Posts in Category: Fleas Ticks & Heartworm

If you’ve got an adventurous dog or cat that loves exploring the great outdoors, it’s important to protect your pet from Lyme disease—a tick-borne illness that poses a year-round threat to pets (and people!) in Georgia’s mild climate. At Clairmont Animal Hospital, we want to help you keep your cats, dogs, and family members safe by sharing what we know about preventing and treating Lyme disease in pets.

You’re grooming your pet and you feel a lump. You run your hand through the fur until you locate the lump, part the hair, and gasp! It’s a tick! You know it’s a tick because the mouth is stuck in your pet’s skin. Ticks and other parasites can harm your pet and cause some unexpected health issues. At Clairmont Animal Hospital, we want to help you keep your household animals healthy by learning to identify parasites that may be thriving on your animals:

A lot of time and education goes into discussing heartworm in dogs. As a result, most dog parents are aware of this parasitic disease and take steps to prevent it in our canine companions. But most cat parents aren’t aware that cats can get heartworm, too.

Because mosquito season is on its way, your friends at Clairmont Animal Hospital decided that it was high time to give you a peek into this disease in our feline friends.

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From treats to toys, many pet owners don’t think twice about showering a pet with love. After all, pets have our hearts. But what about protecting theirs through heartworm prevention?

Heartworm disease is one of the more deadly, but preventable illnesses we see in pets. Yet, many pets remain unprotected. This game of chance may not seem like such a big deal – until a pet is diagnosed with heartworm.

The Risk of Heartworm

Heartworm disease is transmitted through the bite of an infected mosquito. Mosquitoes acquire these microscopic parasites, called microfilariae, from other mammals such as coyotes, skunks, and foxes. Continue…

While the phrase “flea-bitten hound” may make you grin, fleas crawling all over a hapless dog or cat is no laughing matter. Fleas carry serious diseases and can make life miserable for animals and humans alike.

Leaping Beasties

Meet Ctenocephalides felix, also known as the “cat flea”. The cat flea is a parasite that, despite its name, preys on virtually every mammal in North America. In addition to siphoning blood from their host, flea bites cause virulent itching, flea-allergy dermatitis, and if not controlled, a severe infestation can lead to anemia and even death. Continue…