It’s hard for your pet to truly thrive while suffering from a parasite infestation. Prevent and protect your pet from fleas and ticks today!
Fleas can cause itchy skin, skin infections, and spread tapeworms. Meanwhile ticks carry several diseases that can cause serious health problems for your pet, such as Lyme Disease, Ehrlichiosis, and more. Our teams at Thrive Pet Healthcare are dedicated to helping your pet live a parasite-free with personalized advice and prevention options.
Prevention is easy!
Your primary care veterinarian can recommend a variety of preventive flea and tick medications, depending on your pet’s unique needs and your family’s lifestyle.
Talk to your veterinarian about your pet's options and get them the protection they need.
An adult female flea can lay up to 2,000 eggs in her short life span of just 3-6 weeks - scary right? Infestations start and grow rapidly without a continuous flea preventative in use.
200 days!
Ticks can live up to 200 days without food or water. Just because the sun is shining and the grass is dry, doesn't mean there aren't still ticks waiting to latch on to your pet!
Prevention is cheaper!
Preventing your pet from these parasites is much more affordable than treating your pet after exposure.
Your pet won't have to suffer the discomfort of an infestation and you'll be happier knowing you're continuously protecting them.
Flea & Tick Q&As
Your most common questions about flea and tick prevention, answered!
Fleas are small dark brown insects that feed on blood from cats, dogs, and even humans! Fleas cannot fly, but can jump over 3 feet, making it easy for them to pass from one animal host to another.
Ticks are members of the spider family and usually have dark/reddish brown bodies. A tick's size can vary from the size of a poppy seed, to about 1/2 inch when they are filled with a fresh blood meal.
Ticks feed on the blood of mammals, including cats, dogs, and even humans, and can carry dangerous diseases that are passed to their host during blood feeding.
Pets typically get fleas from being outdoors or frequently around other pets who may be infested. Adult fleas jump onto your pet and live on their skin, rapidly reproducing and taking up to 400 blood meals a day!
Ticks tend to live in grassy or wooded areas, which is why it is important to check your pet for ticks after hikes or time spent in grasslands. They either lay in wait on the blades of grass to "catch a ride" on a passing animal or will crawl onto an animal when it is still.
The following are typical signs of fleas on pets:
Scratching/Restlessness
Bumps & Welts on their skin
Hair Loss
Decreased Appetite
Anemia/Pale Gums
Red/Brown/Rust Colored Dandruff
"Flea dirt" left where your pet has been (black/brown sand-like debris)
Ticks drop off their host's body once they have had their fill of blood, which means you may not find live ticks on your pet's body unless you are regularly checking. If you see the following signs on your pet, it is likely there are ticks present in your environment that are biting them:
Unexplained scabs or small bumps
Fever
Anemia / Pale Gums
Ticks inside the home
Swollen Lymph Nodes
Tick Paralysis
For every flea that you see, there are about 100 immature fleas at different stages throughout your home that are ready to become adults and lay eggs themselves. A few fleas can turn into a big problem really quickly! Plus, just one single bite from a flea can cause intense itching and irritation for your pet, so you don't want to delay at wiping them out on first sight!
Ticks carry many dangerous diseases that can infect both your pets and your human family members (the CDC currently lists over 15 tick-borne diseases in the US!) like Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, Ehrlichia, Lyme's Disease, and Bebesiosis.
