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Believe it or not, spring is just around the corner and before it gets here you may want to take some time to decide just what type of heartworm, flea and tick prevention you would like to use this year. There have been several new products over the last few years and we are going to review them for you below so that you can make an educated choice when spring arrives. As far as heartworm prevention, we usually start with an annual blood test on dogs approximately in April/May. We do not routinely test cats, but yes they can occasionally get heartworm disease. So, many people, especially with outdoor cats, will choose to use prevention as well. The two main categories for prevention this year are a 30-day tablet or a 30-day topical oil. The tablets we use are chewable and besides preventing heartworms, they also prevent common intestinal worms. The two most common heartworm tablets are called Heartguard and Interceptor. The newest product is a topical oil called Revolution. The tube of oil is applied between the shoulder blades once a month and prevents heartworms and fleas, as well as helps to prevent some intestinal worms. All of these products are safe for both dogs and cats starting as early as 10 weeks old. Your next decision is flea prevention. In this area of the country, fleas are prevalent starting as early as mid-summer, June/July, and live well into November. As with heartworm prevention, you have a choice of a pill or topical oil or 30-day flea control. The flea pill, Program, does not kill the actual flea. What it does is prevent the flea eggs from hatching, so yes, your pet may have fleas on them and may occasionally scratch, but within 4-6 weeks the flea population in your pet's area will decrease. This pill comes separately or in combination with heartworm prevention. It can be used together with other flea repellants like the topical oils or sprays. The topical oils, on the other hand, try to repel and kill the fleas before they get to your pet. One product we use is called Advantage and is applied once a month. Within 6-8 hours of application, the flea population on your pet will definitely be dying. And the other topical flea product is Revolution, which was mentioned earlier. It does heartworm and flea prevention with one 30-day application. All of these products, Program, Advantage and Revolution can be used on both dogs and cats at least 10 weeks old. The last pest to be discussed is the tick. In this area, ticks are out in great numbers in the spring and will remain most of the summer. One choice for prevention is a Preventic collar, used on dogs only, and will work for up to 3 months. Otherwise, there are two different topical oils to try. Revolution will take care of some tick breeds, but not all. Revolution, Advantage or Program can be used in conjunction with the Preventic collar to try and eliminate all ticks. The second topical, Frontline, will take care of both fleas and ticks and cannot be used with the Preventic collar. You may see ticks crawling on your pet with these products but they are not supposed to attach. All of these products have their good points, what you need to think about is how much at-risk is your pet. Decide how much time they are outside and where exactly they are, in woods, fields or your yard. Any pet, cat or dog, can get heartworms, fleas, or ticks so choose your prevention wisely. If you have any questions on what to use, just call and speak with our staff and they will be glad to advise you on what to use. Below is a chart to give you a quick overview on the products and what they will do.
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