Fleas and ticks do not only cause irritation of skin through their bites, but they also spread disease. In both dogs and cats, fleas can transmit the microscopic larvae of a species tapeworm that infects the gut causing GI disturbance and ill thrift from nutrient leaching. Ticks can transmit a number of serious bacterial infections in dogs, like Lyme Disease and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. These diseases cause a number of severe disease manifestations including severe fever, muscle and joint pain, severe listlessness and death if left untreated. Warm weather and precipitation also awaken dormant forms of all manners of intestinal parasites that infect dogs and cats, from protozoal parasites like coccidia and giardia, to worm parasites, like hookworms, roundworms, and whipworms. These parasites cause diarrhea, cramping, ill thrift from leaching of nutrients, and possible dangerous structural and vascular disease of the GI tract in dogs and cats.

For prevention of flea, ticks, heartworm disease, and intestinal parasites, the veterinary industry offers an array of topical and oral products that effectively prevent these pesky and potentially dangerous pests. Be leery of pet store grade products, they can be especially ineffective and even dangerous for your pets. Always keep up on yearly to semi yearly heartworm blood screening and stool analysis for intestinal parasite screening as they are an essential component to keeping your pets and family safe. These simple and inexpensive diagnostics enable early screening of parasitic infestations that give us the opportunity to have them treated before pets become very ill or members of the human family are at serious risk. 

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