Flea and Parasite Prevention

In temperate climates like Oregon, fleas and intestinal parasites are a year-round concern. If left unprotected, dogs and cats are both at risk for contracting fleas and tapeworms, hookworms, roundworms, whipworms, heartworms, giardia and more.  Most parasites are not visible to the naked eye except for tapeworms and sometimes roundworms if they are passed.  Often the stool can look completely normal yet the pet had an infestation internally.  At least 1 out of 10 dogs that we screen are positive for parasites despite a normal looking stool and a healthy appearing pet. Many intestinal parasites are considered zoonotic, which means that humans can be affected by them as well, especially children.  For these reasons, we have outlined a parasite prevention schedule for each of your pets below:

Dogs

Fecal Screening: Have a fecal exam done at least once a year, preferably twice if your dog goes to Day Care or Dog Parks.

Flea Control:  Simparica is an oral flea and tick preventive that starts killing ticks within 8 hours and fleas within 3 hours. It offers 35 days of protection without losing effectiveness at the end of the month. It protects your dog against 5 species of ticks and can kill deer ticks, blocking infections that cause Lyme disease. 

Heartworm Prevention:  Simparica Trio is an oral monthly treatment that prevents heartworm disease, kills adult fleas and is indicated for the treatment and prevention of flea infestations, the treatment and control of tick infestations, and the treatment and control of roundworm and hookworm infections in dogs and puppies 8 weeks of age and older, and weighing 2.8 pounds or greater. Simparica Trio blocks the pathogen that may cause Lyme disease by killing deer ticks.

Adult worms mature in the heart and can cause serious problems, and if medication is started while adult worms are present, the results can be extremely harmful. In addition to preventing heartworms, Simparica Trio will also help control Roundworms, Hookworms and Whipworms in your pet. Once started, heartworm preventatives must be given year-round, and if a gap in treatment persists for more than two months, a heartworm test must be performed again before restarting heartworm medication.

Cats

Fecal Screening: Have a fecal exam done at least once a year. For cats that don’t use an indoor litter box, a routine broad spectrum dewormer is recommended once a year.

Flea Control: Revolution flea control is a topical preventative applied once a month which lasts for 30 days. Unlike many topical flea treatments, Revolution absorbs completely into the skin and leaves no oily residue. Besides killing fleas, it will also render the eggs so they will not hatch.  Revolution also helps prevent roundworms, whipworms and earmites.  It is recommended year-round for cats that go outdoors and for indoor cats that may be exposed to dogs or other cats that go in and out.  Indoor cats have also been known to contract fleas that make their way inside and in these cases Revolution can be used month-to-month.

Heartworm disease is not prevalent in cats in Oregon.

If you already have a flea problem, it is important to remember that in addition to treating pets, it may be necessary to treat their environment (bedding, carpeted areas, etc) to prevent re-infestation.