The importance of year-round flea/tick heartworm prevention!

While seasonal flea and tick control seems appropriate in many regions of the U.S., sporadic treatment makes it difficult to prevent initial infestations. Due to changing climatic conditions, flea and tick “seasonality” also is changing. Experience over the past 10 years shows every year has the potential to differ from the previous year. Determining start and stop dates for seasonally timed applications may be impossible, and geographic differences affect flea and tick prevalence and seasonality.

In addition, many pets receive broad spectrum macrolide heartworm preventives. Heartworm and intestinal nematode transmission seasons occur at different times than flea and tick seasons. If veterinarians find it difficult to reconcile and respond to these shifting seasons, how can we expect clients to manage pest control timing? Year-round prevention is simply the most practical and medically sound approach.

While we can debate the value of various products in our efforts to minimize parasite infestation and related zoonotic disease, concerns about timing and product selection should not interfere with educating pet owners on the need for uninterrupted, effective parasite control.

The best prevention for flea- and tickborne disease is clear: year-round prevention of flea and tick infestation. Simplify your live and enhance the health of your pet with comprehensive 12-month parasite control.

For more comprehensive information about prevening transmission and treatment of parasites, visit http://www.capcvet.org