Flea prevention, lungworm and tick treatment

Fleas

Dog and cat flea problems are common throughout the year. We have many clients each year, bringing in dogs and cats complaining of ongoing flea problems after using products from supermarkets and pet stores. Why is this ?

Well the flea cycle involves a flea jumping on to your pet, feeding for a day or two and then jumping off into your carpets/ floors and laying hundreds of microscopic eggs. These eggs are very difficult to remove or destroy and can hatch out over the following weeks and even months later, so starting the cycle again. It is important that any flea product used kills all fleas on the pet, as even one or two fleas can lay many hundreds of eggs. It is also important to use a household flea spray, which kill the microscopic larvae that hatch from the eggs. Many of the products sold at shops are simply not strong enough to kill all the fleas. You can check for flea infestation by looking for specks of dirt (flea droppings) which when combed onto wet white paper leave a red halo.

Our advice is

Watch the above video to find out what happens if your dog ingests a worm.

We are seeing increasing numbers of cases of lungworm in dogs. Lungworm is spread by foxes, and passed to slugs and snails. If a dog eats a slug or snail, or licks the slimy slug trail then they can become infected.  As the lungworm develop and grow they may cause coughing, unexplained bleeding and even heart failure.

This can be a very dangerous disease if not detected and treated early enough and we have had a number of fatal cases. You can see a video of the life-cycle on our blog here

Prevention is the best course of action with a monthly application of a spot on called Advocate to the back of the dogs neck. This is a prescription only medicine which can be supplied according to your dogs weight.