The purpose of Halifax Veterinary Center is to provide the highest quality care in a gentle and caring environment. We propose to do this in a state-of-the-art facility with competent, compassionate staff and wish to provide our services to as great a segment of our community as possible.
Office Hours:Monday--------7:30 AM to 6:00 PMTuesday-------7:30 AM to 6:00 PMWednesday--7:30 AM to 7:00 PM Thursday------7:30 AM to 7:00 PMFriday----------7:30 AM to 6:00 PM
Halifax Veterinary Center
1402 Dunlawton Avenue
Port Orange, Florida 32127
(386) 322-0108
Fax (386) 322-7186
halifaxvet@bellsouth.net
Our Web site is under construction again! Thank You for you patience
Thank You to all who attended our Feline Heartworm Awareness Open House!
Spring Newsletter
FLEAS, TICKS, AND OTHER BUGS
By Dr. Bartos
My favorite course in veterinary school was Parasitology. Maybe it was because I was first educated as an invertebrate zoologist (a zoologist who studies animals without a backbone). Or maybe it was because my Dad was a self-taught
entomologist (insect scientist). But either way, I loved studying the bugs that caused disease. And today I still enjoy the diagnosis of these diseases, but mostly I find gratification in the PREVENTION of them.
Parasitic diseases are among the most common diseases that we see in our pets. “Worms” and other intestinal parasites cause diarrhea, vomiting, poor appetite, weight loss and poor growth, and anemia or blood loss. Heartworms cause heart and lung disease. Fleas and ticks cause skin disease and blood loss and also act as “vectors” for other diseases like Bartonellosis (cat scratch disease), Lyme disease, and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. Other less common parasites affect the liver, kidneys, lungs and other organs.
A Companion Animal Parasite Council (CAPC) survey shows that 54 percent of all dogs in the southeastern United States are infected with intestinal parasites, and more than 250,000 U.S. dogs are treated (only a portion of those infected) for heartworm infection yearly. WOW!! That’s a lot of prevention that’s being missed!
What’s the big deal about a few worms, anyway? Well, we know that they can make our pets suffer, but first let’s also look at what they can do to people.
THE ZOONOTIC NATURE OF WORMS
Some parasites are what we call ZOONOTIC. That means that they can also infect people. Between 1 and 3 million people are zoonotically infected with roundworms each year, and an unknown number are infected with hookworms. Both of these parasites can cause severe illness in cats and dogs, gastrointestinal illness, but in people the disease is completely different.
Typical hookworm infection in people is called cutaneous larval migrans, migration of the hookworm larva in the skin of the person. It is not very serious, can be treated readily, but it is very unsightly and itchy (and the “ick” factor is pretty high). Rarely, in the immunosuppressed individual (the AIDS or chemotherapy patient or the person on immunosuppressive drugs), hookworms can cause an enteritis (intestinal inflammation), and this may be more serious.
Roundworm infection in people is VERY serious. It causes visceral or ocular larval migrans, that is, the roundworm larvae migrate through viscera or internal organs (like the liver or brain) or eye. When they migrate through the liver, they cause liver disease; through the brain, neurological signs; through the eye, blindness. And this disease occurs in this country MILLIONS of times a year!!
HOW ARE THESE ZOONOSES SPREAD TO PEOPLE?
All puppies and kittens are born with these worms, and these worms are very prolific, i.e., they produce thousands upon thousands of eggs a day, passed into the environment in the pet’s stool. These eggs are not immediately a danger to humans (or other animals). They must embryonate for about a week, but then are viable in the environment for many years, to spread to other cats and dogs and to people who come into contact with them.
WHO IS MOST AT RISK OF ACQUIRING A ZOONOTIC DISEASE?
Plumbers, gardeners, construction workers, kennel workers and sunbathers are most likely to become infected with cutaneous larval migrans from hookworms. Children and the mentally disabled, who are most likely to play in and ingest dirt where dogs and cats have infected the ground with roundworm eggs are most likely to suffer from visceral or ocular larval migrans.
The most severe disease is seen in immunocompromised individuals including fetuses, infants, the elderly, AIDS patients, and people receiving radiation or chemotherapy, or corticosteroids or immunosuppressive drugs.
OTHER ZOONOTIC DISEASES
Toxoplasmosis is a disease that can be transmitted by cats to people. Most often, however, it is acquired by eating undercooked beef. Cats who hunt, however, may acquire the infection and transiently (for only a short time) pass Toxo eggs. The eggs are only infective after embryonating for a few days, so if the litterbox is kept clean, this disease is not likely to be a problem. Why it is so worrisome is that it is particularly harmful to the unborn human fetus, especially during the second trimester—a good reason for pregnant women not to mess with litter boxes (or eat beef tartare).
