Keeping Your Pet Safe While Making Fleas Flee

We’ve been lucky to have had a very mild winter this year, however, we’re not the only ones to appreciate it.  We usually don’t start to see a rise in the number of pets coming in with fleas until the summer months, but with the warmer temperatures this past winter, we’re already starting to see more flea cases than is usual for this time of year.

You can take steps now to help ensure that you and your pets don’t suffer from fleas this coming year. As with most things, prevention is better than treating a flea infestation after it has taken hold. There are a variety of monthly topical products that you can get from your veterinarian to use on your pets to help prevent fleas. These come in a small applicator tube that is applied over your pet’s shoulders once a month. We would be more than happy to go over available products and help you decide which is best for you and your pet.

However, and this is a very important however, make sure the flea treatment you are using is for the species of animal you are treating. If a product says for dogs only, do not use it on cats or other animals. We recently had a case of a young cat that came into the hospital seizuring.  After talking with the owners, it was discovered that they had treated the cat with a flea product that was only labeled to be used on dogs. Luckily they had brought the kitty in soon enough for us to be able to treat it successfully. Some products that are safe for one species though can be fatal if used on others.

Make sure you carefully read all labels before using any product or medication on your pet. It’s also a good idea to get into the habit of checking the expiration dates as well. If you’re not sure whether a medication is safe, don’t use it. It’s better to be safe than sorry.

Hopefully you and your pet will be able to avoid having an invasion of parasites this summer, just be certain the steps you take are safe ones for your pet.