Only $39 for one year.
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PET Q and A: Protect Your Pets From Backyard Pests

This time of year, probably the last thing on your mind is flea and tick prevention, but anyone with pets needs to understand the importance of this. Whether we like it or not, fleas and ticks share our environment. If we do not control them, they can wreak havoc on our animal companions and can cause many otherwise preventable diseases.

As veterinarians, we endorse year-round protection for all pets.

We see fleas and ticks affecting indoor and outdoor animals in both urban and rural areas. It is their ability to adapt that allows these parasites to survive in virtually any environment.

Why all pets? Even indoor pets can be exposed to fleas through foot traffic into the house, contact with another pet in the household that may go outside, or exposure through porches and windows.

Why year-round? There is no way to determine when warmer days will occur and cause fleas or ticks to become active and jump on our pets. These parasites do survive through the winter, and oftentimes they move indoors during the colder months.

Why do we care? These parasites not only cause discomfort, they can spread many diseases to our pets and even to us. Aside from causing intense itching from bites, fleas can cause hypersensitivity (allergic) reactions, spread intestinal tapeworms, and spread bacteria that can cause many problems ranging from anemia (low red blood cell numbers) to serious diseases that can lead to death if untreated.

Ticks most notably carry diseases such as Lyme disease, tick paralysis, and Rocky Mountain spotted fever, among others.

Many of these diseases can be deadly to dogs and cats if not treated promptly, but are also completely preventable. Overall, it is much easier to prevent fleas and ticks from becoming a problem than it is to get rid of them and their illnesses. Once your home is infested it can take days, weeks, or even months to get rid of these pests. Treating a pet for a flea- or tick-borne disease is much more difficult (and costly) than preventing it from happening in the first place. If you ask anyone who has ever had to deal with a flea infestation in their home or Lyme disease in their dog, they will agree.

— Oradell Animal Hospital