Many of our pets unfortunately come into contact with parasites on a daily basis, the most common of these are fleas, ticks and worms.
What are Fleas, Tick and Worms?
Fleas are a parasite that live on your pet’s skin. They multiply at very fast rates and feed by biting your pets skin. This causes a lot of irritation and in some cases some pets may even be allergic to flea bites. Often pets may scratch or groom themselves excessively to help relieve the itch and this can cause a lot of damage to their coat and skin, often requiring medical treatment. Unfortunately if your pet has fleas it is also highly likely that they are also living in the environment in your home.
Ticks are another parasite that can live on your pet’s skin. Ticks are extremely common here in Ireland especially in grassy and wooded areas. Ticks use our pets as a mode of transport and food source, they bite them and feed off their blood.
Worms are internal parasites and live inside body of our pets. Animals contract worms from ingesting their larvae that may be present on plants in soil etc. There are a lot of different types of worms that your pet can contract. You may notice your pet has worms as they often can be seen in faeces looking like rice grains or in some cases they may look like a long white worm or string.
Why Should I Treat My Animal?
The parasites that affect our animals can cause disease and illness not only in our pets but also in humans.
Fleas can cause worm infections in animals that ingest them while grooming, as many fleas carry the larvae of the tapeworm. They can also transmit bacteria that lead to illness when biting our pets. Pets can develop skin infections from scratching and overgrooming due to the irritation caused by a flea infestation. Fleas that affect our pets can live in carpets and soft furnishings around the home. Although they do not live on humans they can bite us and cause irritation and illness. It can be extremely difficult to eliminate a flea infestation from a home and can cost a lot of time and money to do so.
Ticks carry the bacteria that causes lyme disease in both humans and animals which is an extremely serious illness if left untreated in both humans and animals. It is also very commonly carried by ticks in Ireland.
Worms that live in the digestive tract can cause a lot of damage to the intestinal wall and lining as this is where they reproduce. This can lead to weight loss, diarrhoea, lethargy and other symptoms. We also quite commonly see lungworm in pets in the west of Ireland. This worm can do severe and sometimes irreparable damage to the lungs and can lead to bleeding disorders. Worms can also easily be passed to humans when they come into contact with the faeces of affected animals or if the affected animals lick around a persons face a lot. Children are particularly vulnerable to contracting worms from pets.
When Should I Treat My Pets?
Puppies and kittens can contract worms at a very early age and we recommend they are wormed monthly until 6 months of age to help them grow up healthy and reduce the risk of contamination to families particularly with young children. After 6 months as the pet becomes more effective at fighting off worm burdens the worming routine can be reduced to every 3 months.
We also recommend treating for fleas and ticks throughout the year. As are winters have become milder the temperature no longer drops low enough for long enough for these external parasites to have an inactive season. We unfortunately regularly still see pets with fleas and ticks during the winter months and this is why we recommend treating throughout the year.
We stock the best veterinary prescription range of flea and tick treatments. Some of the store brand products are becoming less effective with resistance documented in many studies. We will recommend the best treatment for your pet at consultation.
