Blog: Parasites and your Pet

One of the bonuses of opening the Great Neck Dog and Cat Hospital is that I get to take advantage of the natural beauty of the village.  I was scheduled to meet a client that was picking up their boarding dog on Sunday morning so I decided to get to the hospital early and go for a run.  While heading up Great Neck Road towards King's Point, I reflected on the way the previous night's  snow shower had dusted the lawns but left the crocuses popping their flowers up to great the coming spring.

As the run continued, so did my ruminating and I decided to share some of my thoughts with you.  Those that know me from my other

heard my parasite talk before and may want to just skip to the pictures.  The rest should read on.

The Four Groups of Parasites

It's true, only four groups of parasites to worry about with your pets. The relative seriousnes of each group will depend on whether you have a dog or a cat and their respective life styles, but you need to be aware of all of them regardless.  And where would the suspense be if I told you all four in one post, so I'll start today, and continue over the next few days.

TICKS

There I said it, these ugly little suckers (literaly) are out there just waiting to jump on your dog or cat.  They don't need it to be summer, they just need a couple of warm days and they will be out there seeking their first blood meal.  Now the picture I posted illustrates the high ick factor of this parasite, but that is only a small part of the problem.  These parasites carry and spread some serious diseases.  The most well known is Lyme disease and although it is spread by the deer tick, the most common wild life host for this tick is acutally the mouse. (Go figure).  Actually, if you are interested in the life cycle of ticks let me know and we can discuss that as well at some future point in time.  Depending on the tick and where it was before it jumped on you or your pet, it may also carry Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, Ehrlichia, Anaplasma, or a host of rickettsial diseases, some much more serious than others.

The key here is prevention.  The ticks must attach to your pet and start to feed to spread disease.  The time that it takes to infect your pet depends on the disease and the type of tick, but some diseases can be spread in under 24 hours.

The past year or so has seen many of the products that used to be available only from your veterinarian appear in stores advertising lower prices.  Before you jump, check with your veterinarian.  The manufacturers offer us some incentives and often your veterinarian is selling the product for less than the big box store or on line pharmacy.

Fipronil, the active ingredient in Frontline Plus is recently off patent, spawning a ton of generic products.  While they do contain the same active ingredient, the other ingredients are not the same and they may not work as well.  So, this is not a wise way to try to save money. I would follow your veterinarian's advice, not the advice of some kid at a pet shop when picking the best tick preventative for your dog or cat. Especially cats, since many products, even those marketed OTC for cats can be dangerous.

Now I know you are dying for my recommendation but I need to tease just a little bit more.  Remeber how many groups of parasites I said there were?  If you said four without scrolling back to the top you win a prize for paying attention.  The catch here is that there is not currently one medication that will prevent all four groups of parasites.  There is some overlap and you should talk to your veterinarian.

However, if you have read my posts or followed me on twitter, you know that I can't resist giving my opinion so here it goes.

For a good once a month spot on product to control ticks and fleas (and now you know the second group of parasites), we recommend either Activyl or K9 Advantix II.  Actually, the dog product will prevent fleas and ticks on dogs, the cat product only takes care of fleas.  DO NOT USE THE DOG PRODUCT ON CATS, IT WILL KILL THEM!  Frontline Plus will take care of fleas and ticks on both dogs and cats but we have seen significant resistance develope to this product at our Clinic in Farmingdale so we have stopped recommending it out there.

There is an excellent new collar, safe for dogs and cats, that controls fleas and ticks for up to 8 months. (Probably closer to 6 months if your pet swims or gets frequent baths)  It is safe for pets and people.  Now this is not the collar that we all brought at the supermarket years ago. Those were only toxic to us, didn't do a thing to fleas or ticks.  The Seresto collar is my go to product for this season and the manufacturer is providing a generous $20 rebate direct to you, bringing the cost down to $50, a little more than $6 a month, quite the bargin if you ask me.

Stay tuned for the next post.  I know I mentioned fleas, but since I already gave you a way to prevent those, I'll probably hit one of the other groups first.