Fleas are small, wingless, blood feeding insects. Once on their hosts, fleas feed daily.

The common household flea does not usually transmit diseases to pets and people. They generally cause a lot of itching and scratching. They may also cause some discomfort due to possible allergic flea bite dermatitis.

Did you know a female flea can produce up to 600 offspring per month! The life span of the average flea is one year. The flea’s main method of attack is to jump on their prey – a flea can jump a distance equal to 150 times their size.

Ticks, those other dreaded bloodsuckers, pose a greater risk, annually giving pets and thousands of people illnesses such as Lyme disease. Their average life span is usually two years.

Unlike the flea, the tick is incapable of jumping or flying to its prey. The tick uses its carbon monoxide sensing ability of warm-blooded animals to detect the presence of its prey. Once attached to your Golden, a female tick can feast upon your dog for up to seven days!!

Lyme disease is generally caused by the Deer Tick, while Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever is usually a result of a bite from the American Dog Tick.

Modern science has produced a number of products which can help your pet should it happen to suffer from fleas and ticks. You and your veterinarian should choose which product to use wisely, as products vary in their effectiveness. For example, Advantage does not treat ticks – it is only effective with fleas.

All products have advantages and disadvantages and may or may not be safe to use with other products. The over-the-counter powders, sprays and collars which contain pyrethrin, are moderately effective. However, the best flea products are obtainable only with a prescription. Consider these commonly prescribed treatments:

FRONTLINE

FRONTLINE® Spray

Quick elimination of existing flea and tick infestations
Recommended for:

• Severe existing flea and tick infestations
• Multi-pet households
• Initial treatment of flea allergy dermatitis (FAD)
• Typically used by your veterinarian, in clinic, for quick treatment

FRONTLINE® Plus

All the benefits of FRONTLINE Top Spot with an extra ingredient, (S)-methoprene. Not only kills adult fleas, but also breaks the flea life cycle by killing their eggs and larvae preventing re-infestation
Recommended for:

• Dog and cat owners who want the most complete flea and tick control available

ADVANTAGE

The Advantage® Practice
Advantage® is committed to making veterinary professionals the number-one resource for pet health.

The fastest monthly flea control, Advantage®: stops fleas from biting in less than five minutes, kills 98-100 percent of adult fleas in 12 hours and continues to work for up to four weeks, is water-resistant and protects against fleas even after a shampooing, swimming or exposure to sunlight, kills flea larvae too, kills fleas rapidly, and may reduce the incidence of flea allergy dermatitus*

We strive to keep our prices competitive so check our price on Frontline Plus before you order online.

Also, buy a 6 month supply of Frontline Plus and receive 1 free vial! 

How is heartworm disease transmitted and what does it cause?
Heartworms are transmitted from animal to animal by mosquitoes. When an animal is bitten by an infected mosquito, young heartworms (called microfilariae) are transmitted to that animal. In about two weeks, the microfilaria develop into larvae. The larvae, as they mature, move through the animal's body and eventually enter the heart and blood vessels. Over the next several months, the growing heartworms reach adult size (female worms can reach up to 14 inches in length) and reproduce. In time, the worms cause injury to the pulmonary vessels and heart. This can lead to severe lung disease, heart disease and damage to other organs. Heartworms may survive for 5 to 7 years in dogs.

Where is heartworm disease found?
Geographically, heartworms are a potential threat in every state except Alaska, as well as in many other countries around the world. All dogs, regardless of age, sex, or living environment, are susceptible to heartworm infection. Indoor, as well as outdoor, cats are also at risk for the disease. If you plan to travel with your dog or cat to a different part of the country, ask your veterinarian about the risk of heartworm disease in the area where you are going to relocate or visit.

How can I tell if my pet has heartworm disease?
Dogs: If your dog has been recently or mildly infected with heartworms, it may initially show no signs of disease. However, as the disease progresses, your dog may cough, become lethargic, lose its appetite or have difficulty breathing. You may notice that your dog seems to tire rapidly after only moderate exercise.

