I wish Noah had swatted those 2 fleas….maybe the ticks and mosquitoes too?

Many people think flea season comes to an end in the fall, but in reality, it begins ramping up.  Veterinarians begin seeing more flea cases in the late summer and fall than in the spring.  Why is this?

As cooler weather sets in, fleas are in a hurry to find a warm place to spend the cold winter months.  That place is your home.  Fleas will travel on pets and on people.  So if you visit a place that has fleas, even if you don’t see them, all it takes is a couple to hitch a ride home with you and take up residence in your home.  Or for a guest to bring some over unknowingly to share with you.

That’s often how indoor only pets can get fleas!

So what can you do?

Treat all pets in the home for fleas with a veterinary approved product every month, even if you don’t see fleas.  Prevention is the key to avoiding an infestation.  Flea medication is the best at preventing a flea problem by killing the stray fleas that enter your home before they have a chance to reproduce.  Once you have fleas in your home, then you’re locked into treating every pet in the home for a minimum of 3 consecutive months, plus treating your home.  Then you may have to deal with skin infections, tapeworms, or other diseases caused by the fleas.

If you choose not to give your pets flea prevention routinely, do weekly flea checks of every pet in your home.  Use a flea comb (have teeth very close together) to comb the back, around the tail, belly, and under the chin/neck of your pet, as these are places fleas like to hide.  Any black pepper looking specks indicates the presence of fleas.  Even 1 flea is a sign of more in the home.  Never think it is only 1 flea.

Use caution with flea drops, shampoos, and collars found in grocery and pet stores.  Most flea collars do not work well as the flea must jump on the collar to be affected.  Plus the collars smell awful-would you want to wear something around your neck that stinks?  Flea shampoos kill only what is on the pet at the time of the bath.  They have zero residual effect and tend to dry out a pet’s skin.  And many over the counter flea drops (Hartz, Sargeants, BioSpot) have been known to be harmful to pets, causing minor skin irritation, seizures, and even death.

Suburban Animal Clinic recommends the use of one of several products.  Carried in clinic are Vectra 3D (flea and tick for dogs), and Vectra (flea for dogs).  Also available in clinic is Frontline Plus (flea and tick for cat).  (Please note we are seeing some resistance to Frontline from the fleas).  Advantage (dogs and cats) and Advantix (dogs only-also works against ticks) are also good products to use.  All mentioned products are topicals applied once monthly.

We also offer Nexgard chews (flea and tick for dog), and Seresto collar, a prescription strength flea and tick collar for dogs and cats.  No smell, works great for up to 8 months.

For pets also needing prescription heartworm prevention, we have Advantage Multi for dogs and Revolution for cats, which are heartworm and flea combined topicals, as well as Trifexis, a heartworm and flea pill for dogs.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure…and way cheaper than treating a problem once it starts!  Stop in for your flea products today!

SPECIALS: Advantage Multi, Revolution (heartworm and flea topical): Buy 6, get 2 FREE

Nexgard (flea and tick chews) FREE SAMPLE (limit one per dog) (also special rebates when purchased with a 6 or 12 pack of Heartgard Plus)

Vectra, Vectra 3D (flea, flea and tick topical) Buy 6, get a rebate form for 3 FREE

Frontline Plus (cats only-flea and tick topical) Buy 3, get 1 FREE