Do you have a dog or cat and live in an apartment complex or condo in the Pacific Northwest?

Do you own or manage a pet-friendly home, pet-friendly condo or pet-friendly apartment complex in the Portland, OR metro area?

We have a few recommendations for both of you:

• All pets should be on a veterinary recommended flea prevention product year-round.

All pets in multifamily living situations (condos or apartments most commonly), are at risk of external and internal parasites which can be difficult (sometimes almost impossible) to treat in the environment. Everyone knows that fleas make pets itchy and can cause irritating bites on susceptible people but did you know they can be a public health hazard as well?  Fleas can carry several types of bacteria that they can spread to pets and people. A couple of diseases fleas can spread are cat scratch disease, plague and tapeworms.  Over the counter flea preventatives may work for some pets, but there seem to be many pets who do not get the protection they need from the generic products.   With these pests, it’s far better to prevent them than to have to treat for them. Treatment will require diligence and effort; you’ll have to treat all the pets, all the bedding, the indoor environment and the outdoor environment to kill the population of fleas invading your home. The adults you see make up only about 5% of the fleas you see in your environment – one flea can lay up to 50 eggs a day and live for 2-3 months.  If you do the math, that’s a lot of eggs!

• All pets should be treated with a broad spectrum intestinal parasite dewormer at least twice a year.

Dogs and cats are susceptible to many internal parasites even as indoor-only pets.  Many of these, they can share with people.  Roundworms, hookworms and tapeworms are common intestinal parasites which can affect people.  Some heartworm preventatives pull double-duty by protecting against heartworm disease (spread by mosquitos year-round) as well as intestinal parasites.  Young children, the elderly and immunocompromised individuals are at the highest risk of contracting these intestinal parasites from infected pets.  Your vet can help decide what dewormer is right for your pet.

• Every pet should have an up to date Rabies vaccine

By Oregon law, all cats and dogs over the age of 6 months must have a rabies vaccine given to them by a licensed veterinarian.  Rabies is a rapidly fatal disease for pets and humans with no treatment, so it is important to prevent it.  Most veterinarians will vaccinate a dog or cat between 4-6 months of age, then again 12 months later.  After that, the vaccines are generally valid for 3 years at a time. Most counties also require a separate “county tag” that can usually be purchased on your county’s website.  It is important to have this vaccine for your pets’ protection, but it is also important for your protection.  If your pet bites someone and does not have an up-to-date vaccine, the county can impose a mandatory quarantine and could potentially impound your pet and require euthanasia depending on the degree of the injuries caused. If they have a current vaccine, the situation is much less scary.

There are several other vaccines and preventative care items that your veterinarian may recommend based on your pet’s age and lifestyle, but these three items are important for every pet in multi-family facilities.  If every pet in an apartment or condo has these basic preventions on board, then the facility itself will be cleaner and safer as a whole for all pets and people living there.

Call us today if you manage a complex which allows pets and have any questions about these recommendations.  We can even set up a vet-day for us to bring our mobile veterinary clinic to your location and help update all pets in the building(s) to keep everyone safe! 

If you’re a pet owner and would like more specific recommendations for your cat or dog, please call us today to set up a house-call veterinary appointment. We provide an old-timey service with new-age technology!

As always, don’t hesitate to call/e-mail us at Blue Door Veterinary Services if you have any questions that this short blog didn’t answer!    503-819-8040      info@bluedoorvet.com