Welcome to Alvin Animal Clinic

Larvae develop into a few stages of their own before spinning themselves into a cocoon for the pupation stage. Pupation can last anywhere from a few weeks to a year or more. This is the most protective stage of the flea life cycle , which is why they can choose to remain in it until the conditions are right. There is no over the counter pesticide, no prescription strength pesticide that you can purchase that will kill the flea while in the pupation stage. Most of the time the pupae is hanging out in your carpet, once the weather is warm and a host is available, the pupae will open up and the adult flea will hop out looking for its first meal. Shortly after feeding for the first time, they will lay hundreds of eggs and the cycle starts all over again.

Ticks are another pesky parasite that you should be aware of. There are many species of ticks, but all have some time spent in four different life stages. Adult ticks will lay eggs on the ground which the larvae hatch from during the spring. The larvae then look for a host, feed, fall off onto the ground and molt into a nymph. The nymph then emerges, looks for a host, feeds enough for a full meal, falls off of onto the ground then molts into an adult. Then, the adult ticks emerge, looking for yet another host to feed off of for a good, full meal so they can mate, fall off and lay more eggs. The entire life cycle of the tick can take about a year to process depending on when or if it finds adequate hosts to complete every step. They generally do not carry out their life cycle indoors as fleas do and most people only see problems with ticks when they take their animals to wooded or tall grassy areas. Ticks do seem to be coming out a lot this year and some of our clients are experiencing problems with them for the first time.

Now that you know the full life cycle of the flea and tick, you may wonder how to prevent them from using your pets as part of their food chain. We can help you with that with the use of several safe products. For dogs, we offer Frontline Tritak, a topical solution, and Comfortis, an oral tablet. Frontline Tritak is the only topical solution we currently offer. It prevents and controls fleas and ticks. Comfortis is a monthly oral tablet that attacks the adult fleas. For cats we offer, Advantage Multi, which is also a heartworm prevention, ear mite prevention and intestinal parasite prevention. It is applied topically, once a month. We also carry, for cats, Frontline Tritak. Frontline Tritak protects your cats from all life stages of the flea, except the pupae stage. Comfortis is also now available for cats. Comfortis is a month a month oral flea prevention.

For ticks, for dogs and cats, we recommend Frontline Tritak. This product is designed to keep ticks from burrowing into your pets skin and hanging on to get a complete meal. You may still find ticks on your animal while using this product but they will not be able to keep themselves attached.

If you should have any questions about which flea and tick product will be best for your pet, please give us a call or send us an e-mail. We will be more then happy to help you.

If you will be taking your pet into known snake habitat or if you have seen snakes around your home, please call and ask us about the benefits of the Rattle Snake vaccine for dogs. This could save your pets life.

We hope you and your family has a great summer!