How veterinary medicine takes on ever-evolving parasites

Flea numbers are on the uptick, no pun intended, and so is the increase in cases of flea-borne illness, typhus in particular. Early in August, the Watchdog posted an article about the rates of increase in typhus cases in Los Angeles County, Long Beach in particular; disease symptoms; and how humans can protect themselves. Read it, if you haven’t yet.

Typhus is a disease spread by infected fleas and is not transmissible between humans according to the Long Beach Health Department. Its symptoms include high fever, headache, chills, body aches, appetite loss and rash. It’s usually treated successfully with antibiotics, but if not treated promptly, the infected person may need to be hospitalized. Extreme cases can result in organ failure or death.

What’s more, your cat, dog or bunny can contract it from fleas, and although treatable with antibiotics, you don’t want them to get it, either. It’s also more difficult to diagnose than other veterinary illnesses, and therein lies the belly rub.

Excuse me a second while I furiously scratch my upper arm.

OK, that’s better. Jessica Dryfhout, DVM at Fix Long Beach, said that typhus symptoms in animals include lethargy, temperature spikes, dullness and depression, and loss of appetite. Any of those signs, she said, can be signs of an infection, but not necessarily typhus.

“Typhus is not the type of thing they’re usually testing for,” Dryfhout said. “Those cases are kind of flying under the radar, to be quite honest. Just to come to the diagnosis, you’re having to rule out other sicknesses that your pet may have been exposed to, which is costly. Antibiotics are not cheap, especially the broader-spectrum ones that may be indicated for these types of infections. It ends up being much more expensive to treat and diagnose something like this than it would be to stay on top with prevention.”

Regularly treating your pet with flea-prevention medicine is paramount to mitigating pets on your pet, but that’s another belly rub. A little over 30 years ago, fleas were picnicking on our cats and on us, too. We tried veterinary baths, a company that came to the house and sprayed everything while our cats stayed at friends’ houses, essential oils and flea collars.

Then, the cats’ vet recommended Advantage, which was brand-new at the time. We gave the house one final treatment, the cats got a last bath, and we applied the medicine, sneaking up on the cats as they slept. It’s worked like a charm for all these decades, and all we have to remember is to put monthly reminders on our calendars and not touch the cats where we applied it for 24 hours. If you’ve ever absently put your fingers in your mouths after touching flea-prevention medicine, you’ll never forget the taste.

Advantage still works, but then again, our cats are prisoners of love: indoor only and out of contact with outdoor flora or fauna. But now, people who live with pets say that the over-the-counter products don’t work as well.

(All references to over-the-counter products refer to the counters of pet-supply stores like PetSmart and Pet Food Express and not to discount stores, where safety and quality can’t be verified. Just sayin’, but I avoid them like a plague-bearing flea.)

There’s no consensus among scientists that fleas have developed resistance to the product, not that they couldn’t, but there sure are a lot more of them now, and the formulas may no longer be strong enough against that army.

“My biggest piece of information as far as the public needs to know is [the difference] between the over-the-counter flea-preventive products and the veterinarian-prescribed products,” Dryfhout said. “Regardless of brands or topical versus oral, the major difference between over-the-counter and veterinarian-prescribed products is how much of the actual flea-preventive medication is actually in the product. The reason that they can be sold over the counter is that there’s such a small amount of medication in them, and it’s just building flea resistance because it’s not enough medication to actually handle the problem. Especially if we’re talking about Long Beach — we’re so heavily burdened with fleas here.”

In short, there’s nothing “wrong” with flea medications sold in pet stores or from trusted online outlets like Chewy.com. But according to PetMD, prescription meds may be more potent, come in a different form or attack heartworms and other parasites along with fleas.

Dryfhout said that over-the-counter flea medications may work if you and your pet live far enough away from the street — on a high floor in an apartment building, for example — or if live with a cat who never goes outdoors. Dogs, however, go outside for walks, and humans, as Dryfhout said, aren’t indoor only.

