Vet Clinic July 2009

FLEAS

With warmer winters and widespread central heating fleas are no longer the seasonal summer problem (numbers do still increase around June through till September). Instead the little horrors get onto your pet and into your home throughout the year causing different types of problems.

Worst still a female can lay 50 or more eggs per day!

These eggs fall of your pets and are deposited around the

home, in the car and don’t forget your caravans. They can

lay dormant for upto twelve months, until they develop

into larval and pupal stages, then into adult fleas.

So just think about it, in just a few weeks’ fleas can

multiply into several thousand! This can cause a flea

infestation and fleas don’t just live of animals, if

they need food, they may bite you?

How to treat your pet for fleas.

It is now advisable to treat fleas all year round. This can be done in

many ways.

Spot on treatments – Not all treatments are affected; you pay for what you get? I would advise to only buy licensed products, which can only be purchased through a Pharmacist or Veterinary Surgeons. These are usually more cost effected and not as pricey as people think. These are usually used monthly.

Program Suspensions/Injections – This is a treatment that stops the flea’s eggs from hatching. Therefore stops the chances of any flea infestations. For dogs it is a suspension that is put into their food once a month and for cats via an injection, which last 6 months. This treatment is a little more pricey but worth it!

Powders – Very out dated but still available?

Collars – These are relatively cheap and do help in small doses, but don’t last long and need to be changed frequently.

Sprays – There are not many available due to most of them contaning Organic phosphates, which is now illegal to use.

TICKS

By contrast, ticks live in areas of woodland, moorland and heathlands,

waiting to attach themselves to passing pets. Once attached, ticks feed

on your pets blood, sometimes for days.

Ticks cause problems in two ways – firstly they can cause a tissue

reaction at the attachment site and secondly they can transmit serious

diseases such as Lyme disease and Babesiosis.

Ticks are usually a seasonal problem May-October, but can still be found in winter?

If your pet gets a tick, do not remove it yourself unless you know how too! If you remove it incorrectly, you run the risk of leaving its head or feet in your pet. This in its self can cause problems and lead to infection.

If your pet develops any signs of illness soon after having a tick, you must inform your vet. General signs of Lymes disease are vomiting, diarrhoea and lethargy.

TREATMENT FOR TICKS

Most of the treatments on the market for ticks are spot-on treatments and these usually kill fleas too! You can buy tick removers. These are like little hooks that hook between your pet on the tick. You then twist the hook and pull the tick off, when you do this you need to check you have removed the full tick!

If you are going on holiday to somewhere that is a regular tick haven, use a treatment before you go.

Don’t let fleas and ticks make life a misery – contact your local veterinary practice for more advice on the best flea/tick control for your pet.