ALBANY, Ga. (WALB) - As the summer officially kicks off, South Georgians know to expect the next few months to be extremely hot and muggy. The warm weather and moisture-filled air is a breeding ground for many pests and parasites. A veterinarian in Albany provided everything you need to know to keep your furry friends happy and healthy all summer long.

Dr. Amber Love, a veterinarian at Bush Animal Clinic, said she starts to see an influx of pets with ticks, fleas and mosquitos come summertime.

When it comes to flea and tick protection, Dr. Love said pet owners have several options. There are oral preventatives, some to be taken monthly, others every three months. There are also topical medications that can be applied directly to the pet’s skin. Additionally, owners can choose to protect their pet by using a flea and tick collar.

“I strongly recommend the orals, but as an added protection, you can definitely do a collar on them,” Dr. Love said. “It can definitely help, and they won’t interact with each other.”

The hot humid weather paired with wooded areas around this region brings an influx of mosquitoes. Mosquitoes can bite your pets and infect them with heartworm disease which can be deadly if left untreated. Dr. Love recommends protecting your pet with HeartGuard, a monthly chewable tablet.

“Or, if it is a little bit easier for you, we do the injection that is once a year,” Dr. Love added. “Your pet does have to be at least a year old of that injection. But those are the two things we recommend for prevention of heartworms.”

If your dog spends a lot of time outside or frequents hiking trails and wooded areas, it’s recommended they receive the rattlesnake vaccine. This vaccine has cross reactivity to all venomous snakes and is needed once a year.

“It does help reduce swelling. They tend to do better and bounce back from those venomous snake bites a lot quicker when they have that rattlesnake vaccine,” Dr. Love said.

According to Dr. Love, many indoor cat owners believe that since their pet does not venture outdoors, they don’t need to receive any preventives. She said that’s far from the truth and recommends giving cats flea, tick and heartworm prevention.

“[Cats] will get fleas from us walking outside, and you’ve got feral cats outside, or just wildlife in general. [Fleas] will jump on us, but they don’t want to stay on us so they will go to the nearest animal. If that’s an indoor cat, that’s where they will go,” Dr. Love explained.

With these expert tips in mind, be sure to check with your vet to ensure your pet is up to date on everything they need to have tail wagging time this summer.

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