It is Flea and Tick Season, as well as Mosquito Season! Yuck! Along with the beautiful warmer weather we have all been waiting patiently for unfortunately comes bugs ☹ Please help keep your pets protected from these harmful critters with flea and tick and heartworm preventative! While we cannot protect ourselves, at least we can keep our pets happy and safe!
We have several recommendations for flea and tick products. For dogs, we recommend Nexgard, the safe and convenient monthly chew, and Seresto, a safe and easy to apply collar that lasts for 8 months. For cats that venture outdoors, we recommend the Seresto collar (it is safe and break-away), or topical Bravecto which lasts for 3 months!
The older topicals, including Frontline and Advantix, sadly do not seem to be a match for these feisty creepy crawlers!
As for Heartworm Disease, it only takes 1 infected mosquito to transmit Heartworm Disease, and while it used to be more of a concern in the South, we are now seeing many cases of transmission here in the Northeast. Please keep your pet protected from this fatal disease with monthly Heartworm Preventative. We recommend Interceptor Plus and Heartgard. And not only do these protect against Heartworm Disease, but they also act as a monthly deworming product to keep your pet parasite-free, on the inside and out!
Besides their ugly exterior and vampirous nature (yes, we made up a word but does it not apply?!), another downside of ticks are the many diseases they transmit, including Lyme Disease. In addition to the more commonly known symptoms of Lyme Disease, including lameness, lethargy, and decreased appetite, Lyme nephritis can be a fatal complication. In this process, kidney failure results from antibody and antigen complex formation and showering of the kidney. This potentially fatal disease can be prevented by using flea and tick preventative, as well as by vaccinating your pet. The Lyme vaccine is a safe and effective vaccine that is initially administered and boostered one month later, and is then given once yearly. There are few side effects with the Ultra vaccine we use, and these are mostly limited to vaccine-site soreness and lethargy. Pre-treating with an injection of Benadryl (we do this before all lyme vaccinations to reduce reactions for the comfort of our patients) can reduce the side effects greatly.
Feeling a bit jealous that we can protect our pets but not us?! We feel the same way! But at least we can keep our furry family members protected from these evil arachnid monsters!