Tapeworms that infect people are usually acquired from undercooked meat and fish and not from our pets, but very rarely a person may become infected with the typical cat or dog tapeworm the same way the cat or dog does—by accidentally ingesting an infected flea. That’s a really good reason to make sure our pets are flea-free.
Other zoonoses are not intestinal parasites but are diseases that affect both animals and people and are carried by vectors--fleas, ticks or other blood-sucking arthropods. In this category are Lyme Disease (tick vector), Cat Scratch Disease (flea), Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever (tick), and other less common diseases. Since our pets may carry these vectors, they can be a source of these diseases, as well as being affected by them themselves. Thus, flea and tick control is essential to not only the health of our pets, but to the health of ourselves, as well.
HOW CAN ZOONOTIC INFECTIONS BE PREVENTED?
The following steps will keep you, and your pet(s) safe from these diseases:
- Regular de-worming program, including year-round broad-spectrum de-wormer effective against gastrointestinal parasites and external parasites, as well as heartworms and, possibly twice yearly additional de-worming in the adult
- Semi-annual fecal exams in the adult
- De-worming of puppies and kittens at 2, 4, 6, and 8 weeks of age, then every three weeks in addition to the administration of a monthly preventive, along with frequent fecal exams during this period
- Monthly topical flea and tick treatment, year-round
- Regular environmental treatment for fleas and ticks
- Daily “poop patrol” in your yard, daily litter box scooping, and compliance with pooper-scooper laws to keep the environment clean
- Covering children’s sandboxes when not in use
- Keeping cats indoors
- Feeding your pet(s) only cooked food or canned or dry pet food
- Washing and/or cooking our vegetables before consumption
- Adequate hand-washing, especially after working in the yard or coming into contact with animal feces
Much of the information in this newsletter came from the Companion Animal Parasite Council (CAPC) website; visit it for more information at www.petsandparasites.org
WHY WE PREFER REVOLUTION AS HEARTWORM/FLEA PREVENTIVE
Revolution is a broad-spectrum anti-parasiticide, that is, it prevents heartworms, kills and prevents fleas and ear mites, is effective against ticks (and Pfizer will provide a tick collar free of charge if ticks are still a problem), is 100% effective against hookworms and roundworms in the cat, and 80 % in the dog (that is why Pfizer provides additional de-wormers at no charge twice yearly in the dog).
Revolution is safe. It has been on the market for 8 years now. We have seen almost no side effects. It is FDA approved, not just EPA approved like many of the other topicals (FDA approval is much more rigorous than EPA).
Revolution is effective. We have seen no heartworms in any pets treated correctly with Revolution. The manufacturer guarantees the product, and stands behind that guarantee, even with respect to that pesky flea.
Revolution is easy to apply, and convenient, just once a month.
Revolution is economical. Using the one-product-does-it-all method saves you money over using a separate product for fleas and heartworms.
Revolution is meant to be used year-round. Mosquitoes are around year-round, and so are fleas. Waiting until you see fleas or mosquitoes is too late and opens your pet up to the possibility of infection with the other, zoonotic, parasites.
Revolution is even the preferred preventive for indoor cats. The fact that a cat is “indoors only” provides the owner with a false sense of security. Over 25 percent of all cats diagnosed with heartworm disease at North Carolina State University were “indoor only” according to their owners, and the heartworm prevalence in Florida cats is higher than in North Carolina cats. Heartworm disease in cats is UNTREATABLE. So better to prevent it. Also, remember, again, that Revolution protects against a lot more than just heartworms, and so protects us and our cats from lots of bugs (and economically, it doesn’t cost any more than the monthly flea products for cats).
An explanation about our operating hours : Halifax Veterinary Center is open Monday through Friday, with evening appointments available on Wednesdays and Thursdays and drop offs every morning starting at 7:30. We do not offer Saturday appointments to the disappointment of many clients because when we did offer those appointments we found operation during those hours too costly to allow their continuation. We hope that the evening and early drop-off hours are enough to make up for that inconvenience of having no Saturday appointments and do regret the necessity of that decision. Remember that the Volusia Animal Emergency Clinic is open all weekend if you find yourself and your pet in an emergency situation. Their number is 386-252-4300.
New Clinic Update:
Our contractor is telling us that we can expect to have our next
Christmas Open House in the new facility!
