It is natural to want your pet to lead a long and healthy life, and there are steps you can take to ensure the best possible existence for your pet. Doing so, will not only give your pet a more enjoyable existence, but it will also save money in the long run on veterinarian trips and medicines.
In this article, we will discuss some tips you for preventing and treating disease in your pet.
Pet Disease: Prevention and Treatment
Tick-borne Diseases
It is a common occurrence for dogs and cats to become hosts to ticks, and you must be vigilant to keep your companion from getting sick as a result. You can use a flea and tick collar for your dog or cat, and this will discourage ticks from attaching to your pet. There are also vaccines you can give your dog to inoculate them against some diseases, though it will not protect them against all. Keep in mind that this will not keep your pet from bringing ticks into the house.
There are pills you can give your dog, a powder you can rub into their fur, and a tacky substance you can apply from the neck toward the back that will act as a repellant for fleas, ticks, and mosquitos. In addition to this, you must still be diligent in checking your dog for ticks, removing them the moment you see them.
Cats must be treated more carefully, as they are more sensitive to chemicals, and your veterinarian can advise you as to the best course of action. If your dog or cat lacks appetite or is lethargic, and you suspect a tick bite, immediately take him or her in for treatment.
Heartworms
Heartworms are spread through mosquito bites, and they are parasitic worms that work their way into a dog’s large cardiac arteries, eventually causing heart failure and death. With cats, the process is a little bit different. The larvae take longer to mature, and when they do, they can lodge in the feline’s brain or other internal organs.
You can keep your pets away from mosquito-laden areas, and you can take steps to ensure your backyard is not a place that can harbor their eggs. Remove all stagnant pools of water, and spray mosquito repellant periodically. You can administer preventative medicine to protect your animal from becoming susceptible to heartworms, and you can draw blood periodically to test for their presence in the bloodstream. Treating heartworms for dogs is a difficult and lengthy process that can still leave their hearts damaged, and for cats, there is no cure.
Parvo
It is absolutely essential to have young puppies vaccinated against this infection at the proper times: when they are six, nine, and twelve weeks old and up to 22 weeks old for certain breeds. Cats do not contract parvo, but they can catch a similar disease called feline infectious enteritis, for which they can also be vaccinated.
The disease is spread through contact with the fecal matter of infected animals, so it is vital to keep your pets from sniffing other animals’ stool. Mortality from the condition is 30%, and your pet will suffer with a weakened immune system afterward, so prevention is paramount.
You can contact the fine staff at A to Z Veterinarian Clinic for more information!