Hamlet's Corner
HAMLET SAYS IT’S TIME FOR FLEA & TICK CONTROL
Important FLEA Information
Fleas are something that many of us have to deal with at some time in your pet’s life. Those pesky fleas cause us animals many hours of itching and scratching. Sometimes they are hard to get rid of. Here are some flea facts that might help you with this problem:
- When a pet gets fleas, they have been in contact with a site of infestation, where flea eggs have fallen from an animal.
- Potential sites of infestation may include indoors, garage, vehicle, pet carrier, storage shed, yard, neighborhood, dog park, doggie day care. Wood floors are not a barrier. The eggs can fit in the cracks and base boards.
- An indoor infestation can be eliminated with monthly treatment of all the dogs and cats in the household.
- Usually three or more monthly treatments are required to solve the problem. The treatment doesn’t repel fleas, it kills fleas in stages. Therefore, you should not expect all fleas to be gone after one treatment.
- If a source of fleas is outdoors, they will still see fleas on their pets. Infestations outdoors may be impossible to eliminate. In that case, monthly treatment should continue. We also recommend other steps such as preventing access to under the porch, house, cleaning up yard rubbish, etc. Crawl spaces are the perfect habitat for fleas to reproduce.
- Once treatment starts, owners may see fleas for up to 8+ weeks. The fleas they see on the pet are in the process of being killed, it’s not immediate.
- The same flea is from many animals.
- People can bring hitchhiker fleas into the home.
- Screened porches are not a barrier. Fleas can go through walls in apartments.
- Neighbor’s pets, feral and wild animals visit their yard and deposit flea eggs.
- Fleas are not killed immediately. All fleas are usually killed in less than 24 hours (before eggs are laid). Some fleas may survive longer.
- New fleas will continue to jump onto pets from indoor and/or outdoor infestations. They typically will die before they can reproduce.
- Missing a dose can result in the production of hundreds to thousands of eggs resulting in more fleas seen on the pet. Remember one adult female flea can produce 40 to 50 eggs per day.
We have different products available here at Chemung Valley to help you with these problems. Advantage will help with the fleas; Frontline with fleas and ticks; and we also carry Vetra which helps with fleas, ticks and mosquitos. These products should be used on a monthly basis year round for the best results. For treatment in the house, we have a product called Knockout which is a spray used inside the house. The spray can be used on furniture, carpets, hardwood floors, etc. Make sure you spray under as well as on top of furniture and near the baseboards. Remember to take pets out of the room and away from the spray for the time allowed to dry. Remember flea collars, dips and/or baths do not equal the use of monthly products and environmental sprays.
Important TICK Information
Tick control is a higher challenge than fleas. No matter what you do, they keep coming back. Ticks are annoying to people and their pets. There is not a tick free time. Some times are worse than others. Ticks are always in the environment and can cause irritation and blood loss. There is a growing introduction of new species and a natural spread of existing species in new areas. The biggest threat in our area is the Deer Tick which carries lymes disease.
- Most ticks are acquired from outdoors.
- In favorable conditions there can be 2-4 generations per year. The life cycle is most commonly 2 years.
- Late spring to fall is when they are very active.
- Larvae and nymphs peak in July and August. Adults peak in April, July, and September.
- If there are rodents, deer, birds, or small mammals around, there are ticks.
- Try to decrease habitat for wildlife reservoirs by removing leaf litters and pine needles, burn debris, removal of mulch and gravel and keeping grassy areas cut short.
You need to try to control ticks year round but have reasonable expectations. Remember to apply products according to calendar not when you see the ticks; by then it is too late. Any product is not long term—ticks do come back. Remember to treat all pets in the household year round. We recommend Frontline as a good protection against ticks.
How to Remove A Tick
- Using tweezers, grasp tick near the mouth parts, as close to the skin as possible.
- Pull tick in a steady, upward motion away from skin twisting slightly to remove all parts of the tick.
- DO NOT use kerosene, matches, or petroleum jelly to remove tick.
- Disinfect site with soap and water, rubbing alcohol, or hydrogen peroxide.
- Record date and location of tick bite. If rash or infection appears, contact your veterinarian. Two to three weeks after the date of the tick bite, have a lymes test done at your veterinary clinic.
Information from Merial, New York State Department of Health, NAVC 2009 Conference
HAMLET ASKS WHY DO WE USE INTERCEPTOR AND HEARTGARD?
INFORMATION ABOUT CANINE HEARTWORM DISEASE
Heartworm disease, caused by infection with Dirofilaria immitis (a type of internal worm, commonly referred to as a heartworm, which typically infects dogs). It is nearly 100% preventable but in spite of the effective products available for prevention, this deadly parasite continues to infect and spread. That is why we recommend monthly Heartworm testing and monthly preventative such as Interceptor and Heartgard Plus.
Heartworm (Dirofilaria immitis) is a fairly large worm (up to 14 inches long) that, in adulthood, lives in the heart and pulmonary arteries of an infected dog. Dogs acquire this infection through mosquito bites as mosquitoes readily pick up larval (baby) heartworms from infected dogs and carry them to new dogs. Some geographic areas have severe heartworm problems while other areas have virtually none. In order for the parasite to establish its presence in an area, the following conditions must be met:
• Types of mosquitoes capable of carrying larval heartworms must be present.
• The weather must be warm enough to allow heartworm larval development within the mosquito.
• There must be infected dogs (or coyotes) in the area.
• There must be vulnerable host dogs in the area.
