Fleas
and Worms
As you are well aware when summer
is approaching, unfortunatley so are
some of the pet problems that come with
it. There
are two problems in particular that are
more common than others, Fleas and Worms.
Fleas depend on your pets for
survival and feed off their blood causing
irritation and upset. Occasionally
new fleas jump on to your pet from other
pets or wildlife when they go outside. However,
more usually, new flea infestation occurs
because the adult fleas on your pet lay
thousands of eggs into the household
environment which develop through immature
stages to produce a new generation of
adult fleas ready to jump on your pet
or bite a passing human. Just one
female flea brough home by your pet can
lay up to 50 eggs a day, or 1500 eggs
in the flea's lifetime.
You can effectively
treat and prevent fleas on your pet,
preventining flea multiplication in your
home and protect your pet from new flea
infestation.
Westmorland Veterinary Group
recommend the regular treatment of Frontline
Combo for
both cats and dogs, although we do have
a range of different flea products on
sale at the practice.
If flea collars
have been used then no spot-on or spray
products should be used for at least
1 week after removal.
Frontline Spray
can be used in severe cases or as direct
control of ticks or harvist mites. It
lasts 3 months in dogs and 2 in cats.
Tick Fact Sheet
Westmorland
Gazette Pets Corner Article on Fleas
Many
dogs and cats carry roundworms and
tapeworms, occasionally dogs kept
in multi-dog kennels will be infected
with hookworms.
It may not always
be easy to tell when you pet has worms.
In severe cases the symptoms are easier
to spot. But
in a case of mild infestation, you may
simply not know, and this is one case
where ignorance is far from blissful!
It
is estimated that 6 out of 10 cats in
the UK have worms at any one time, and
it's a vary rare cat indeed that isn't
troubled with them at some time in its
life.
The majority of worms carried by
dogs pose no threat to human health. However
there are some which can potentially
be transmitted to people. Toddlers
may stroke and cuddle their dogs, they
may play in infected gardens and sandpits
and, of course, you will never persuade
small children to wash their hands before
sucking their thumbs!
Worming programmes
vary with age and animal.
The following are guidelines only and
in cases of doubt or for pregnant animals,
please speak to a vet or vet nurse.
We
recommend that you use Drontal worming
tablets for animals over 6 months old,
although once again we do have a range
of different worming products available. These
are a combined wormer that kill Roundworm,
Tapeworm and Lungworm in one single dose
according to weight - to repeat every
3 months to give maximum protection
to the growing animal and to reduce
the risk or transmission to humans.
Drontal
Cat - 1 tablet per 4kg bodyweight
Drontal Plus - 1 tablet per 10kg bodyweight
For
animals under 12 weeks old we recommend
Panacur - this product kills all roundworms
and some tapeworms.
More Information on Worms
When travelling on the P.E.T scheme (taking your pet abroad) we
recommend that you use Stronghold which
works in a similar way to frontline but
is systemic.
This treats fleas, heartworms, roundworms,
mange and lice in dogs and also hookworms,
roundworms and earmites in cats.
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