Why is it important for your pet to stay on flea, tick, and heartworm preventatives even though the winter is almost here? Strap in, because that’s what we are discussing in this week’s blog!
Let’s start with heartworm prevention, since heartworm disease is possibly life-threatening, and the one most clients are confused about needing during the “winter” here in Oklahoma.
Did you know there is more than one species of mosquito and all of them have different temperatures and times of year they are active?
Most mosquitoes are out during the obvious months of March through November, but they’re most likely not affected by light freezes. This means that some mosquito species may be active during the “winter.” For more information on mosquitoes here in Oklahoma, please go to the Oklahoma State University website: http://entoplp.okstate.edu/mosquito/mosquitoes.
You still may be wondering, still, why you’d need to use preventions in the winter time after a freeze. To explain that we will have to dip into the lifecycle and how the prevention works. So here is a pretty diagram:
Heartworm preventatives in general are what we call “purgers,” which means they only kill what is in your pet on the day it is given, unlike flea and tick medications which lasts for the full 30 day period (or longer depending on the product). This is why it is so important to give your pet’s heartworm medication on the same day each month, as it will only kill the ones that were picked up since the last dose, and they do not kill all life stages of the heartworms.
Now, on to ticks!
Ticks remain active even in the cold weather! Freezing doesn’t kill them either, so hoping that cold weather gets rid of them is a lost cause. We know that you are less likely to get out in that weather, but other animals are out in it, which could track ticks into your yard that your pets could pick up. Hunting dogs are also more likely to pick them up as well since deer season extends into the winter months.
As was stated earlier, flea and tick medication actually stays in your pet’s system as long as it is prescribed for, so a one month product lasts for 30 days, a 3 month product lasts for 3 months*, and an 8 month product lasts 8 months.
Why is there an asterisk next to the 3 month product? This is because Bravecto® does not cover against all the species of ticks for all 3 months; it only covers for the Lone Star Tick for 2 months.
The following is a great video from Dr. Susan Little, who is currently doing research with ticks at Oklahoma State University:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNDeyLk4VBw&feature=youtu.be
The Oklahoma State University Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Sciences have many great articles for more information on any pests.
Fleas are the last pest we need to prevent against, and they can be killed if it is cold enough, so why do you need to have preventative?
Two reasons, one being that most flea preventions are also in combination with tick medication, which we already discussed why that is necessary. The second reason is that though it may be cold outside, it is nice and warm in your home or your pet’s fur. Fleas are also notoriously difficult to get rid of, which means if you’re already battling fleas on your pets by the time winter rolls around, you still have to continue methods of ridding your pets and any environment they are in of the fleas which can take multiple months.
So today’s takeaway message is year round prevention is key to keep your pet safe and healthy.