Fleas and ticks can cause discomfort, itchiness, allergic reactions, and serious disease. The chance that your pet may get fleas or ticks depends on many factors: weather, location, and your pet's individual susceptibility.
South Orange County is a "hot spot" for both fleas and ticks.
Ticks and fleas also pose a threat to people. If you notice small bites, especially around your ankles, you might have fleas in your house.
Did you know that 10 female fleas can produce 267,000 offspring in a month! It is easy to see how easy it would be to become inundated with a flea infestation.
Fleas carry parasites (tapeworm) as well as bacteria that can affect people ( plague, cat scratch fever, and Typhus), so it is important to prevent their proliferation. Tick bites cause serious diseases in both pets and people (Ehrlichiosis, Lyme Disease, Anaplasmosis).
We have safe pharmaceutical and holistic options for flea and tick control.
Heartworm is a preventable, but serious and potentially fatal, parasite that primarily infects dogs and cats. It can also infect a variety of wild animals, including wild canids (e.g., foxes, wolves, coyotes), wild felids (e.g. tigers, lions, pumas), raccoons, opossums, and pinnipeds (e.g., sea lions and seals), as well as others. There have been documented human infections, but they are thought to be rare and do not usually result in signs of illness. The incidence in Southern California is low (less than 10%) but the vector is here (mosquito). For those owners that do not want to put their pets on preventatives, we encourage annual testing for Heartworm and Tick borne diseases.