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MARCH IS FLEA AND TICK PREVENTION MONTH
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE-February 24, 2010
Does the mere sight of a tick make you queasy? Do fleas on your pets cause an edgy, “itchy” feeling. Fortunately, working with veterinarians, you can ease your pets’ discomfort and provide a sense of relief. What’s even better? Each dead flea or tick is one less potential vector for some pretty serious diseases.
Both fleas and ticks subsist by drinking the blood of other animals. Thousands of flea species exist along with hundreds of ticks. Whenever these parasites take a blood meal, they have the potential to carry blood borne diseases from one animal to another.
Experts from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) state that 75% of all emerging diseases are zoonotic in nature, meaning that they are passed from animals to people. Fleas and ticks are important vectors in this type of transmission.
Here are a few important diseases transmitted by fleas and ticks:
Lyme Disease, a serious infection in people, is perhaps the best known of all diseases spread by ticks. In 15 years, cases of Lyme have more than doubled in the United States with 93% of the cases occurring in just ten states. Our dogs are also susceptible, often showing lameness, fever, and possibly even neurological signs.
Despite its name, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever (RMSF) is common throughout North America. This is another tick borne bacterial disease that can have serious consequences for people and pets. About 1200 people contract RMSF annually especially in the western and southeastern states. Dogs have served as sentinels for this disease, but symptoms are vague. Without treatment, this disease is fatal in both dogs and humans.
Ehrlichia are types of bacteria that specialize in living inside our white blood cells. Many military dogs returning from Viet Nam were diagnosed with this disease, although it is found naturally in the United States as well. Humans, dogs and cats can all become infected through tick exposure. Affected animals will have low blood cell counts, fevers and occasionally severe bleeding, kidney disease, and neurological disorders.
Tularemia is an extremely rare disease also known as "rabbit fever". Ticks can spread this disease to dogs and humans, but cats are most susceptible. Many cats are infected from ingesting diseased rabbits. Infected cats may show symptoms from mild anorexia to oral ulcers and severe dehydration. The CDC even has concerns that tularemia could be used as a potent biological weapon.
Other tick-borne diseases include anaplasmosis, southern tick-associated rash illness, and tick-borne relapsing fevers.
Like ticks, fleas can carry various bacterial agents, including tularemia mentioned above. However, it’s the "Black Death" or bubonic plague that has greater potential for destruction. Fleas pick up the disease-causing bacteria from rodents and can then infect both cats and humans. More than a dozen cases of bubonic plague are diagnosed in the US annually.
Murine Typhus is another bacterial disease caused by organisms similar to the bacteria that cause Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. Symptoms are comparable to measles and this disease is found in southern California and southern Texas. Fleas carry the disease from opossums and cats to humans, although recent research has shown that ownership of cats does not significantly increase the risk for contracting this disease.
Fleas can also carry bacteria that cause Cat Scratch disease in humans and many different blood parasites that affect both dogs and cats.
Despite all of the doom and gloom, many of these diseases can be treated successfully if they are caught early. In addition, working with your veterinarian to provide protection against these parasites can keep the whole family, two and four-legged, safe.
Compared to the cumbersome and toxic chemicals of the past, the products available today from your veterinarian are very effective and quite safe. Using products like Frontline Plus or ProMeris, in conjunction with environmental treatments creates an integrated pest control plan that will help keep fleas and ticks out of your home and even your yard. And experts agree that is the key in effective control of these bugs.
Many different flea products are available over the counter in retail stores, but these products lack efficacy and have been implicated in toxic overdoses of pets. Play it safe…get the most modern and safest flea and tick control from your veterinarian, use it as directed and rest assured that you are providing the best protection for the whole family. To learn more about the deadly diseases carried by fleas and ticks, click HERE to see a video.
Ask your Animal Care Clinic Doctor about the right Flea, Tick and Heartworm Prevention for your pet.
EPA ARTICLE REGARDING ON-LINE PHARMACIES:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE--LEXINGTON, KY, -- March 22, 2010
As a service to our clients, here is a reprint of the FDA consumer magazine article by Linda Bren:
Purchasing Pet Drugs Online: Buyer Beware
Red Flag: ‘No Prescription Required'
NSAIDs and Heartworm Preventives
Buying Heartworm Preventives Online
Licensed Internet Pharmacies
By Linda Bren
"Discount pet drugs—no prescription required."
This message, and others like it touted by many Internet sites, may sound appealing to pet owners, but the Food and Drug Administration says buying drugs online from such sites can be risky.
Some of the Internet sites that sell pet drugs represent legitimate, reputable pharmacies, says Martine Hartogensis, D.V.M., promotion and advertising liaison for the FDA's Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM). But others are fronts for unscrupulous businesses operating in violation of the law.
"Some of these Internet companies are overseas, and there is a risk of the drugs not being FDA-approved," says Hartogensis. The FDA has also found companies that sell counterfeit pet products, make fraudulent claims, dispense prescription drugs without requiring a prescription, and sell pet drugs that have expired.
Pet owners who purchase drugs from these companies may think they are saving money, says Hartogensis, but in reality they may be short-changing their pet's health and putting its life at risk.
