Flea Prevention and Control

The most well-known and frustrating of all the parasites is the dreaded flea! Fleas can cause problems in pets that range from mild to life threatening. Not only do fleas cause severe itching, irritation and allergies, they can also transmit tapeworms and other diseases to your pet as well. The most important part of treating fleas is to use a veterinary prescription product to ensure the product is effective, as well as needing to treat EVERY pet in the house, this includes pocket pets like guinea pigs and ferrets!

You don’t want these blood-sucking parasites on your pet, or in your home! Give us a call if you need help controlling them or preventing it from being an issue in the first place!

Heartworm Disease

When your pet is bitten, mosquitoes can transmit a heartworm infection. These parasites can severely and sometimes fatally damage the heart, lungs and blood vessels. Some pets can be infected and not show any signs, however when they do, the symptoms can vary greatly. Signs of heartworm disease can range from coughing, fatigue, and weight loss, to difficulty breathing, liver failure and fluid in the abdomen.

Fortunately, there’s an easy way to prevent heartworm infection, by administering monthly heartworm preventions when mosquitoes are present. For dogs who travel with their owners to areas such as the United States (where heartworm is a very serious issue), it is recommended for them to be on heartworm prevention year-round. For dogs that stay in Ontario, prevention is usually given from June-November, or anytime mosquitoes are noted outside.

Treatment for heartworm infection is far more expensive than prevention – treatment is also very dangerous for the dog, and has a high rate of mortality. Administering heartworm prevention to a dog that is infected can also be detrimental, as dogs can have an anaphylaxis reaction to the worms dying in their system, therefore we always advise performing a quick blood test in the spring before starting prevention to ensure your dog has not been infected with heartworms the previous summer.

If you have any questions in regards to heartworm prevention, feel free to give us a call at any time!

Tick Prevention

Previously a non-issue in this area, Ticks are becoming ever more prevalent not only in our area but in most areas in North America, and their population just keeps rising. These parasites aren’t just a nuisance, they can cause serious and sometimes deadly diseases including Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, Babesiosis, Anaplasmosis, Ehrlichia and tick paralysis. Contact us immediately if your pet shows any signs of coughing, limping that seems to change legs, trouble breathing, fever, weakness, or loss of appetite, weight, energy or coordination.

The best thing you can do to help prevent the spread of these diseases to your pet is to have them on a tick prevention medication. Even indoor pets are at risk because ticks can be brought into your house on your pants and shoes! Tick preventions are available in many formulations, from topical to oral and depending on product is either administered monthly or every 3 months. Ticks are active anytime the temperature is above 4*C (or potentially even lower!) so prevention is becoming a need to do all year round.

Prevention is the key to ensure your pet (and you) stay safe from tick-borne diseases, checking yourself and your pets after each visit outside and removing any ticks promptly helps minimize the risk of disease transmission, the tick prevention can then be used as a back-up for any tiny ticks that are missed to further decrease the risk of disease.  We have a quick and easy blood test that is paired with Heartworm testing that checks for the most common tick-borne diseases in our areas, regular monitoring can help catch disease in its early stages when it’s much more treatable.

Give us a call with any questions you may have about ticks or tick prevention!