Protecting Pets with Flea and Tick Monthly Preventatives
- Dallas Duncan
- 3 days ago
- 5 min read
This week’s fluctuating temperatures may suggest otherwise, but according to Dr. Preston Russell, DVM, veterinarian at Comer Veterinary Hospital, northeast Georgia is about to be inundated with its annual influx of fleas and ticks.
The Peach State doesn’t get cold enough, even in its northernmost regions, to completely kill off flea and tick populations, Russell says. This means wildlife can still carry them. If that wildlife comes into a yard where pets have access, there’s a chance those fleas and ticks can come into contact with domestic animals. Even wholly indoor pets can be at risk.
“They can hitch a ride on your sock or on your shoe or on your person, and you can carry them in,” says Jessica Morris, vet tech and practice manager at Comer Vet. “They can lay dormant. You bring one in, it may not have come in contact with your pet yet, and then they lay eggs and those eggs hatch. Then they get onto your pet, so even if they’re inside, it does not mean that they are immune to fleas and ticks.”
Types of Prevention
“People have been treating for fleas probably as long as there have been people,” says Dr. Nancy Hinkle, Ph.D., professor of veterinary entomology at the University of Georgia. “They used to use inorganic material like sulfur and such that didn’t work very well.”
Nowadays, active ingredients in flea and tick preventatives include pyrethrins, isoxazolines, phenylpyrazoles, and avermectins, which can kill the pests on contact or if ingested during a blood meal.
Pet parents can find a variety of flea and tick preventatives both at Comer Vet and its online Your Pet Pharmacy. Some offer protection against other parasites as well, including heartworms. Many topicals and flea collars are available over the counter. Oral preventatives are more likely to require a prescription.
“These medications, the way they work, everything affects the neurologic system of the flea and the tick,” Russell says. “Generally, you’re gonna have a veterinarian take a look beforehand, make sure the animal is healthy enough to take said medication.”
Deciding which preventative is best depends on individual cases.
“Anything that comes in that’s ill, sick, severely debilitated, underweight — things like that I would avoid an oral on, usually. I would recommend a topical first, or get the animal healthier and then give it an oral medication,” Russell says. “If it has a history of seizures, some of these medications can affect that, so I would not recommend oral medications for those guys.”
On the other hand, pets with skin conditions may not be the best candidates for topical preventatives, Morris says.
Just like with other pests and parasites, there is a concern about resistance to flea and tick preventatives. Hinkle, who did academic research on this topic, says a contributing factor to resistance in flea populations is that pet owners will treat both animals and home environments with the same active ingredient, such as a pyrethroid. When that happens, any flea that survives will naturally have developed resistance that can be bred into its offspring.
Some pet parents may have heard guidance about having their animal on both a flea collar and a secondary preventative, as this method can expose the pests to multiple types of active ingredients and potentially reduce resistance. Morris and Russell caution against this without discussing it first with a veterinarian, as this approach could cause harmful medication interactions or be damaging to the pet’s health.
“It doesn’t hurt to do the Seresto [collar] because it lasts for eight months, then every now and then do a topical, but you wouldn’t necessarily want to do it every single month,” Morris says. “The collars are kind of finicky. It depends on contact: if they’re not tight enough, they don’t stay tight enough, they just don’t distribute [the medication] quite as well.”
Russell echoes her sentiments. He says he’s seen several large dog patients come in wearing the collars, but still finds fleas on their hind ends during their annual wellness exams.
Other factors that could affect efficacy of flea and tick preventatives include frequent bathing or swimming. Topicals may not last as long as orals on these animals, and neither may collar coverage.
“I love my orals. You can’t wash them off,” Russell says.
Pets can start on a monthly preventative as young as several weeks old. Typically, a puppy, kitten, rabbit, or ferret will receive a vet recommendation or prescription for preventatives during one of their first visits to Comer Vet. Russell adds that an exception is Bravecto Quantum, an injectable preventative that can be given to dogs older than 1 year.
Flea- and tick-borne diseases
There are more than 2,200 types of fleas, including the cat flea. Despite its name, the cat flea can infest both felines and canines, as well as a wide range of animal hosts, Hinkle says. The primary concerns with fleas include flea allergy dermatitis, which she calls “heartbreaking” to watch an animal struggle with.
“They’re breaking the skin, the skin gets destroyed, it’s leaking fluid. That sets up for secondary infection,” she says. “If we can prevent that, that’s a major accomplishment.”
Fleas can transmit Bartonella henselae, the bacteria that causes cat scratch fever. This zoonotic disease occurs in both felines and humans, and is characterized by a fever, enlarged lymph nodes, and noticeable raised areas at the site of the infected scratch. Tapeworms are passed by fleas, too, and severe flea infestations on an animal can lead to anemia. So can hemoplasma, a type of blood parasite which causes hemolytic anemia in cats. Both fleas and ticks have been known to transmit this microorganism, Russell says. Ticks can also spread Lyme Disease, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, Ehrlichiosis, and Anaplasmosis.
“They’re really well-developed to transmit pathogens. That allows them the opportunity to put pretty much anything inside them inside the bloodstream of the host,” Hinkle says. “Whereas the flea may hop on you and suck blood for a couple minutes, the ticks get on you and usually stay for four or five days.”
When it comes to preventing these diseases, Morris says not all preventatives are created equal. Especially with over-the-counter options, she suggests pet parents look for reputable name brands, and to not hesitate to ask their vet for recommendations. Some preventatives contain active ingredients that are no longer as effective, and some have developed reputations for causing more harm to the pet than to fleas and ticks.
“As in many situations in life, you get what you pay for. If you go to the big box store and buy the cheapest product, you’re probably not gonna be real happy with the results,” Hinkle warns. “If you’re going to make the effort, use something that works and don’t use something that endangers your pet or you.”
Interested in finding out what preventatives are best for your pet? Please give us a call at 706-783-5111 to schedule a wellness exam, or request an appointment through our online form.