Your veterinarian will test your dog's blood for the presence of adult heartworms. Further tests, such as chest x-rays and an echocardiogram, may be necessary to confirm the diagnosis and to help determine the severity of the infection.

Cats:

Signs of possible heartworm infection in cats include coughing, respiratory distress, and vomiting. (In rare cases, a cat may suddenly die from heartworms.)

The diagnosis of a heartworm-infected cat is more difficult than with dogs. A series of different kinds of tests may be needed to help determine the likelihood of heartworm infection being the cause of your cat's illness and, even then, the results may not be conclusive.

How can my pet be treated?
Dogs: As with most medical problems, the best defense is prevention. However, if your dog is infected with heartworms, there is an FDA-approved treatment available. Although there is some risk involved in treating a dog for heartworms, serious complications are rare among dogs that are otherwise in good health and if the disease is detected early.

The goal of heartworm treatment is to kill the adult worms that are present in your dog's body. While your dog is hospitalized and for a period of time afterwards, it will require complete rest and may need additional medications to help limit inflammatory reaction as the worms die and are absorbed by the body.

Cats: There is currently no effective and safe treatment for heartworm infection in cats. If your cat is diagnosed with heartworms, your veterinarian may recommend medications to limit the inflammatory response and the resulting heartworm disease.

Can heartworms be surgically removed?
Some veterinarians are equipped for surgical removal of heartworms from dogs and/or cats. This procedure, however, is typically reserved for severe cases.

Can heartworm disease be prevented?
Heartworm disease is almost 100% preventable in dogs and cats. There are several FDA-approved heartworm preventives available in a variety of formulations. Your veterinarian can recommend the best method of prevention based upon your pet's risk factors and lifestyle.

A blood test for existing heartworm infection is recommended before beginning a prevention program to confirm that your pet is not already infected with the disease. In addition, annual re-testing is recommended to check your pet's status and ensure that the appropriate medication is being prescribed.

It also decreases the chance of any perianal tumors or hernias, which are common in older unaltered males.

Neutered cats are less likely to roam and therefore less likely to get abcesses which are caused by cat bites or become infected with diseases.

An altered dog or cat makes a better pet. No family needs to deal with an unwanted pregnancy. Spaying prevents unwanted babies. Males neutered early on are usually less aggressive towards males and less distracted by females in heat, which they can smell miles away! Males that are altered are less likely to mark inside or outside your home.

Spaying results in a cleaner female dog and home. Female dogs pass usually pass body fluid for 10 days, twice a year, as part of their heat cycle. Constant care will need to be taken to keep carpets stain free while your female is in heat.

You are helping to alleviate the dog and cat overpopulation problem. Every year millions of cats and dogs are euthanized at shelters and clinics all over the country due to the shortage of homes. Pet behavioral problems are the number one reason pets are given up. Many of the homeless animals though are results of unplanned breeding by free-roaming and unaltered animals. The more pets are altered the less cats and dogs have to be killed!

Effects of neutering /spaying on behavior

-Effect on sexual behavior: Sexual behavior usually disappears after altering you cat or dog. Animals that have experienced sexual behavior prior to sterilization however may persist in their sexual behavior because it becomes a learned behavior. Mounting for example is not a sexual behavior for altered pets, it's a sign of dominance within the pack.

-Effect on aggression: It's been shown that aggressive acts appear more often in unaltered males and females then in sterilized pets. Fighting is very likely within a group of unaltered males but should cease after being they're neutered. If your pet is not a pure-bred then you should sterilize it to avoid aggression related to sexual hormones.

-Effect on general temperament: Contrary to popular believe spaying or neutering your pet does not effect your pets temperament or intelligence. You do not deprive your pet of any essential experiences by being responsible and altering your pet. Females are highly unlikely to improve in temperament after having a litter and males do not benefit from sexual activity either.

