The colder months are upon us and the folks of Duxbury are starting to tick things off of their winter to-do lists: wrapping the boat, rolling up the hoses, stocking up on flea and worm preventive for the pets… Wait, what? That’s a problem in the winter? ABSOLUTELY. It is a very common misconception that parasites for pets are only a problem during the warmer months. I hear every Fall from owners about how they don’t bother treating their pets in the coming months because all of the ticks, fleas, and worms are killed off by the cold. The reality is that they don’t die at all, rather they curl up under some leaves or in the soil and hibernate away the cold like little bears, waiting for the next day when it becomes the optimal temperature to wake up and feed.
So what is the magic number? For Deer Ticks, it’s 31 degrees. That’s right: Freezing. So long as you don’t see frozen puddles or piles of snow over the leaves, they will have shimmied up the nearest stick or dry grass to wait for something warm to walk by and latch on. Since the owners aren’t checking for ticks as much as they do in the warmer months they will feed for days, passing along disease.
For other ticks, the number is usually 37 degrees. Even in February, the temperature will hit or exceed this level 7-12 days of the month. Additionally, it’s these days that we will decide to shake off some of the winter blues by heading for a walk with the dog. This becomes prime time for getting diseases like Anaplasmosis, Ehrlichia, and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever.
Fleas are definitely wimpier and the feeding adults will be killed in the winter. However, it typically takes 5 days in a row with temperatures below 30 degrees. Around here, this may not happen until December or later. Unfortunately, most people stop treatment before this. During that time, the fleas will get onto your pets and bring them into your toasty home. If just one flea gets on board your pet, you are not likely to notice this. Within 3 weeks, that flea will make 1000 eggs, which will hatch and do the same in another 3 weeks. This means in 6 weeks, you will potentially have 1 million fleas in the house. We see many patients in the Spring with fleas and the owners are surprised that “they are out this early”. The reality is that the infestation that caused the problem probably started months before.
Lastly are the internal parasites. People hear “heartworm pills” so often that most don’t realize that these preventives are also working against intestinal worms as well. While the health concerns with our pets and these parasites are important, we are even more concerned about passage from the pets to their families. There are currently an estimated 40 million people in the US walking around with roundworms alone. If these worms get into small children, they can migrate to the eyes causing blindness. Very scary… but also very preventable. The eggs from these and other worms survive very well in our cold winters either in the soil or, more importantly, in sick or dead small animals that our pets love to play with when outdoors.