Flea and Tick Prevention

Aside from the cringe you feel when you see a little brown bug leap from your pet’s fur onto your arm, fleas can cause a number of issues for pets.

Fleas can cause a number of skin issues such as Flea Allergy Dermatitis, which plays a role in skin infection. They can also transmit tapeworms, which as we all know is a very unsavory affair. Additionally, ticks can transmit a number of diseases from Lyme Disease to Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. These diseases typically cause anemia, weight loss, and fever in pets.

Symptoms created by flea and tick bites can sometimes be so vague that they are difficult to diagnose, although it can take a pet up to 3 weeks to recover once initially treated.

Local Climate

The warmer the weather, the greater the number of adult pests and new larva ready to attack. This is typically why we see an increase of flea and tick infestation during the summer time.

Your Home
Although fleas may be inside your home, they are not easy to spot. These pesky critters greatly prefer cats and dogs to humans, but won’t hesitate to seek out the next best thing if deprived of an animal for a period of time.
 

The Outdoors

The risk of exposure to fleas and ticks in the outdoors is basically inevitable. Especially during the summer, the chances of your pet coming into contact with these insects is very great.  

Fleas and ticks can easily be treated, but also just as easily prevented. There are a number of once-a-month treatments on the market that can be purchased either from Westside Veterinary Clinic, in our office or on our online pharmacy, or from a number of online pet pharmaceutical companies.

Chewable preventatives for dogs and cats come in the form of a tasty treat that is given once a month as a preventative. Topical preventatives come in an easy to use applicator tube and are administered on the skin between the shoulder blades once a month.  

Freaked out by the fact that fleas and ticks may live either in your home or in your yard? Most professional exterminators have options for indoor and outdoor treatments that can either eliminate or limit the number of pests to put your mind at ease.

  Ask your veterinarian or visit www.ASPCA.org to find more information on the effects that fleas and ticks can have on you, your family, and your pets.