Year-Round Defense: A Veterinarian's Guide to Keeping Pets Parasite-Free

Let's Talk About Preventative Medicine For Parasites

Parasites pose a year-round threat to our pets, but with the right preventative strategy, we can keep our furry companions safe, healthy, and itch-free. Dr. O'Hara dives into the complex world of pet parasites native to Eastern Tennessee and Southwest Virginia, explaining why our region's climate creates the perfect breeding ground for these unwelcome guests.

The conversation reveals four primary parasitic threats pet owners need to guard against: intestinal worms, fleas, ticks, and the particularly dangerous heartworms. Each carries unique risks, from the cardiovascular damage caused by heartworms to the debilitating effects of Lyme disease transmitted by ticks. Dr. O'Hara shares a powerful story about a young dog who became unable to walk due to Lyme disease but recovered quickly once properly diagnosed and treated—highlighting both the severity of these threats and how effective early intervention can be.

We tackle common misconceptions, like the belief that winter provides a natural break from parasite prevention. Dr. O'Hara explains why year-round protection matters even during colder months and clarifies the substantial difference between prescription-strength preventatives and over-the-counter alternatives. The discussion takes a surprising turn when we explore how parasite prevention for your pet actually creates an important barrier that protects your entire household—those ticks riding in on your dog could easily transfer to your furniture, beds, and ultimately to human family members.

Whether you're a new pet parent or a seasoned owner, this episode provides practical guidance on choosing the right preventatives (oral for dogs, topical for cats) and understanding why quality prevention is essential for your pet's comfort and overall quality of life. Ready to upgrade your pet's parasite protection? Give us a call at Abingdon Animal Medical Center at 276-628-9655 or visit MyAbingdonVet.com to book your appointment today.

To learn more about Abingdon Animal Medical Center visit:
https://www.MyAbingdonVet.com
Abingdon Animal Medical Center
19586 Dennison Drive
Abingdon, VA 24211
276-628-9655

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome to Tail Talk with Dr O'Hara, where eastern
Tennessee and southwestVirginia's favorite pets get the
spotlight they deserve.
He's the heart behind AbingdonAnimal Medical Center, combining
small-town charm withstate-of-the-art veterinary care
.
Whether your furry friend purrs, barks or just steals your
socks, this is the place fortips, tails and a whole lot of

(00:28):
tail wagging.

Speaker 2 (00:36):
Fleas, ticks and heartworms.
Oh my, Dr O'Hara breaks downhow to keep your pets protected
year-round with smartpreventative care.
O'hara breaks down how to keepyour pets protected year round
with smart preventative care.
Welcome back everyone.
Skip Monty, co-host, slashproducer, back in the studio
with Dr O'Hara, his better half,jenny, and their third better
third, bowie.
Yeah, all right, welcome guys.

(00:58):
How are you doing, skip?
Doing well?
Hope you guys are having a goodday.
Yeah, well, I am very excitedabout today's episode.
I'm sure Bowie is as well,because when it comes to
parasites, prevention is reallythe best medicine.
So let's talk aboutpreventative medicine for
parasites and what can come ofthat, doc.

Speaker 3 (01:21):
Yeah, there's like three main parasites I'd say
we're trying to prevent, right?
I guess you're trying toprevent intestinal worms, you're
trying to prevent fleas andyou're trying to prevent ticks.
I would say those are the bigthings we're trying to prevent.

Speaker 2 (01:40):
And we all know I'm sure most pet owners have had a
lot of fun with one of thosethree at least.

Speaker 3 (01:47):
unfortunately, and then there's the hidden one,
which is, too, is heartwormright, Heartworm disease?
We're trying to prevent that.
That's kind of a thing that youdon't want.
That's spread by mosquitoes.
When the mosquitoes take ablood mill off your pet they can
transfer it if they're carryingthe microflora there.

(02:08):
So the cool thing is that mostheartworm preventions prevent
intestinal worms too, and that'swhy I really like it.
If you take your monthly it'susually monthly oral heartworm
prevention, You'll prevent thatintestinal worms too.

Speaker 2 (02:26):
I've personally had some experience with some kind
of not heartworm, but the dogs,my beagles, were digging in the
dirt and eating snails andapparently there was some kind
of larva in the snails that theywere eating that was causing
horrible problems losing weight.

Speaker 4 (02:45):
Oh my gosh yeah.

Speaker 3 (02:48):
So some worms are intestinal worms they just kind
of steal food, and others cancause pretty high pathology
inside the intestinal lining,and so that's why you know you
want to be on prevention,definitely want to prevent
heartworm disease and definitelywant to prevent intestinal
parasites.

Speaker 2 (03:05):
Well, speaking of heartworms, how do they actually
?
How do heartworms impact apet's health long-term?

Speaker 3 (03:12):
They can cause major cardiovascular issues within the
heart itself and the lungs tooand can cause just big-time
cardiovascular issues andbreathing issues and really
actually if not caught earlyenough, can be pretty dangerous.

Speaker 2 (03:33):
Well, what in East Tennessee, southwest Virginia?
What are the most commonparasites that you encounter?

Speaker 3 (03:42):
Well, besides, then you know, we see a lot of
intestinal worms and we can fixthat with dewormers, that's okay
A lot of fleas and ticks inthis area.
This is like a perfect climatefor fleas and ticks to thrive.
I mean, it doesn't get supercrazy cold all the time, it's
not scorching hot all the time.
So ticks.
One thing with ticks is, I'mfinding in this area and that's

(04:04):
why being on prevention forticks is really important we're
starting to see an uprise inLyme disease in and that's one
of the big things is, you know,a tick attached for 48 hours has
the potential to spread Lymedisease onto your dog.
And then Lyme disease causeskidney problems in dogs and

(04:29):
joint problems in dogs, and thenyou're dealing with that.
I had a patient not too long ago.
This really young dog, a yearold, came in and couldn't walk.
It really couldn't.
I was like this is so weird.
We got to screen this patient.
We got to do the tic titer teston this dog and, sure enough,
it was Lyme positive.
We got it started ondoxycycline and I'm telling you,
within a couple of days he wasback to normal and doing well.

