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Why Parasite Protection Matters
At Ellicott Street Animal Hospital, we believe parasite protection is a vital part of your pet’s overall health—right alongside regular exams, vaccinations, and proper nutrition. We classify parasites into two main groups: external (like fleas and ticks) and internal (such as roundworms, hookworms, whipworms, tapeworms, and heartworms). While external parasites can be seen, internal ones often go unnoticed, posing hidden threats to your pet’s health and even to your family. Ticks, for example, are increasing in number and can transmit diseases like Lyme, while heartworms live in the bloodstream and cause serious illness. That’s why we emphasize year-round prevention to keep your pets safe, healthy, and protected.
External Parasites
When it comes to external parasites, everybody knows that fleas are a risk, pesky to have around, and with older meds their infestations become harder to resolve. What many owners do not realize is that ticks are even riskier to have on our pets. There are at least four types in our area. Their numbers are growing, and they carry diseases like Lyme that can affect the long term health of not only dogs, but their families as well.
Internal Parasites
The only benefit to external parasites is that we can see them. The problem with internal parasites or “worms” is that our pets may have them, and we will not know it. The main worms of concern are roundworms, hookworms, whipworms, tapeworms and heartworm. Pets can carry these parasites and we would not know it as they do not always show up in the stool. Keep in mind heartworms are never in the stool, they are carried in the bloodstream. They cause serious diseases in pets and can also infect people. The biggest problem we see here in our hospital are cases of roundworms, hookworms and whipworms.
Dealing with Parasites
Yes, this is ugly stuff. However there is great news! There are new more effective, complete and easier to give medications & treatments for parasites that come out every year. At Ellicott, we work tirelessly to line up the best science and products at the best value for your pet. We understand there are many places that are selling parasite preventatives. Here are three reasons why we believe your veterinarian is your best source for purchasing parasite preventative medications to protect your pet.
- We know the science behind each product and we only pick those that are proven to be the best.
- We know your pet. We ask about your pets’ lifestyle: where they live, where they travel and how at risk they are. Every pet that comes to our hospital receives a review of their Risk of Infectious Disease. We grade them on a scale of 1-5 – five being the pet at the highest risk of disease.
- We, through the pharmaceutical companies, guarantee the effectiveness and satisfaction with the parasite preventatives we recommend. If your pet becomes infested with one of these parasites while you have been treating them with parasite prevention plan as recommend, we will resolve the problem at no charge.
- We keep our prices as low as possible. Our value combination provides complete parasite prevention for less than what some pay for over the counter flea control only! Between rebates and the guaranteed effectiveness of our products you cannot find a better value!
Finally we are proud to present you with a Parasite Protection Matrix we designed to help our clients – a concept being adopted by animal hospitals across the country. We have found the chart below helps veterinary teams and pet owners focus on the lifestyle of their pets when choosing the appropriate protection solution rather than being focused solely on the product.