-Effect on inappropriate elimination: Altering your pet early may help in ending improper elimination in your home, which is done to mark it's territory.

Dental Health

Periodontal disease is the most common oral disease in dogs and cats. Indeed, It’s also the most overlooked disease.

Sometimes pets suffer with severe periodontal disease before anything is done about it.

Unfortunately, if left untreated, periodontal disease only gets worse, until eventually it undermines the general health of you pet. The mouth is said to be the most biologically active area of the body, from a diseased mouth can affect various organs of the body and the nervous system. Investigators believe that certain diseases of feline old age, such as diseases of the kidneys and possibly some diseases of the heart and liver, can be attributed to untreated oral disease. And human medicine has taught us that healthy mouths can help us live longer. There’s no reason to believe the same isn’t also true for animals.

Owners, however, shouldn’t think of mouth care as something to pay attention to only in their pet’s later years. Studies show that most pets over the age of 2 years show signs of oral disease to some degree.

Whiff of a Problem

Since cats and dogs are not noted for their cooperation when it comes to mouth inspections, owners can easily miss the early stages of oral disease in their feline companions. There are, however, several signs that, although not exclusive to oral disease, should alert you to the need for a thorough and detailed veterinary examination of your pet’s mouth. Bad breath is certainly one "red flag." Other indications are when your pet rejects hard, crunchy food; avoids certain parts of its mouth when eating; paws at its mouth; or begins to drool. We recommend regular veterinary dental checkups as part of your pet’s wellness program, which should also include routine physical checkups and booster "shots." Although oral disease is very common, the good news is that if it is treated early enough - with home brushing and professional prophylactic cleaning - you and your veterinarian can do much to reverse its effects.

Periodontal Disease

Periodontal disease involves the tissue and structures that support the teeth - the gum (gingiva) and the bone (alveolar bone). The disease ranges in severity from inflammation of the gum (gingivitis) to ulceration of the gum and resulting loss of supporting bone structure (periodontitis). Advanced periodontitis leads to the loosening and eventual loss of teeth. Treatment of periodontal disease is the most important aspect of veterinary dentistry.

Gingivitis

Gingivitis, the early stage of periodontal disease, is relatively easy to spot. It appears as a red line of inflammation where the gum meets the tooth. This inflammation of the gingival (gum) tissue is caused by deposits of plaque that build up on the surface of the tooth beneath the gum tissue. Plaque, a combination of bacteria, food particles, and saliva, is constantly forming and hardening on the surface of the tooth. The high concentration of bacteria (80 percent) in plaque makes it an effective pathological (disease-causing) agent.

As plaque deposits build up, they harden into calculus (tartar) and enlarge the pocket (sulcus) between the tooth and the gum. This enlarged sulcus traps debris and creates a fertile environment for bacterial growth. Saliva, which normally washes out the sulcus, can no longer do its job effectively and clear out the sulcus. Multiplying bacteria invade the gingival tissue. The gums become swollen and are liable to bleed when probed. Fortunately, at this early stage, the teeth have not lost their supporting bone structure. So if gingivitis is detected early and treated promptly, its effects are reversible.

When gingivitis is apparent, we are now performing laser surgery to help reduce the gingivitis of the mouth. This procedure is performed during the dental prophylaxes.

Periodontitis

Periodontitis, the advanced stage of periodontal disease, occurs when bacteria, their waste products, and other toxins cause the gums to ulcerate. Over time, an increasing buildup of calculus causes ever-deepening pockets to form around the teeth. Eventually, the alveolar bone begins to erode. Finally, erosion of the gingival and alveolar bone advances to such a degree that the teeth no longer have anything to support them. The become loose and fall out. (These lost teeth are almost always healthy teeth.) Unfortunately, periodontitis is not reversible. But if treated early enough, it can be controlled.

