So you just adopted a dog and have done everything possible to make sure your new family member will be safe and well looked after… You patched the hole in the fence, you got him some blingy tags, you dog-proofed the house. In fact, there’s nothing you wouldn’t do to keep Fluffy from harm!

So, have you invested in Frontline and Heartgard? If so, good for you (and Fluffy) but if not, you haven’t done everything possible to keep your four legged critter safe from harm.

Let’s take a look at what these products are and why your pet needs them.

Frontline is one of the leading brands of tick and flea prevention drops on the market. Every dog owner knows that it’s practically impossible to keep your pup tick free, but taking a preventive measure minimizes their chances of getting bitten by these tiny pests. Tick bites can cause a great deal of harm to your pet and can cause diseases such as lyme disease, ehrlichia, anaplasmosis, Rocky Mountain spotted fever and babesiosis.  All of these, if contracted can be very dangerous to your dog.

Of course as previously stated, ticks are almost impossible to get rid of completely especially in bushy/grassy areas, but it’s better to at least try to keep your dog healthy.

Now some people might argue that these chemicals aren’t good for your dogs. Studies have proven that if applied in the correct doses, Frontline is harmless to your animals. But tick bites certainly are not harmless. So even if you are completely against chemicals, consider compromising for the well being of your beloved Fluffy!

Next up is Heartgard and why it’s so important to keep your dog protected from heartworms.

Before you can understand why Heartgard is so important for Fluffy you need to understand how your dog gets heartworms; it isn’t transferred from one dog to another, it isn’t transferred by humans… In other words, keeping your dog quarantined is not going to keep him healthy.

Heartworms disease can only be transferred to your pet by an infected mosquito. There is no way to know whether a mosquito is infected or not, and there is no way to keep your dog from getting bitten by mosquitoes.

Once the infected mosquito bites Fluffy, it takes around seven months from larvae to fully grown heartworm. The worm will then lodge in the heart lungs and blood vessels and rapidly reproduces. These worms can live around five to seven years and can grow to be about twelve inches long. A dog can have as many as 250 worms in its system . Those are pretty scary numbers if you think of it!

Prevention is key, especially when it comes to heartworms. Products like Heartgard are only effective as preventive measures as they do not work against adult worms. Should your pet get heartworms the medical bills will pile up and could be pretty costly.  Plus who would really want to put Fluffy through all that discomfort?

Regardless of how costly these products are, they’re definitely the better option!

Article by Zerelda Daniels