Monthly Newsletter

  For many of us humans, fall is a lovely and welcomed time of year. The leaves are changing, the air is crisp, and we love nothing more than to take our furry family members out to enjoy this beautiful weather. Because the weather is getting cooler and the population of pests slows or diminishes during this time of year, many people tend to believe that it isn’t necessary to treat their pets with parasiticides, such as heartworm and flea/tick prevention.

Unfortunately, this couldn’t be further from the truth. During these cooler fall months wildlife such as mice, skunks, and fox are much more prone to stumble into the lives of us and our pets. Whether it be a mouse taking shelter from the cold in your house, a skunk strolling through your back yard at night, or a fox that you come upon during a walk in the woods, there are always unpredictable ways that our animals can come into contact with wildlife that may be riddled with parasites.

Why is this such a bad thing?

The most obvious reason would be the possible transmission of Rabies, which is why it is so important to always keep your pets up-to-date on their vaccines. However, internal and external parasites can easily be transmitted to our pets from wildlife through direct contact or ingestion.  

If your cat catches and eats a mouse that is carrying an internal parasite and/or worms, your cat is now infected with them as well. Or if your dog were to get into an altercation with a skunk or fox that is carrying ticks that are infected with a tick-born illness, your dog is now at risk for contracting that disease. Some forms of parasites such as roundworms and hookworms can even be transmitted to humans so keeping your pet protected, keeps you protected as well!

What can you do?

Luckily most heartworm medications also treat and prevent other internal parasites. So, keeping your dog on heartworm medication all year round instead of just the summer months can significantly decrease the chance of your dog contracting something from another animal. The AHS, AVMA, AAHA, CAPC, and CDC all recommend that dogs be kept on heartworm prevention all year round as the number of heartworm positive cases has steadily been increasing each year.

Flea and Tick prevention, when used all year round, will protect your dogs and cats from the diseases that fleas and ticks can carry. You can purchase our preferred products, Heartgard, Nexgard, and Frontline in clinic. However, if you have another preferred brand of your own, we offer several options through our online pharmacy that can be shipped directly to your home.

Please don’t hesitate to give us a call to schedule an appointment or find out how you can get your pet protected today!