Why Cats and Dogs Need Year-Round Flea, Tick & Heartworm Prevention in Pewaukee

Fleas live in your pet’s coat and feed on their blood. In sensitive pets, even one flea bite can cause an allergic reaction of itchy, irritated skin. Other dangers these parasites pose include the transmission of Bartonella (cat scratch disease) or tapeworm larvae. Both Bartonella and tapeworms can also infect your human family! Since fleas are notoriously hard to get rid of, any lapse of flea prevention could induce a resurgence. With consistent prevention as well as thorough cleaning of your pet’s bedding, your furniture, carpets, and any other place fleas could be hiding, you can keep these pests at bay!

Ticks are infamous for their vector-borne illnesses such as Lyme disease, ehrlichiosis, and Rocky Mountain spotted fever. These diseases are dangerous for both our pets and our human families. Dogs are more at risk than cats not only because they are more likely to go hiking with their pet parents in forested areas, but their skin is also less sensitive than cats. Still, both cats and dogs need year-round tick prevention! These resilient pests can be active in temperatures as low as 35 degrees!

Heartworms are spread by mosquitoes who are infected with heartworm larvae. When an infected mosquito bites your dog or cat, they transmit the larvae to their bloodstream. The larvae will then travel to the blood vessels in the heart and lungs, where they’ll grow, mature, and multiply. While cats are atypical hosts for heartworms, they can still contract heartworm disease, so it’s important they stay on heartworm prevention, too! While mosquitoes do die out in the winter, their revival each spring is getting harder to predict.

While heartworms make their home in your pet’s blood vessels, intestinal worms such as roundworms, hookworms, whipworms, and tapeworms, all take up residence in your pet’s digestive tract. These parasites might cause no symptoms at all, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t doing damage! Puppies and kittens frequently get worms from their mother, and so often go through a deworming treatment during their first year of life. Yet, any cat or dog can come in contact with these parasites through interaction with contaminated feces.

Other intestinal parasites to be aware of are coccidia and giardia, both of which can be found in contaminated soil or water that has an infected animal’s feces in it. These parasites often cause little to no symptoms, but a serious infection can result in diarrhea and weight loss.