Fleas and ticks are more than just a nuisance. They can make your pet extremely uncomfortable and cause illnesses, such as flea allergy dermatitis and tapeworm infestations. Animal Clinic of Rogue River can evaluate your pet to help determine the best type of flea and tick prevention.
Pet Health Hazards Of Fleas And Ticks
Fleas and ticks carry diseases that can cause serious harm to your pet. One common problem associated with fleas is flea allergy dermatitis, which causes excessive itching, skin inflammation, sores and hair loss. Another common problem associated with fleas is tapeworms infestation. Fleas can carry tapeworm eggs, and when your pet ingests a flea, it will become infested with the tapeworms. A variety of bacterial infections can also be carried by fleas and passed along to your pet if bitten by the flea.
For pets who are small or advanced in age, a severe flea infestation can cause anemia (blood loss due to flea bites), which causes rapid breathing, lack of appetite and excessive sleeping. If you suspect your pet has anemia due to fleas, please seek emergency medical care for your pet.
Ticks are known to carry many different types of bacteria such as babesiosis, Rocky Mountain spotted fever and Lyme disease. Lyme disease causes lethargy, pain in your pets joints joint pain and a decrease in appetite. Rocky Mountain spotted fever can cause skin lesions, vomiting, problems with your pet’s nervous system and depression. Babesiosis can cause a number of serious symptoms, including bleeding and anemia.
Types Of Flea Prevention Medication Available
When it comes to preventing fleas and ticks, there are several different types of medications available, including sprays, oral tablets, spot-on treatments and flea collars. Animal Clinic of Rogue River can help you decide which method is best for your pet, depending on his or her lifestyle.
- Oral Tablets – Typically given once a month to control fleas and ticks. When the parasite bites your pet, it ingests the medication and dies.
- Spot-On Treatments – Placed between your pet’s shoulder blades once a month. Kills fleas and ticks on contact.
- Sprays – Sprayed onto your pet’s fur to control in-progress flea and tick infestations. Can last up to 30 days.
- Flea Collars – Worn around your pet’s neck to help prevent flea infestations. Kills on contact.
When it comes to controlling fleas and ticks, you can count on us to help you choose the right type of medication for your pet and give advice on how to rid your home of flea infestations.
For more information on our flea and tick prevention services call us at (541) 582-1440 today.
Heartworm disease is a serious and potentially fatal disease caused by foot-long worms (heartworms) that live in the heart, lungs and associated blood vessels of affected pets. This can cause severe lung disease, heart failure and damage to other organs in the body. Heartworm disease affects dogs and cats, but heartworms also live in other mammal species, including wolves, coyotes, foxes, sea lions and—in rare instances—humans. Because wild species such as foxes and coyotes live in proximity to many urban areas, they are considered important carriers of the disease.
Dogs. The dog is a natural host for heartworms, which means that heartworms that live inside the dog mature into adults, mate and produce offspring. If untreated, their numbers can increase, and dogs have been known to harbor several hundred worms in their bodies. Heartworm disease causes lasting damage to the heart, lungs and arteries, and can affect the dog’s health and quality of life long after the parasites are gone. For this reason, heartworm prevention for dogs is by far the best option, and treatment—when needed—should be administered as early in the course of the disease as possible.
Cats. Heartworm disease in cats is very different from heartworm disease in dogs. The cat is an atypical host for heartworms, and most worms in cats do not survive to the adult stage. Cats with adult heartworms typically have just one to three worms, and many cats affected by heartworms have no adult worms. While this means heartworm disease often goes undiagnosed in cats, it is important to understand that even immature worms cause damage to the respiratory tract. Heartworm disease must be prevented in cats as there are no FDA approved treatments for cats.
