Rocklin Ranch Veterinary Hospital’s Blog

Heartworm is one of those diseases you don’t ever want your dog or cat to get. When a pet has heartworms, long, noodle-like worms quite literally live in their heart. Treating the disease can be a grueling process for your dog—and you. The best way to treat heartworms is to prevent your dog or cat from getting them in the first place. April is Heartworm Awareness Month, which gives us the perfect opportunity to share some of the things we want you to know about this disease. 

Fleas are the bane of a pet owner’s existence. These creepy crawly creatures can elicit a shudder in even the bravest dog or cat parent. If your pet has the unfortunate experience of getting fleas, Rocklin Ranch Veterinary Hospital wants to help you get rid of them as quickly as possible:

Tapeworms, even the name sounds gross. But, tapeworms are a common type of internal parasite that affects dogs and cats. Some species of tapeworm are zoonotic, meaning they can be transmitted to humans.

Learn more about these intestinal foes and how you can protect your pet from them.

What Is a Tapeworm?

A tapeworm is a long, flat worm that lives in the intestinal tract of animals. It is typically transmitted via fleas when a cat or dog ingests the flea, or the feces of an infected animal. They attach themselves to the wall of the intestine with a hooked type of mouth.

When considering the smallest of foes (namely those itchy parasites like fleas) there’s good reason why they’re so mighty. They can proliferate and cause an infestation in the home that affects both us and our pets. For anyone who’s ever dealt with an infestation, avoiding a repeat episode is a must.

Although small, many parasites can cause a serious impact on the health of our furry friends. Fleas, ticks, and other parasites aren’t just a seasonal affair; they continue to thrive throughout the winter months. To learn more about why your-round parasite prevention is vital to your pet’s health, the team at Rocklin Ranch Veterinary Hospital is here to explain.

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Dog parks and other pet friendly outdoor locations are popular, especially during the spring and summer months. Who doesn’t love to roam through the blooms, enjoying the fresh air with a four-legged pal? However, while these gathering places can be great for exercise and socialization, they’re also popular among pests.

Parasites, pets, and parks seem to be a common but crummy combo, encouraging the spread of harmful diseases. Keep reading to learn more about how to keep your pet from falling host to these bothersome bugs.

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When it comes to heartworms, most pet owners think of the risk to their dog companions. While it’s true this disease is more prevalent in dogs, heartworm disease in cats does occur, and diagnoses are on the rise. In fact, cats with this illness are also in greater danger of experiencing life threatening reactions to these parasites.

The team at Rocklin Ranch Veterinary Hospital want to keep all our feline friends safe by keeping pet owners informed of how to prevent this terrible disease.

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Although it may seem like the topic of parasites and heartworm disease comes up frequently in veterinary medicine, there is good reason. So many preventable diseases and compromises to pet health occur each year because preventive measures were not taken. Adding to this, there are still several misconceptions about how parasites spread illnesses and the exposure or risk factors involved. Continue…

If your visions of spring and summer are filled with happy pet smiles, purrs, headbutts, barks, and tail wags, then you probably already got a head start on your pest prevention. Nothing can destroy joyful seasonal daydreams faster than a flea infestation or a diagnosis of heartworm disease. The two pests (fleas and mosquitoes, respectively) responsible for your pet’s suffering are just about ready to wake up, multiply, and ruin your summer vacation.

Let’s work on pest prevention techniques so you can get back to your warm weather reveries… Continue…

Parasites in pets are serious business. Some parasites, such as heartworms, can be deadly. Others, like fleas, are mostly just frustrating. Luckily, in modern veterinary medicine we have several options for pet parasite prevention, which will effectively prevent most parasite infections in our pets.

While there are many options for pet parasite preventatives, we have been somewhat limited in the way these had to be administered. Recently, two new parasite preventative options have come onto the market. These are changing the face of veterinary parasite prevention.

NexGard

Until earlier this year, if you wanted to protect your dog from fleas AND ticks, you needed to use a topical application of a product such as Frontline Plus. While these products are usually effective when used correctly, they can be a problem for pets with sensitive skin or those who bathe or swim frequently. Continue…

April through November brings the kind of weather that gets you outdoors with your pet, but those are also the months when the threat of ticks is at its highest. Ticks aren’t just present in tall grasses and heavily wooded areas, either. They are found throughout your yard and neighborhood, and can attach themselves at any time during your outdoor fun time with your pet.

There are a lot of suggestions online and in the media about how to remove ticks once they are embedded in your pet’s skin or coat. The majority of these are myths and using them for tick removal could actually make the situation worse.

Myth 1: Use Petroleum Jelly

Some sources on tick removal suggest that covering the embedded tick with petroleum jelly will suffocate the tick and force it to back out. The fact is, petroleum jelly does not force the tick to back out and may actually cause the tick to release additional toxins into your pet’s body. Continue…