Pablo's visit to the vet this morning went well - besides the fact he complained the entire way there and back...but he's a cat so he gets a pass on that count. The doc knew almost immediately what the problem was - given Pablo's symptoms and the fact that he tested positive for tape worms. Blurg. Here we go again! She diagnosed Pablo with flea allergy dermatitis - a common allergic reaction to flea bites, more specifically the saliva of the flea. Apparently we're not the only ones that have been struggling to keep the fleas at bay this summer. The vet said the problem has been especially bad this year given the mild winter we had followed by the humid summer. The tapeworms are a direct result of the flea problem.
Don't know if you remember but this whole scenario isn't new to us. Pablo and Diego both had the tapeworms back in August and we treated them at home with Tradewind Tapeworm Tabs. We dropped a pretty penny on flea meds this summer but nothing seemed to really help. So here we are. The fleas never really went away and Pablo has tapeworms again. Sheesh. Pablo was given a dose of Profender - a topical intestinal feline worm treatment that works on roundworms, hookworms and tapeworms...the whole enchilada. I also picked up more Advantage. We're crossing our fingers and hoping the flea meds actually work this time. The vet says once we take care of the fleas Pablo should stop with the itching, licking, and over-grooming of his coat. We really lost our battle against the fleas this summer and I'm going to have to totally rethink our approach next year. Fracking parasites!
