Protect your Pet – Protect Yourself
Prevention of parasites is much easier than eliminating parasites once a pet is infected.
There is no approved drug treatment for heartworms in cats. Prevention is the only way to truly protect your cat from heartworms.
Once your indoor pet has fleas, the infestation is likely to spread to your carpet and upholstery & can be next to impossible to eradicate. Protecting your pet from fleas protects your home as well.
Some diseases from parasites can spread from animals to humans. Prevention can help protect your family!
Regular prevention for your pet can save you money on veterinary bills by helping your pet avoid a trip to the vet for emergency treatment & ensure your pet is healthy and happier for longer.
Know Your Enemies
Fleas, ticks, heartworms and intestinal worms – for their small size, these parasites pack a lot of misery for you and your pet. Besides driving your faithful companion crazy, they can pose a hazard to both pets and people.
Fleas
Itching, redness of the skin, discomfort, presence of fleas in the fur, flea “dirt” scattered on the skin & to top it all they carry worms!
Roundworm
Look out for diarrhea, poor growth, and distended or swollen abdomen with a roundworm infestation – you can also sometimes see these worms in your pet’s poop.
Ticks
If your dog heads outside, especially in areas of long grass they’re going to come into contact with both hard and soft-bodied ticks. These voracious blood-suckers tend to congregate in and around the ears, between toes and deep in long hair. There’s a lot of confusion over how best to deal with these unwanted arrivals. It’s important to note that they carry often deadly diseases like Tick Fever, Lyme Disease and Tick Paralysis. The good news is they have to attach for more than 24 hours to really transmit the infection – so it’s important that you check your dogs and cats on a daily basis. As the risk is so real it’s worth keeping them update to date with an effective preventative to prevent the ticks biting in the first place and make sure you remove any ticks you do find.
Heartworm
It’s not just humans that are at risk from Mosquitos. Although Malaria tends not to affect our pets, mosquitos spread deadly heartworm – one of the most deadly diseases around. The good news is that it’s easily preventable by monthly tablets. The bad news is that there are too many cases every year in Saigon that end with poor outcomes. All dogs should start preventatives from 3 months of age for as long as they’re in an at-risk country. Adults dogs need to be tested (one drop of blood and 10 minutes is all it takes) prior to starting a prevention to ensure no current infection.
Rabies
Rabies is 100% fatal & unfortunately all too common in Asia. We all think of a vicious dog foaming at the mouth when we hear the word Rabies, however, not everybody is aware that almost 60% of rabies cases are the ‘dumb’ form where the animal becomes lethargic, looks sleepy and then suddenly bites when approached. Simple vaccination will completely remove the risk to both our pets and ourselves!
Hookworm
Hookworm often doesn’t cause symptoms until the infestation is severe & life-threatening. In puppies, they cause anemia and poor growth through to diarrhea with dark, tarry stools and even haemorrhage.
Ear mites
Head and neck scratching, head shaking, brown or black discharge in the ear.
Tapeworm
Tapeworm can be insidious, with few acute signs but leading to a reduction in nutrient intake, stunting of growth, irritation around the bottom and anaemia.