When these conditions come together, an area becomes "endemic" for heartworm disease.
LET'S FOLLOW THE WORM'S LIFE CYCLE
THE ADULT HEARTWORM
Blood going to the lung to pick up oxygen is received first by the right atrium of the heart, then sent to the right ventricle (the pumping chamber) and then sent out to the lung via the pulmonary arteries.
The adult heartworm is fairly large, several inches in length, and it prefers to live, not in the heart, but in the pulmonary arteries. It swims into a cozy tubular artery, where it is massaged and nourished by the blood coursing past it. In the pulmonary arteries of an infected dog, the worm's presence generates a strong inflammatory response and a tendency for blood to inappropriately clot. If enough worms are present, the heart must work extra hard to pump blood through the plugged up arteries.
If the worm infection is a heavy one (over 25 worms for a 40 lb dog), the worms begin to back up into the heart's right ventricle (the chamber which pumps blood through the lung). The worms actually take up a significant amount of space within the heart, space that could have been taken up by blood. With less blood going through the heart, there is less blood being pumped out to the lung.
When over 50 worms are present, the ventricle is completely full and the atrium, the chamber receiving blood from the rest of the body, begins to fill with worms.
When over 100 worms are present, the entire right side of the heart is filled with worms and there is very little room for any blood to be pumped. This drastic phenomenon is called "Caval Syndrome" and most dogs do not survive it.
MICROFILARIAE (First Stage Larvae)
With adult male and female worms present, mating begins to occur. Heartworms do not lay eggs like other worm parasites; instead they give live birth and the baby worms are called Microfilariae. Microfilariae are released into the circulatory system in hope that they will be slurped up by a mosquito taking a blood meal and carried to a new host. Microfilariae may live up to two years within the host dog in whom they were born. If, after this period, a mosquito has not picked them up, they die of “old age.” Microfilariae may also be transmitted across the placental barrier to unborn puppies if the mother dog is infected with heartworm. It is important to realize that such puppies will not develop adult heartworms or heartworm disease from these microfilariae; in order for a heartworm to reach adulthood, it must be passed through a mosquito.
Parasitic worms have 5 larval stages and are termed "L1," "L2," "L3," etc. Heartworm microfilariae are first stage larvae: "L1"s.
INSIDE THE MOSQUITO
So, let us continue to follow the young heartworm's development inside the mosquito who has taken it in with a blood meal. Within the mosquito's body, the microfilariae will develop to L2’s and finally to L3’s, the stage capable of infecting a new dog. How long this takes depends on the environmental conditions. In general, it takes a few weeks. A minimum environmental temperature of 57 degrees F is required throughout this period. The process goes faster in warmer weather.
INFECTING A NEW DOG
When a dog is bitten by an infected mosquito, the L3 is not deposited directly into the dog's bloodstream. Instead, it is deposited in a tiny drop of mosquito "spit" adjacent to the mosquito bite. For transmission to occur, there must be adequate humidity to prevent evaporation of this fluid droplet before the L3’s can swim through the mosquito bite and into the new host.
Once safely inside the new host, the L3 will spend the next week or two developing into an L4 within the host's skin. The L4 will live in the skin for three months or so until it develops to the L5 stage and is ready to enter the host's circulatory system. The L5, which is actually a young adult, migrates to the heart and out into the pulmonary arteries (if there is room) where it will mate, approximately 5-7 months after first entering the new host..
Also note: because the heartworm tests on the market either look for microfilariae or for adult worm proteins, they will not detect infection with immature worms. This is why it takes 5-7 months from the time of exposure to get a valid heartworm test and this is also why there is no point in testing puppies under 5-7 months of age.
INFORMATION ABOUT FELINE HEARTWORM DISEASE
- The cat is not a natural host for the heartworm which means the migrating larval heartworm is not likely to complete its life cycle. The migrating worm uses molecular sign posts to tell it how to get to its host’s pulmonary arteries. The worm is prepared to read CANINE directions and may get lost in the feline body ending up who knows where. Most of the larvae that actually make it to the pulmonary artery die soon afterwards due to the massive immune attack from the feline body. Very few larval heartworms survive to adulthood in the cat.
- Whereas a moderate heartworm infection in a dog would involve 25-50 adult heartworms, infected cats typically have less than six adult worms. Because the feline heart and blood vessels are so small, these few worms can wreak havoc. In a dog, six worms or fewer might not be considered worth treating.
In the cat, a single worm could easily represent a lethal infection. - Whereas worms found in the canine heart can reach lengths up to 14 inches, the average length of worms found in feline hearts is only 5-8 inches.
- While an adult heartworm can expect to live 5 years in a dog, it will only live 2-3 years in a cat probably due to the cat's especially strong immune reaction.
Heartworm disease in the cat is caused by the inflammatory reaction generated by the worm's presence. In the dog, heartworm disease is mostly about
the obstruction of blood flow from the physical size of the worms.
Heartworm preventive medications are used to periodically kill larval heartworms that have managed to gain access to the dog’s body. At this point, the products available are intended for monthly use. This means that they kill all the heartworm larvae (stage “L3” and “L4”) that have accumulated in the past month each time they are given. Some products offer the ability to kill older larvae which helps keep the pet protected in case someone is late giving the heartworm preventive medication at some point. There are presently many choices, both topical and oral, plus, while the subject of this page is canine heartworm prevention, all the products discussed have feline formulations.
http://www.marvistavet.com/index.html - February 28, 2009