What You Can Do

Plaque forms every 6 to 8 hours. And merely rinsing your pet’s mouth will not remove the buildup. To effectively remove plaque, you need to brush your cat’s teeth - preferably every day. While brushing takes discipline, it doesn’t take a lot of time - no more than 15 to 30 seconds. Admittedly, most cats do not clamor to have their teeth brushed, but most will tolerate it if you set up a routine, stick to it, treat brushing like a game, and always remember to reward your pet afterward.

What Your Vet Can Do

Your veterinarian is also your pet’s dentist. Your veterinarian should examine your pet’s gums and teeth at least once a year - more often if your pet needs it. (Some dogs and cats build up plaque faster than others.)

To catch problems early, it is essential that the owner and veterinarian work as a team. An observant owner may notice subtle changes in a pet’s mouth or behavior that he or she can bring to the veterinarian’s attention during a routine checkup. Alerted to potential trouble spots, the vet can the schedule time for a detailed oral examination.

Prevention
Prevention is the key to helping pets maintain good oral health. The American Veterinary Dental Society recommends that pet owners follow three important steps:

Visit Your Veterinarian
Just as dental visits are the cornerstone of a human dental program, visiting a veterinarian is the key to ensuring the health of your pet's teeth. A veterinarian will conduct a thorough physical examination of your pet as part of the dental evaluation.

Start a dental care routine at home
Removing plaque regularly from your pet's teeth should be part of your pet's home dental care routine. Ask your veterinarian about the procedure for brushing your pet's teeth. Dog owners also may feed specially formulated dietary foods that help reduce the accumulation of plaque and tartar from teeth when the pet eats. Your veterinarian can offer more information on dietary options.

Get Regular Veterinary Dental Checkups
The family veterinarian needs to monitor the progress of your pet's preventive dental care routine much the same way a dentist monitors your teeth. Regular dental check-ups are essential.

Once a pet's teeth display the warning signs — bad breath, a yellow brown crust of tartar around the gumline, pain or bleeding when the pet eats or when you touch its gums — gum disease may already be present.

For a professional dental check-up, contact us today!

VIRBAC

ORAVET

Pet Wellness

On average, most dogs and cats reach adulthood by age two, says Dr. Marty Becker, a veterinarian and consumer spokesperson for National Pet Wellness Month, an educational initiative sponsored by the American Veterinary Medical Association and Arcanum Veterinary Service. By age four, many pets are entering middle age. And by age seven, most dogs, particularly larger breeds, are entering their senior years.

Because dogs and cats age seven times faster, on average, than people, significant health changes can occur in a short amount of time. And, the risks of cancer, diabetes, obesity, arthritis, heart disease, metabolic problems and other serious conditions all increase with age.

Many pet owners are not aware that taking a dog or cat to the veterinarian once a year is the same as a person seeing their doctor or dentist once every seven years. It is recommended that pets have a wellness exam every six months so that veterinarians have the opportunity to detect, treat or, ideally, prevent problems before they become life-threatening.

"Prevention is the real goal of twice-a-year wellness exams," says Dr. Becker. "When veterinarians see a pet on a regular basis, they can help pets avoid some preventable illnesses and diseases. Plus, a pet will never have to suffer from pain that could be treated or prevented by the veterinarian."

Pet wellness exams include screenings for a variety of potential diseases. These screenings are usually accompanied by an individualized risk assessment of your pet's environment - where you live, emerging disease risks in your community, your pet's interaction with other pets and wildlife, travel plans, and other lifestyle considerations.

Pet wellness exams also help your veterinarian determine a proper prevention program, including a vaccination schedule tailored specifically for your pet. By using personalized pet health protocols, veterinarians can pinpoint specific preventive health care needs for your pet.

A pet owner's best source for wellness exam and preventive health care information is their personal veterinarian. "Only your veterinarian knows your pet's medical history, current health status, and potential risks your pet faces," says Dr. Becker.

Zoonotic diseases are diseases of animals that can be transmitted to humans. Some of the best known zoonotic diseases include the plague—fleas bite infected rats then pass the disease on when the flea bites a human—rabies, and Lyme disease.

