The weather this past year certainly has been unusual. Here in Connecticut, we have had a hurricane, snow in Oct and the mildest winter in a decade. The warm weather has resulted in an early tick season as well as more flea problems through the winter.
Fleas and ticks are not only pests, but can lead to harmful diseases for humans and pets. As many people are aware, ticks commonly spread lyme disease, caused by a bacterial infection that can cause problems with the joints, heart and central nervous system if left undiagnosed and untreated. Other diseases transmitted by ticks include Ehrlichiosis, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, babesiosis and anaplasmosis.
Fleas can lead to anemia in young, sick or elderly animals. They can also transmit tapeworms and bartonella (cat scratch disease). Fleas can make your pet very itchy and even develop skin lesions with secondary bacterial infections– especially if your pet has a flea allergy.
In order to protect both the health of your pet and your family, we recommend that you use a flea and tick product recommended by your vet to kill and prevent infestation. We also recommend daily tick checks and combing your pet regularly with a flea comb to monitor for fleas or flea dirt (digested blood that looks like small black curly dirt)
Ticks are most prevalent in moist, moderately warm weather conditions and that is why spring and fall are the worst times in the North East. If the summer is dry and hot the ticks will be less active. Ticks are very hardy and difficult to kill. Products that can be very effective on dogs include topicals such as Frontline Plus (also has a feline version), Certifect and K9 Advantix or a collar called the Scalibor Collar. All of these products also kill one or more stages of fleas.
The best way to deal with fleas is to prevent them from surviving on your pets before they start breeding. This means using a flea preventative before flea season arrives. The worst of flea season is usually from July- November, but because weather can be unpredictable, we recommend treating your pets year round. Fleas will live and breed happily in your home all winter if you allow them.
If you have found a flea problem in your house you must understand a little about the flea life cycle to break it. The most important fact to consider is that it will take at least 4 months to break the life cycle and rid your house of fleas! That is 4 continuous months of using a veterinarian approved topical product such as Frontline Plus (cats and dogs), K9 Advantix (dogs only), Advantage II (great for indoor cats) or Comfortis or Trifexis (oral medications). You must be careful of over the counter flea preventatives. Some are not waterproof and may become inactivated with sunlight. Accidental application of dog only products can make your cat severely ill causing seizures in some cases. We recommend getting the advice of your veterinarian so that you choose the right product for your pet taking into consideration it’s lifestyle, location and species.
Proper application of topicals on the skin is crucial to their success. Some animals may swim a lot or have skin conditions that prevent the proper translocation of topical products from the site of application. For these pets an oral flea product may work better. Application of topical products needs to be directly on the skin with the hair parted carefully. The product can be spread in a line from the top of the head to the area of the shoulders. This will help the product spread more effectively.
Flea preventative products work in several ways. Some kill adult fleas, while others will prevent the other stages from developing into adults. Products such as Frontline Plus and Advantix both work at several stages. Products that work with multiple stages help because the eggs and larvae are in the environment including the carpets, crevices of hardwood floors and furniture.
Please feel free to contact our office at 860-669-9374 or your local veterinarian for more information on prevention and control of fleas and ticks.
