support tools to assist veterinary teams in their efforts to educate pet owners about ticks and tick-borne diseases.
- Video: "Will Ticks Get Through? Not With You!"
- Printable poster
- Ready-to-use social media posts
- Show your clients what the typical tick activity was in your city last year!
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