Start Dogs Early for Spring Flea & Tick Control

By Dr. Michael Dym, DVM
With the arrival of the warm spring weather, fleas and ticks begin to wake up from their winter lull.
While flea and tick activity typically peaks in the summer with temperatures above 75 degrees Fahrenheit, fleas and ticks have actually already started to emerge by the time temperatures reach the 40s and 50s, posing the question: When should dog and cat owners start using flea and tick preventatives?

• In temperate climates, it’s best to start prevention as temperatures start to rise in March and April.
• In subtropical warmer climates prevention should be year-round.

Since flea and tick preventatives work prospectively 1 to 3 months ahead (depending on the preventative), starting prevention early will allow the peak effects of the medicines to occur when risk of exposure is highest

From late spring into summer, there is not a day that goes by in clinical veterinary practice when we are not finding fleas and/or tick infestation on our companion animals.

With so many options now available for flea and tick prevention, from oral tablets to topical preparations, there is no reason why timely prevention should not begin at the onset of early spring weather.

Many of our animal patients are prone to allergies from flea and tick bites, which can lead to significant and uncomfortable itching and skin eruptions of various types.

It is also important to realize that instituting early prevention will also prevent many flea and tick transmitted diseases in our companion animals, from Bartonellosis (the source of cat scratch fever in humans), to Lyme disease, Ehrlichiosis, Anaplasmosis and Rocky Mountain spotted fever.

These diseases can be health- and sometimes life-threatening in our animal patients, making early prevention that much more important.

VISION

Every pet deserves to live a long, happy, healthy life.