It's that time of year again, once the weather warms up and the snow clears, that all the bugs begin to crawl. And that includes ticks. So what can people and pet owners do to protect themselves and their furry loved ones?

"The first thing you need to know," shared Breanne Barber, a registered veterinarian technician at Head for The Hills in Carlyle, "is that ticks actually start looking for their first blood meal when we get to a temperature of 4o."

She added that prevention medications can be given orally or topically. 

"And there's a lot of different options that veterinarian would have available for you."

She mentioned that it is hard to say whether or not the ticks will be bad this year. 

"It all depends on the year. it was a pretty easy winter for those ticks so I would expect with not having too many cold temperatures that we would see an increase in ticks again. Or about the same as last year because it wasn't a hard winter for them last year either."

"That's why prevention is key. I would recommend getting in your tick prevention in either April or May."

She added that there have been no cases of Lyme Disease yet but it is an issue that is becoming more prominent in the southeast. 

"Make sure you talk to your veterinarian so they can figure out the best course of action for you and your pet. Whether it be a cat or a dog because there is tick prevention for cats as well. There is some stuff that is out there that is labelled for pet use but it isn't for them."