With spring having sprung in most parts of America and pets taking their family members out on daily walks for their better health, our furry friends are more susceptible than ever during the warmer months of the year to ticks, the primary source of Lyme disease.

Just be careful about how you use the products you get from your local vet or pet store, particularly after a recent announcement by the EPA about mandating tougher restrictions, possible changes in product formulas and easier-to-understand consumer labeling for flea and tick treatments applied to a pet's skin.

Stiffer regulations were necessary after the agency received some 44,000 reports of pets being harmed by topical flea and tick products in 2008, an alarming 53 percent increase over the previous year. The big problem, according to one EPA administrator: Consumers didn't understand they needed to give their pets a safe and proper dosage based on their weight.

Contrary to what you might have assumed about this problem, cats are far more susceptible to injury and death from the overuse of flea and tick treatments, according to an American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals published last year. (I understand that concern all too well, as our delightful boy cat, Mr. Loverboy, tipping the scales at a "big-boned" 17 pounds, has been prescribed larger, dog-sized doses of flea medicines by our veterinarian due to his weight.)

You'll learn even more about protecting your pets from Lyme disease after watching this awesome eHow video.

Image source: Medical writer Amy Glenn Vega, Nursing Novellas

EPA.gov March 19, 2010

Wall Street Journal March 18, 2010

The Boston Globe March 17, 2010