(04:52):
He had to stay.
He has to stay on it for amonth.

Speaker 2 (05:01):
I keep him on it for a month but he turned around
really quickly.
But it was really sad.
He was so locked up in hisjoints from Lyme disease that he
kind of hurt a lot.
Wow, and can they?

Speaker 3 (05:05):
fully recover from Lyme disease.
Yes, we catch it early enough.
That owner was pretty diligent,I mean.
I think it just started the dayit was really acute and it just
started the day before we gotit on.
You get to catch on an early.
They can make a full recoveryfor sure.
Very good.
If it lingers and becomeschronic it can cause some
chronic arthritis and somechronic kidney issues.
So it's something we wanna geton early.

Speaker 2 (05:27):
Absolutely.

Speaker 4 (05:29):
And one thing I think a lot of people forget to think
about is that with ticks,having your pet on tick
prevention also helps keep ticksfrom being spread inside of
your home.
So to yourself and yourchildren that's really important
, because otherwise they'reriding in on your pet and then

(05:51):
once they're done feasting onyour pet, then they're walking
around your house and theyusually will get onto your bed
or onto you and then that's how.
So it's not just preventing itfor your pet, it's also
preventing it for those insideof your home.

Speaker 2 (06:06):
For you?
Yeah Well, are there.
I know growing up in the Southand I've got an aunt who's a
horse trainer and she has said,you know, in the wintertime you
don't have to worry aboutheartworm prevention, or you
know, like if you're on aregular monthly regime.
And is that true?

(06:26):
Are there seasonalconsiderations for prevention?

Speaker 3 (06:33):
Well, Skip, you know when I retire or what type of
way I would recommend you stayon prevention every month.
You know, right, there's somepeople who don't want to do that
.
You know, in the deep cold ofJanuary they probably think, hey
, doc, there's not a mosquito insight right now, and you know
they might be right, but there'sstill intestinal parasites out

(06:54):
there.
I don't want you getting, andthat's what I tell them.
You're preventing intestinalparasites.
You might as well just get theheartworm prevention too.
And because it's the same thingand the season with the fleas
and ticks, when I can see themall year round, sometimes I see
them in the middle of winter,sometimes with fleas and ticks.
So I mean I think you should dothat all the time.

Speaker 2 (07:13):
Wow, well, speaking of fleas and ticks, I know
there's over-the-counterprevention you can get at
Walmart or wherever.
Are there differences betweenover-the-counter and
prescription preventatives?

Speaker 3 (07:28):
A hundred percent, skip.
I mean the prescription stuffyou have to get from your
veterinary office works a lotbetter than the over-the-counter
stuff.
I'm not saying some of theover-the-counter stuff doesn't
work.
It may work a little bit.
But what I find is it may workfor, like it says, it's going to
work for a month and it worksfor a week or two.
It doesn't.
And then you come in and you'repleased because you were

(07:48):
thinking it was going to workfor a month and you only
actually got a week or two outof it.

Speaker 2 (07:52):
I typically use, I.
I forget the name of it, butyou actually squeeze some of it
out on the animal's back rightbelow their neckline.
Do you recommend that?

Speaker 3 (08:04):
I recommend oral for dogs and topical for cats.
Most cats it's topicalprevention.
Most of the time with dogs, Ijust like it to be getting their
system.
I know it's in there and youknow.
I think that oral pills anddogs work better.

Speaker 2 (08:22):
So, oral for dogs, topical for cats, good to know.
Good to know.
One more thing.

Speaker 3 (08:29):
Skip if he was talking about parasites, and the
one I didn't get into was fleas.
Fleas are a nuisance, becausefleas and a lot of dogs cause
severe allergies, and cats too.
They can cause allergy.
In cats it's the flea, it's thesaliva in the flea.
When they take a bite.
It depends on how sensitizedthat patient is.
It can set off a massive itchyreaction, hypersensitivity,

(08:52):
which then leads to secondarybacterial infections, and so
that's why flea control isreally big too.

Speaker 2 (08:59):
Well, and it can, it can really irritate.
I mean, besides allergicreaction, it just irritates the
crap out of them, right?

Speaker 4 (09:07):
I can't.

Speaker 2 (09:07):
Imagine being covered in those things.

Speaker 3 (09:10):
And we talked about on previous casts, about quality
of life.
Right, that's what we're allabout is the quality of that's
life, and if you're itching andscratching and all that, how
good is your quality of life inthat moment?
Right?

Speaker 2 (09:21):
Absolutely, absolutely Well, dr O'Hara,
thanks again.
Appreciate your professionaladvice and it keeps our furry
friends safe and itch free.
So thank you for that.
Thanks, jeff.

Speaker 4 (09:35):
Thank you so much.
All right guys.

Speaker 2 (09:37):
And I'll look forward to seeing you guys on the next
Tail Talk.
All right, wonderful, thank youSee you, then you guys have a
good one.

Speaker 1 (09:50):
Thanks for joining us on Tail Talk with Dr O'Hara.
If your four-legged familymember needs a checkup, a
stylish groom or just a cozyplace to stay, give us a call or
text at 276-628-9655 or visitMyAbingdonVetcom to book your
appointment.
Abingdon Animal Medical Centera small town feel with

(10:13):
state-of-the-art care and plentyof belly rubs.