Tick Solutions Adds a 10-Minute Diagnostic to Its Retail Empire
Tick Solutions Global launched TiCK TEST, a $34.99 at-home diagnostic that reads a removed tick for Lyme bacteria in 10 minutes. The release frames it as a human-health product, but the company's retail footprint runs through Petco and Tractor Supply, raising the question of when pet-specific testing follows.
TiCK TEST reads the tick, not the blood
The company launched TiCK TEST on Monday, a rapid at-home diagnostic that analyzes a removed tick directly for Borrelia burgdorferi, the bacterium behind Lyme disease, rather than testing blood for an immune response after the fact. Initial testing shows greater than 99% accuracy, with ongoing validation from Dr. Monica Embers at Tulane University and Dr. Tom Mather at the University of Rhode Island, though neither study has published results yet.
Preorders are live at $34.99 on TiCKMiTT.com, with shipments expected within weeks. It was developed alongside Palladium Diagnostics and medical device engineering firm Gener8.
"Finding a tick often leaves families with more questions than answers," CEO Olivia Abrams said, framing the product around faster conversations with doctors rather than veterinarians specifically.
A diagnostic bet that bypasses the vet visit
TiCK TEST is launching as a human-health product, aimed at families and their physicians, and the release doesn't mention dogs or cats once. But Tick Solutions Global's actual retail footprint is built on pets. Its flagship tool, TiCK MiTT, sells at Petco, Costco, Bass Pro Shops, and Tractor Supply as a product explicitly marketed for "people and pets," across more than 3,500 retail locations, and it made TIME's Best Inventions of 2025 after a Shark Tank Season 16 appearance.
That distribution muscle matters more than the human framing suggests. A tick pulled off a dog works the same as one pulled off a person, and Lyme disease in dogs is one of the more common reasons vets run point-of-care panels like IDEXX's SNAP tests in the first place. If Tick Solutions Global extends TiCK TEST's positioning to pet owners next, a $34.99 impulse buy at the Petco checkout line becomes a real, if partial, substitute for a diagnostic conversation that currently happens inside a vet visit.
Whether pet-specific testing follows the human version
The release leans on a >99% accuracy figure without disclosing the sample size behind it, and the two academic validation studies cited are still in progress, not published. That's worth tracking before treating the number as settled.
The bigger signal to watch is whether Tick Solutions Global rolls out pet-specific marketing or packaging for TiCK TEST. Given where TiCK MiTT already sells, a pivot toward "for pets and people" positioning looks like the more obvious growth path than staying human-only, and it's the move that would force veterinary diagnostics incumbents to actually respond.
Other News
More stories shaping the pet industry this week. From funding rounds and product launches to regulatory shifts and retail strategy, stay ahead of what's driving the market.
Tucker's Buys Nugget's Healthy Eats, Its Second Brand Absorption This Year
Tucker's Raw Frozen Food acquired bone-broth brand Nugget's Healthy Eats in April, retiring the name and folding its formulas into Tucker's own lineup. It's the second time this year Tucker's has absorbed rather than kept an acquired brand, and the rebranded line debuts this week at SuperZoo.
VAFO Acquires Pets Deli as Its Founder Returns to the CEO Seat
VAFO Group has acquired Berlin-based D2C pet food brand Pets Deli on undisclosed terms, with founder Tania Moser returning as CEO after more than a year as chairwoman. The deal is the second involving a German pet food company The Underbite has tracked in two weeks, and it fits a pattern of manufacturers buying direct customer relationships rather than building them.
Nine Pet Companies that Made the 2026 Inc. 5000
At least nine pet-industry companies, led by veterinary network Petfolk's 2,016% three-year growth, placed on the 2026 Inc. 5000 list of America's fastest-growing private companies. Their range, from consolidated veterinary care to doodle-breed grooming, maps where pet industry money is actually moving.