Mogwai and the Tick

A few weeks ago I walked by my bathroom to find my Persian, Mogwai, in one of his favorite spots, the bathroom sink. His majesty was patiently waiting for some mere human to turn on the faucet so he could drink the fresh streaming water rather than the stagnant stuff in his water bowl. While he is busy lapping up the water straight from the mouth of the faucet, I decided to take the opportunity to brush out his ridiculously thick, fluffy white hair. Though Mogwai is a beautiful cat, he is by no means clean or dainty. His fluffy white coat works as a great replacement for a feather duster as it attracts all kinds of things. That’s why I gave no second thought to the small black fleck of dirt that was crawling around in the jungle gym of hair. Crawling? Dirt doesn’t crawl! I took a closer look and saw eight legs waving at me. It was a deer tick! My indoor only, pure bred cat, who lives in the suburbs, in the cool month of October had a blood sucking parasite on him. Fortunately, I apply a flea and tick topical on him every month, including the colder months, just for this reason. Both I and my dogs stroll through my yard on daily basis, providing a perfect opportunity for one of those little guys to hitch a ride inside. With the colder months quickly approaching, the fleas and ticks want to come inside and out of the cold.

Despite the appearance the first few frosts that everyone deems the end of flea and tick season, these pests are still lurking around outside. We see patients come in to the office during the months of November and December who are still showing evidence of fleas and ticks. For this reason, we recommend flea and tick topical products year round for all pets. Even pets who never step outside your door can fall prey to the nuisance of flea and tick infestations (as I experienced first-hand!). One flea can produce up to 2,000 eggs in areas that are harder to clean such as your carpets, furniture, and if you spoil your pets like me, your bed! Once you discover fleas are sneaking a free meal from your pet, it can take at least 3 to 6 months to get things back under control again with the help of topical products. It is easier to play keep up rather than catch up. This can be achieved with an easy, once a month application of a topical. If you have questions about topical products, or other methods of flea and tick prevention, call the office to speak to the staff about how you can protect your pets from these creepy crawlers.