Flea's

A Flea generaly prefer temperatures of 65-80 degrees and humidity levels of 75-85 percent, which is usually year round here in Florida.  We also do not experience frost to kill flea's or their eggs in the winter. Dogs and cats often get infested with fleas through contact with other animals or contact with fleas in the environment. A flea's means of transportation is to jump from animal to animal or from the environment onto your animal.  The flea bite can cause various medical conditions for your pet.  Itching, hair loss, dermatitis, inflamation of the skin, and skin infections.  Flea's also do not remain just on just your pet, if you have a flea infestation they will come in on you and your family as well, and bite in the same manor.

Tick's

Ticks can also be found year round in Florida, but they are not as abundant in areas as the flea.  Ticks can transmit any diseases they carry, so preventing or removing them as soon as you see one is quite important.  The lone star is the most common human-biting tick in Florida.  Ticks need to feed for several hours to transmit disease, so it is  important to check your pets and remove any ticks you may see as soon as possible. To remove a tick, grasp it on its mouthparts with tweezers and pull it straight out with firm pressure.  If you live in wooded areas, check for ticks daily.  The most common disease reported by ticks is Lyme disease.  

Heartworms

Heartworm disease is a serious and potentially fatal disease in pets.   It is caused by foot-long worms (heartworms) that live in the heart, lungs and associated blood vessels of affected pets, causing severe lung disease, heart failure and damage to other organs in the body. Heartworm disease affects dogs, cats and ferrets. If untreated, their numbers can increase, animals have been known to harbor several hundred worms in their bodies. Heartworm disease causes lasting damage to the heart, lungs and arteries, and can affect the animals health and quality of life long after the parasites are gone.  

​Signs of heartworm disease may include a mild persistent cough, may not want to exercise, not eating well, weight loss, asthma attacks, vomiting and difficulty walking.  As heartworm disease can cause pets to develop heart failure and the appearance of a swollen belly due to fluid in the stomach. 
Placing your pet on heartworm preventative as soon as possible is the best form of care.

Contact the office for current Flea, Tick, and Heartworm Preventatives

“Because we have viewed other animals through the myopic lens of our self-importance, we have misperceived who and what they are. Because we have repeated our ignorance, one to the other, we have mistaken it for knowledge.”
​ Tom Regan