Dog Health : Parasite Prevention & Treatment

Fleas love the tropical climate of Florida and Hillsborough County actually leads the nation in the flea population. We have more fleas than any other county in the entire nation! Once fleas feed on your pet, they’ll most certainly invade your house, bringing with them other potentially harmful diseases.

Did you Know?

Statistics show that once a dog gets fleas, they get passed around in the environment in which he lives. Numbers indicate to us that only 5% of fleas in a home will stay on the dog. The remainder 95% live in the base of the carpet, the crevasses of hardwood floors, under cushions, in bedding, and other dark, out of the way places.

Central and South Florida are infested year-round with mosquitoes due to the warm, humid climate. Mosquitoes are known carriers of heartworms, a life-threatening disease for dogs.  Several parasites can affect dogs including:

  • Hook Worms
  • Round Worms
  • Tape Worms
  • Ear Mites
  • Heart Worms
  • Fleas
  • Ticks

Fortunately, advances in parasite control medication, flea preventative, can help prevent flea and other parasite infestations. The cost of the treatment is low; the application is easy and will help ensure your pet’s wellness for several weeks at a time.

Flea/Tick Control – Vectra 3 D
Vecrta 3D  (Ceva Pharmaceuticals) is the next generation in flea and tick control.  A topical treatment that is applied every 30 days to prevent and control fleas and ticks. It is the only product that we recommend and carry in our practice.

Flea Control – Comfortis and Vectra
Comfortis (Elanco) is an oral flea control preventative and Vectra (Ceva Pharmaceuticals) is a topical flea only preventative.  If applied every 30 days as directed, It is our experience that these are the two best flea only products available on the market today.

Heartworm Only – Tri-Heart Plus, Interceptor, ProHeart 6
Tri-Heart Plus (Merck Animal Health) and Interceptor (Novartis Animal Health) are the oral heartworm and intestinal parasite preventatives that we use and recommend in our practice.  Have you ever accidently missed a dose or even two? Proheart 6 (Pfizer Animal Health) is the newly reintroduced injectable heartworm preventative that is effective for 6 months at a time.

Heartworm and Flea Combo -  Trifexis, Sentinel, Revolution
Our strongest recommendation for flea, heartworm and intestinal parasite preventative and control is available in a combination product.  Because we live in a tropical, humid environment it is necessary to administer one of these products every 30 days to adequately prevent and control flea infestations, heartworms and intestinal parasites.  Heartworms kill thousands of dogs and cats every year making it vitally important to test and protect your beloved pets from this deadly disease.  Trifexis (Elanco) and Sentinel (Novartis Animal Health) are both oral medications and Revolution (Pfizer Animal Health) is topical and all three are administered every 30 days, year round.

We can even have the flea prevention shipped directly to your home. Contact our Brandon veterinary hospital at (813) 684-PETS (7387) to speak with a member of our staff. It’s that easy!

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Our pet wellness plans are a simple and cost-effective way for pet owners to make sure that their animals stay healthy throughout the year.

> Click here for more information on our wellness plans for dogs