Pet parasites are annoying creatures that often make pets miserable and cause many visits to our animal hospital in the summer months. Besides annoying, these pests can be downright dangerous. At Forest Hill Animal Hospital, your veterinarian in Germantown, we’ll develop a plan to prevent and control parasites in your pet.
Prevalent Parasites
The danger to pets of parasites escalates during the summer months, however, in our moderate climate, many parasites survive all year, necessitating a year-round plan for protection. The parasites most common here are fleas, ticks, and heartworm, all of which our veterinarian can effectively control with your help.
Flea Prevention and Control
Fleas are the most common parasite in our area, and they make pets miserable. The number one symptom of fleas is your pet’s incessant itching. He may scratch himself raw leading to possible skin infection. On light-coat pets, you may see these pests moving about on the skin of the animal, but on darker-coat pets, they are more difficult to see. Eradicating a flea infestation is a nightmare that requires flea baths for the pet and thorough cleaning of all upholstery, bedding, and carpets in the home. The best plan for dealing with fleas is prevention, and we offer a number of effective products to do just that.
Tick Prevention and Control
Ticks are sneaky creatures who penetrate the pet’s coat, attach themselves to the skin and suck the pet’s blood potentially passing on Lyme Disease. Pets who spend time in hiking in wooded or rural areas have a greater chance of getting ticks. The best way to check for ticks is to feel your pet’s body, looking for any small, hard bumps. If you find any, we have our veterinarian clinically remove the tick. To keep ticks at bay, we offer products in several forms, depending on your preference and what works best for your pet.
Heartworm Prevention and Control
As you know, our area is a haven for mosquitos, and besides their pesky buzz and bites, they also carry the dreaded heartworm, a parasite that can literally strangle the organs of its host to death. It works like this: a mosquito who is carrying the live larvae of a heartworm bites the pet and the larvae are transmitted into the body through the bite. Once inside, the heartworm grows and resides in the heart, lungs, or other organs of the pet’s body. Treatment of a heartworm-positive pet is possible, but the best protection is prevention using one of the several products our veterinarian recommends.
Other parasites can also wreak havoc with your pet, such as intestinal worms, which can also be readily treated here at our Germantown animal hospital.
Call Our Germantown Animal Hospital Today!
Don’t wait until parasites invade your pet, call our Germantown animal hospital today so we can set up a positive prevention plan.