The FDA's CVM regulates the manufacture and distribution of animal drugs, while individual state pharmacy boards regulate the dispensing of prescription veterinary products.
Red Flag: ‘No Prescription Required'
Some foreign Internet pharmacies are advertising that veterinary prescription drugs are available to U.S. citizens without requiring a prescription. Or a foreign or domestic pharmacy will claim that one of its veterinarians on staff will "evaluate" the pet after looking over a form filled out by the pet owner, and then prescribe the drug.
A veterinarian can make a diagnosis and determine the appropriate therapy for an animal only by physically examining it, says Hartogensis. Prescribing sight unseen and without follow-up monitoring "is not a valid veterinarian-client-patient relationship."
NSAIDs and Heartworm Preventives
The FDA's CVM is especially concerned that pet owners are looking to the Internet to buy two types of commonly used prescription veterinary drugs—nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and heartworm preventives. "Both drugs can be dangerous if there is no professional involvement," says Hartogensis. "It's not a concern if the owner uses a legitimate online pharmacy and mails in a prescription from their veterinarian, who is monitoring the animal," she says. "But if there is no veterinarian–client–patient relationship, it's a dangerous practice."
NSAIDs are often prescribed for pain relief in dogs with degenerative joint disease (osteoarthritis) or with pain after surgery. As recommended on NSAID labeling, dogs should undergo blood testing and a thorough physical examination before starting NSAIDs and should be monitored during NSAID therapy. In addition, each NSAID prescription should be accompanied by a Client Information Sheet that explains important safety information to the dog owner.
Buying Heartworm Preventives Online
Heartworm disease is a potentially fatal condition transmitted by the bite of a mosquito that is carrying the larvae (infective stage) of the heartworm parasite. "It only takes one infected mosquito to transmit heartworm disease," says Sheldon Rubin, D.V.M., secretary of the American Heartworm Society (AHS) and veterinarian in private practice in Chicago. The larvae enter the bite wound and migrate through the tissue of the animal, where they grow into adult worms that live in the arteries of the lungs and in the right side of the heart. Dogs, cats, ferrets, and some other mammals can get heartworm.
Heartworm preventives, administered daily or monthly depending on the product, kill the larvae before they become adult worms.
All 50 states have reported heartworm disease, says the AHS, which recommends using heartworm medication for dogs year-round, nationwide, and getting dogs tested yearly to make sure they're not infected with heartworm.
"Testing is important even in dogs regularly treated with heartworm preventive products due to the occasional reports of product ineffectiveness," says Hartogensis. If the animal is infected, a yearly test can ensure an early diagnosis and maximum benefit from treatment.
An Internet pharmacy veterinarian, of course, cannot perform the heartworm test because it requires drawing blood from the animal. If the test isn't done, a pet owner could be giving heartworm preventives to a dog that has heartworms, leading to severe reactions.
"The manufacturers of heartworm medicine do not sell to Internet pharmacies unless they are owned by a veterinarian and have a pharmacy license," says Rubin. "There is no better source for heartworm preventive than your own veterinarian. It's fresh, it came directly from the manufacturer, and it's 100 percent supported." This means if a dog or cat is on heartworm preventive and gets heartworm disease, the manufacturer works with the veterinarian, says Rubin, which significantly reduces the cost to the client. If you purchase preventives on the Internet without having your pet seen by your veterinarian, "nobody stands behind them—the veterinarian doesn't, the manufacturer doesn't."
Cats are at risk for developing heartworm disease, too, says Hartogensis. "Even one heartworm can kill a cat." Testing for heartworm infection in cats is more complex and not as accurate as the test for dogs. The AHS does not recommend yearly testing of cats, but does suggest testing prior to starting a preventive to establish a baseline reference. If heartworms are found in dogs in the area and mosquitoes get into the house, cat owners should consider putting their cat on a heartworm preventive, says the AHS. Your veterinarian will know the risk in your area and can guide you on whether a preventive is indicated.
Licensed Internet Pharmacies
The FDA recommends making sure a Web site is a state-licensed pharmacy within the United States before buying online. Consumers should check with their state board of pharmacy or the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP) to see whether an online pharmacy has a valid pharmacy license and meets state quality standards.
The NABP has established a voluntary certification program called Verified Internet Pharmacy Practice Sites (VIPPS). The NABP certifies online pharmacies that comply with state licensing and inspection requirements, along with other criteria.
Only pharmacies that sell human drugs are VIPPS-certified at this time. The NABP and the American Association of Veterinary State Boards (AAVSB) are considering expansion of the VIPPS program to accredit veterinary pharmacy practices.
Some veterinary hospitals have valid relationships with state-licensed Internet pharmacies known as outsourced prescription management services. These pharmacies usually stock more medications than the veterinary hospital is able to do, and they work directly with the veterinarian, require a prescription be written by the veterinarian, and are supportive of the veterinarian-client-patient relationship.
Talk with Dr. Butch, Dr. Egan, Dr. Putnam about any and all prescription needs.
Special thanks to Tom Dock and the Veterinary News Network (VNN) for their help in preparing these stories.