Transmission of heartworm disease
The mosquito plays an essential role in the heartworm life cycle. Adult female heartworms living in an infected dog, fox, coyote, or wolf produce microscopic baby worms called microfilaria that circulate in the bloodstream. When a mosquito bites and takes a blood meal from an infected animal, it picks up these baby worms, which develop and mature into “infective stage” larvae over a period of 10 to 14 days inside of the mosquito. Then, when the infected mosquito bites another dog, cat, or susceptible wild animal, the infective larvae are deposited onto the surface of the animal's skin and enter the new host through the mosquito’s bite wound. Once inside a new host, it takes approximately 6 months for the larvae to develop into sexually mature adult heartworms. Once mature, heartworms can live for 5 to 7 years in dogs and up to 2 or 3 years in cats. Because of the longevity of these worms, each mosquito season can lead to an increasing number of worms in an infected pet.
Symptoms of heartworm disease:
In the early stages of the disease, many dogs show few symptoms or no symptoms at all. The longer the infection persists, the more likely symptoms will develop. Active dogs, dogs heavily infected with heartworms, or those with other health problems often show pronounced clinical signs.
Signs of heartworm disease in dogs may include a mild persistent cough, reluctance to exercise, fatigue after moderate activity, decreased appetite, and weight loss. Dogs with large numbers of heartworms can develop a sudden blockages of blood flow within the heart leading to sudden onset of labored breathing, pale gums, and dark bloody or coffee-colored urine.
Signs of heartworm disease in cats can be very subtle or very dramatic. Symptoms may include coughing, asthma-like attacks, periodic vomiting, lack of appetite, or weight loss. Occasionally an affected cat may have difficulty walking, experience fainting or seizures, or suffer from fluid accumulation in the abdomen. Unfortunately, the first sign in some cases is sudden collapse of the cat, or sudden death.
Risk for heartworm infection
Many factors must be considered, even if heartworms do not seem to be a problem in your local area. Your community may have a greater incidence of heartworm disease than you realize—or you may unknowingly travel with your pet to an area where heartworms are more common. Heartworm disease is also spreading to new regions of the country each year. Heartworm disease has been diagnosed in all 50 states. Stray and neglected dogs and certain wildlife such as coyotes, wolves, and foxes can be carriers of heartworms. Mosquitoes blown great distances by the wind and the relocation of infected pets to previously uninfected areas also contribute to the spread of heartworm disease.
The fact is that heartworm disease has been diagnosed in all 50 states, and risk factors are impossible to predict. Multiple variables, from climate variations to the presence of wildlife carriers, cause rates of infections to vary dramatically from year to year—even within communities. And because infected mosquitoes can come inside, both outdoor and indoor pets are at risk.
Heartworm disease is a serious, progressive disease. The earlier it is detected, the better the chances the pet will recover. There are few, if any, early signs of disease when a dog or cat is infected with heartworms, so detecting their presence with a heartworm test administered by a veterinarian is important. The test requires just a small blood sample from your pet and is done right in the clinic. If your pet tests positive, further tests may be ordered.
All dogs should be tested annually for heartworm infection, and this can usually be done during a routine visit for preventive care. Following are guidelines on testing and timing:
- Puppies under 7 months of age can be started on heartworm prevention without a heartworm test, but should be tested at 1 year of age
- Adult dogs over 7 months of age and previously not on a preventive need to be tested prior to starting heartworm prevention.
- If your pet has been off heartworm prevention, immediately re-start your dog on monthly preventive—then retest your dog 6 months later. The reason for re-testing is that heartworms must be approximately 7 months old before the infection can be diagnosed.
Annual testing is required, even when dogs are on heartworm prevention year-round, to ensure that the prevention program is working. Heartworm medications are highly effective, but dogs can still become infected. If you miss just one dose of a monthly medication—or give it late—it can leave your dog unprotected. Even if you give the medication as recommended, your dog may spit out or vomit a heartworm pill—or rub off a topical medication. Heartworm preventives are highly effective, but not 100 percent effective. If you do not get your dog tested, you will not know your dog needs treatment.