March 2026
🐾 Parasite Prevention: Tiny Pests, Big Problems
When it comes to fleas, ticks, and worms, we have some not-so-great news: they’re small… but they are mighty.
The good news? Preventing them is easier than ever, and we’re here to help (with a little seasonal savings, too).
🐜Why Should We Care About Parasites?
Parasites aren’t just itchy annoyances. They can:
- Cause skin infections and allergic reactions
- Lead to anemia and intestinal upset
- Transmit serious diseases (including lyme disease and heartworm)
We recommend testing fecal samples for parasites in puppies and kittens, households with immunocompromised individuals, or for pets that hunt or have diarrhea/weight loss.
Prevention is always safer, simpler, and more affordable than treatment.
🛡️What Are My Options?
In Canada, we carry safe, veterinary-approved parasite preventatives tailored to your pet’s lifestyle.
💧Topical (Applied to the skin)
- Revolution Plus
- Bravecto
- K9 Advantix II – protects dogs from fleas, ticks, and even mosquitoes (never to be used for cats, and not recommended for dogs living with cats)
🦴 Tasty Chews (Only available for dogs – because lets be honest, cats are just far too picky) - NexGard Spectra
- Simparica Trio
- Bravecto (does not prevent against heartworm – additional preventative required from June – November)
These products either quickly kill fleas and ticks after they bite (oral options) or prevent fleas and ticks from attaching themselves to the pet (topical), helping reduce the chance of disease transmission.
🐛What About Worms?
Intestinal parasites like roundworms, hookworms, whipworms, and tapeworms are more common than most people think – especially in puppies and kittens.
Some combination preventatives cover internal parasites as well. In certain cases, individual treatments such as Panacur, Milbemax, or Drontal Plus may be recommended.
🦠 Let’s Talk Ticks
Ticks are active in more areas of Canada than ever before (and they don’t take winters off as much as they used to).
Lyme disease is an infection caused by a bacterium called Borrelia burgdorferi. It is spread through the bite of infected blacklegged ticks (also called deer ticks), most commonly the Ixodes scapularis.
In dogs, signs may include:
- Fever
- Sudden limping or stiffness
- Swollen joints
- Lethargy
- Decreased appetite
If left untreated, Lyme disease can affect kidney function, leading to a serious condition called Lyme nephritis.
Ticks typically need to be attached for 24–48 hours to transmit Lyme disease, which is why consistent prevention is critical to ensuring that your pet remains protected.
Ticks can also transmit:
- Anaplasmosis
- Ehrlichiosis
These illnesses can cause fever, joint pain, weakness, bruising, and in severe cases, life-threatening complications.
❌No Fun With Fleas!
Fleas can survive indoors year-round and are experts at hitching rides into your home. Whether it is on your pet, your shoes, or even on visiting wildlife (makes you look differently at that cute, little squirrel that always comes to visit).
And once they’re in? They multiply fast.
Why Are Fleas Such a Big Deal?
A single flea can:
- Lay up to 50 eggs per day
- Trigger intense itching
- Cause allergic skin reactions (flea allergy dermatitis)
- Lead to hair loss, hot spots, and skin infections
- Transmit tapeworms
- Cause anemia in young or small pets
For pets with flea allergies, just one bite can cause days (or weeks!) of itching.
How Fleas Live (and Why They’re Hard to Eliminate)
Only about*5% of a flea infestation lives on your pet.*
The other 95%? Eggs, larvae, and pupae hiding in carpets, bedding, and furniture.
That’s why once fleas establish themselves in a home, it takes an average of three months to fully eliminate them – even with aggressive treatment.
Prevention is far easier than eradication.
🐾 The Simple Formula
✔ Year-round prevention
✔ Daily tick checks after hikes or park visits
✔ Routine wellness exams to help catch signs of illness early
🎉 Our Seasonal Parasite Promotions are Here! (Effective March 1st – May 31st, 2026)
Prevention Discount
Protection is important – but savings are nice, too!
Buy 6 months of prevention → Save 10%
Buy 12 months of prevention → Save 15%
✨ Manufacturer rebates may also be available on select products – ask our team for details!
Stock up now, stay protected all season, and save while you’re at it!
Bloodwork Discount
Bring your pet in for a heartworm/tick-borne illness screening (4dx – screens for Lyme disease, Ehrlichia, Anaplasma, and Heartworm) and we will waive the blood collection fee ($45 + tax). Several panel options are available, ranging from the screening alone to a full wellness blood panel and screening. Our technicians are happy to help determine which panel best suits your dog’s age and lifestyle!
🤔 Unsure Which Product is Right for Your Pet?
Parasites may be tiny, but the problems they can cause aren’t. Keeping your pet protected is one of the easiest ways to support a long, happy, tail-wagging life.
Not sure which option is best for your pet? We’re here to help you choose the perfect prevention plan. 🐾
⭐Feature: Staff Pet
Say hello (or woof) to Skye! She is a 6 year old Jindo mix from South Korea that Catharine adopted in October of 2020 (and yes, she is the epitome of a pandemic dog).
- Catharine’s mom (Cat is an acceptable staff member, but her mom has Skye’s heart),
Her brother Finn, - All things food (especially McDonalds McMuffins – shh, don’t tell Dr. Skinner and Dr. Wozniak),
- Sleeping enough to make us all think she should have been born as a cat (don’t worry – her bloodwork is normal).
Dislikes:
- Strangers (will sniff, but they are still scary),
- Hardwood floors (the slippier the surface, the harder it is to have an escape plan),
- Bath time,
- Her monthly dose of Simparica Trio (see below)
While the oral preventative options are formulated and proven to be palatable for dogs, Skye was clearly not a part of the focus group. Her uncanny ability to eat around the tablet without missing a morsel of the high value treat used to disguise the medication is both hilarious and frustrating. What is currently working? Grind the tablet into a fine powder and mix it with unsalted butter. Is it ideal? Not really, but Skye thinks it’s pretty great!
If you are looking for strategies to hide your pet’s monthly dose of prevention, be sure to chat with Cat!
Is there a topic you’ve been curious about? Something you’ve always wondered but never asked? From nutrition and behaviour to parasites, dentistry, or senior pet care, tell us what you’d like to see in a future newsletter.
Send us your suggestions – your questions just might inspire our next issue!