Fleas and Ticks

Keeping fleas and ticks from biting your pet is a good way to protect him, and any humans around him, from many diseases. Some products protect against fleas only, while others protect against both ticks and fleas and may protect against additional parasites. Some will aim to kill these pests, but offer no prevention. The veterinarian will make a recommendation that best fits your pet's lifestyle and environment.

Lyme Disease

Lyme disease is caused by a spiral-shaped microscopic organism. This bacterium lives in the gut of the eastern black-legged tick and the western black-legged tick. It can be transmitted when an infected tick feeds on a dog, person, or other mammal.

Heartworm Disease in Dogs

Heartworm disease is as scary as it sounds. It is a severe and potentially fatal disease caused by parasitic worms that like to live in the heart and lungs of many types of mammals. Heartworms are a type of roundworm spread by mosquitoes, and dogs of any age or breed are susceptible to infection from them.

Anaplasma in Dogs

Ticks acquire the bacterium that causes anaplasmosis from feeding on an infected host animal, such as a rodent or a deer. Then, they pass the bacteria to your dog by biting. Anaplasmosis can lead to serious symptoms and poses a significant risk to your dog’s health.

Ehrlichia in Dogs

he brown dog tick is one of the several species of ticks that can transmit ehrlichiosis. The lone star tick is another. The tick must be attached to your pet for 24-48 hours in order to transmit the infection. Symptoms may not be present until 1-3 weeks after infection.

Heartworm Disease

In Cats, Heartworm is spread by mosquitoes that ingest the baby heartworms (also known as microfilaria) from an infected source and carry them to a new source. Upon entering a new host through the mosquito bite, heartworm larvae will migrate. They usually find their way into the blood vessels around three or four months later.

Intestinal parasites

These are parasites that live inside the host animal’s gastrointestinal tract. Examples include worms, like roundworms; whipworms, hookworms, tapeworms and protozoa such as Giardia and coccidia. Besides making our pets sick, many of these parasites can affect people. According to kidshealth.org, “20% of dogs pass toxocara eggs in their stool.” Toxocara can cause damage to the eyes and untreated can lead to vision loss, especially in children.

Many dogs infected with intestinal parasites are asymptomatic. Even symptomatic dogs may go undetected because their symptoms can be nonspecific. The most common signs and symptoms of intestinal parasites are scooting, vomiting, diarrhea, a distended abdomen, weight loss, occasionally coughing.

Since dogs infected with intestinal parasites can exhibit no symptoms or subtle symptoms that can be easily overlooked; the best way to ensure that your dog is parasite-free is to have their stool checked once a year.

Tapeworms

These are usually transmitted when an animal digests a flea during grooming. Cats can also get tapeworms by ingesting the eggs shed by other animals or by hunting flea-infested rodents. As mentioned, a tapeworm’s body is made up of tiny segments. Each of these segments has its own digestive and reproductive system. These segments eventually break off and are passed through your cat’s digestive system, exiting via the anus.

These nasty segments, which look like pieces of rice, are spread around the house and can be found in the cat’s litter box, and in your furniture and carpeting. When a segment is ingested by a host, the cycle can start all over again inside the unknowing victim’s digestive tract.