Sources of Zoonotic Diseases
As long as you're in the immediate environment of animals or untreated animal products, you're at risk of contracting a disease or infection that can be traced to them. Sometimes toxins or poisons linked to animals are transmitted to us through the environment.

A wide range of health problems may be linked to animals. Some common sources of disease-causing organisms include contaminated meat or milk food such as fruits, vegetables and other produce such as mushrooms that are contaminated with animal waste or product direct contact with a living animal that causes you an injury or transfers a bacterium, virus, fungus or parasite to you contaminated materials such as soil and water that have come in contact with animals, animal by-products or animal waste.

How Humans Contract Zoonotic Diseases
The nose, ears, eyes and mouth serve as easy points of entry for viruses, bacteria and parasites. This means that air, water, food, soil and direct contact with an animal play a part in assisting disease-causing organisms or infectious agents to enter your body. Of course, cuts and scrapes in the skin can provide entry points as well.

The most common way humans are infected with a zoonotic disease is through indirect transmission. Pets are most likely to transmit an external parasite such as a flea or tick, which is infected with the virus. Once the external parasite bites the human, the disease is transmitted. Viruses and bacteria are also transmitted through nasal droplets and feces. Feces may also contain other internal parasites such as roundworms.

Sometimes a disease-causing agent in an animal is disease-causing in humans as well. Diseased cattle and swine have had to be destroyed because eating the meat, even when cooked, would have meant that the disease-causing agent would infect white blood cells in humans. Sheep, mink, mule, deer and elk have also been implicated in the transfer of a disease-causing agent. Consumption of deer and elk meat has been implicated in a number of cases of chronic wasting disease, a member of the family that also includes bovine spongiform encephalopathy (a.k.a. mad cow disease).

What is important to remember, however, is that an infected animal may exhibit no symptoms of having a disease.

People at Risk of Zoonotic Diseases
Everyone is at risk, but these groups of people are much more susceptible to contracting a zoonotic disease:

infants and small children — their immune systems are not yet fully developed.
pregnant women — their immune systems may be weakened.
the elderly — they may have impaired immune systems.

Preventing Zoonotic Diseases
There are no guarantees that an individual will or will not contract a disease, but avoiding certain behaviors and practices helps minimize the risk. Of course you'll need to keep up the "pro-active" behaviors such as washing hands with soap and water.

Many common practices can help minimize the transfer of harmful bacteria, viruses and parasites to humans and human food. These include:

1. - Have your pet tested throughly from your Vet

2. - Feed your pets commercial or home-cooked food

3. - careful disposal of all pet waste

4. - preventing cross contamination from raw to cooked food through surfaces such as cutting boards, knives, utensils and human hands thoroughly washing all vegetables cooking meat thoroughly.

Ascarids — Because of the occurrence of both transplacental and transmammary transmission of T. canis, puppies are usually born with or acquire ascarid infections early in life. Kittens do not become infected in utero, but like puppies, can acquire ascarids (T. cati) through the queen’s milk. The tissue-migrating and early intestinal stages of these worms may cause severe, sometimes life-threatening, disease in the first few weeks of life. Patent intestinal infections can develop within the first 2½ - 3 weeks of life. Left untreated, this can lead to widespread contamination of the environment with infective eggs.

Hookworms — Both puppies and kittens acquire hookworm infections (A. caninum, A. braziliense, and A. tubaeforme) through ingestion of or skin penetration by infective larvae, or from infective larvae passed in their dam’s milk (A. caninum). Hookworms suck large amounts of blood from their hosts and while infected animals may look healthy in the first week of life, they can develop a rapidly severe, often fatal, anemia. Patent intestinal infections can occur as early as 2- (dogs) to 3- (cats) weeks of age, leading to environmental contamination with infective larvae.

The prevalence of these infections varies with climatic conditions; however, they are present in all parts of the United States and must be viewed as a potential public health hazard.

