Tips for having flea free pets

By: Janet Beagley, DVM

 Fleas are a common problem for our furry friends. You may have an itchy, miserable pet that has scratched all the hair of its rear end, little rice grain segments found in your pets poop (these may be tapeworms, which often result from you pet ingesting fleas), or simply little brown specs noted in your pets fur. Fleas are treatable and preventable, but they still present many challenges.  These challenges vary depending on your pet’s environment, how many animals live in your house, and whether wildlife or stay animals have access to your yard.

       With the arrival of the summer months and beautiful warm sunny days, this is a good time to remind pet owners of the dangers of leaving their beloved pet in parked cars, even for a minute. 

Western Washington has a population explosion of wildlife babies born every spring usually beginning in April and lasting until the end of June.

We all love to watch the new baby birds leaving their nests for the first time; baby bunnies, raccoons, squirrels, or opossums exploring away from their mothers and especially the beautiful fawns we see sometimes standing or lying on the sides of the road. 

Unlike humans, wildlife mothers leave their nests for several hours at a time. There are usually two reasons for this. The first is to search for food and the second is to teach their babies survival instincts.