Zoonotic Transmission and Human Disease
The growing popularity of dogs and cats in the United States, together with high rates of ascarid and hookworm infections, has resulted in widespread contamination of the soil with infective eggs and larvae. Epidemiologic studies have implicated the presence of dogs, particularly puppies, in a household, and pica (dirt eating) as the principal risk factors for human disease. Children’s play habits and their attraction to pets put them at higher risk for infection than adults.

Humans become infected with ascarids (Toxocara spp., Baylisascaris spp.) through ingestion of infective eggs in the environment. When a human ingests infective eggs, the eggs hatch and release larvae that can migrate anywhere in the body, a condition known as visceral larva migrans. The signs and symptoms seen in humans are determined by the tissues or organs damaged during larval migration. Organs commonly affected are the eye, brain, liver, and lung, where infections can cause permanent visual, neurologic, or other tissue damage. The common dog ascarid, T. canis, has long been recognized as a cause of larva migrans syndromes in children. The cat ascarid, T. cati, can also cause disease in humans, although for reasons partly related to the defecation habits of cats, it does so less frequently. The raccoon ascarid, B. procyonis, is increasingly being recognized as a cause of human disease.

Humans can become infected with hookworms through ingestion of infective larvae or through direct penetration of the skin.7 When infective larvae penetrate the skin, they undergo a prolonged migration that causes a condition known as cutaneous larva migrans. These larval migrations are characterized by the appearance of progressive, intensely pruritic, linear eruptive lesions, which are usually more extensive with A. braziliense infections. A. caninum larvae may also penetrate into deeper tissues and induce symptoms of visceral larva migrans, or migrate to the intestine and induce an eosinophilic enteritis.

The Public Health Problem
Larva migrans syndromes are not reportable in the United States, so the actual number of human cases is unknown. However, many human cases continue to be diagnosed and a recent national survey of shelters revealed that almost 36% of dogs nationwide, and 52% of dogs from southeastern states harbored helminths capable of causing human disease. Every year at least 3,000-4,000 serum specimens from patients with presumptive diagnoses of toxocariasis are sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), state public health laboratories, or private laboratories for serodiagnostic confirmation. Zoonotic hookworm infections are more geographically restricted than toxocariasis, with most cutaneous larva migrans and other hookworm-associated syndromes diagnosed in southeastern and Gulf Coast states. Persons likely to come in contact with larvae-contaminated soil include electricians, plumbers, and other workers who crawl beneath raised buildings, sunbathers who recline on larvae-contaminated sand, — as well as children who play in contaminated areas. While most hookworm infections are self-limiting, massive infections can lead to infection of deeper tissues.

Veterinarians Can Help Prevent Human Disease
Most cases of human ascarid and hookworm infections can be prevented by practicing good personal hygiene, eliminating intestinal parasites from pets through regular deworming, and making potentially contaminated environments, such as unprotected sand boxes, off limits to children. It is also important to clean up pet feces on a regular basis to remove potentially infective eggs before they become disseminated in the environment via rain, insects, or the active migration of the larvae. Hookworm eggs can develop into infective stage larvae in the soil in as little as 5 days, and ascarid eggs within 2 weeks, depending on temperature and humidity. To illustrate the extent of environmental contamination that can occur as the result of one infected puppy, a single female ascarid can produce more than 100,000 eggs/day, resulting in millions of potentially infective ascarid eggs per day spread throughout the area the puppy is allowed to roam.10 Once the eggs become infective, they can remain infective in the environment for years.

Most pet owners do not know that their pets may carry worms capable of infecting people. Therefore, practicing veterinarians can provide an important public service by recommending regular fecal examinations, providing well-timed anthelmintic treatments, counseling clients on potential public health hazards, and advising them on any precautionary measures that may be undertaken. Veterinarians are in an ideal position to provide pet owners with this service because of their access to the pet-owning public, their knowledge and training, and their role in the human-animal bond.