“I have a lot of clients whose cats are indoor only, and they have fleas,” Dryfhout said. “Fleas can jump on our shoelaces, on our purse. They could come in on our shoulders. We open our doors, we open our windows. They will find a way in.”

Dryfhout said that as long as pets have the correct protective medication, they should be all right. Products for dogs have a deterrent in them called pyrethrin that will keep fleas off. There are pyrethrin sprays for humans, too.

[Caveat: If you live with a cat, do not hold them until the pyrethrin spray is completely dry. Furthermore, don’t use flea prevention meant for dogs on your cat. Pyrethrin is toxic to cats and can make them deathly ill or kill them. When you treat your dog for fleas, keep them away from the cat for at least 24 hours. If the cat licks the dog or rubs against them and then licks themselves, a toxic reaction may result. Read the instructions on the medication.]

What’s available

Vet labs periodically develop new medications and new forms of the older ones. Pet parents can choose among topical products like Advantage and Frontline, oral meds like Capstar, flea collars and baths.

“There are once-a-year preventions, but because it’s a new modality, it’s not something that a lot of us have solid clinical basic experience in,” Dryfhout said. “We can’t say, oh, yes, it’s definitely effective. There are also products that are labeled for three months, and I might only see that they’re very effective for only two, two and a half months. That can get a little bit challenging — we can’t tell you to reapply [before the three-month period is up] — that’s going off label. I tend to recommend flea products that won’t have a lapse.”

If you can’t decide among the options, Dryfhout said to talk to your pet’s veterinarian.

 “It’s not that one flea product is better than the other — there’s just not one right product,” she said. “But there may be one that’s more right for your pets’ situation. That’s where you have the conversation with your vet as to what might be the best option.”

Pet-supply stores carry safe bath preparations, or you can use Dawn dish liquid. Flea baths will drown the fleas that are on the animal’s body, but they’re not long-term or preventative measures.

“It’s the same thing with Capstar, if the pet consumed some fleas and get tapeworm infection,” Dryfhout said. “It kills the fleas that are on them for a 24-hour period, but past that period, there’s no protection.”

Flea collars can be effective, but Dryfhout cited high risks for neurological damage.

“Pets come in with chemical burns around the neck [from the collars], where the skin might be more sensitive,” she said. “So, with the over-the-counter ones, there’s more risk of potential side effects.”

Community cats should be flea free, too

Janae Morgan, who practices trap/neuter/ return (TNR) in conjunction with her Paws in the Sand rescue, is stalwart in protecting the cats from fleas. She first administers Capstar and then immediately applies a measured dose of Revolution from a large vial of the product to stop the full cycle. She, too, is concerned about the sudden lack of efficacy of over-the-counter flea treatments.

“The fleas seem to be evolving in some way,” Morgan said. “The Revolution that we put on them is not working as well this year. There have been times that we’ve been TNRing in areas where we can get bitten, and then these cats go into our cars, and the fleas get in our cars, too.”

As for cats living outdoors in a colony, you probably know that you can’t sneak up on a shy stray cat, let alone with a tube of flea protection. But veteran trapper and colony manager Ewa Enrique uses something that sounds like a hinky home remedy, like rubbing your smelly feet with vodka or drinking the vodka to cure warts. But it isn’t, and it works.

“Cats and other creatures can eat diatomaceous earth, but it’s got to be food grade!” Enrique said. “You give each cat a once-a-month teaspoon of it in their wet food. The feeder needs to divide the food on that day for kitties — don’t give some of them too much! Don’t give some too little or not at all! The feeder has to observe who eats what. It might sound cumbersome, but it’s easier than trying to give them pills or apply drops.”

Dryfhout recommends Enrique’s idea for outdoor cats.

“It does completely destroy the exoskeleton of these parasites, and it also works for some internal parasites,” she said. “So, no harm, no foul — better than no flea protection at all. It’s not going to be 100% effective, but anything to lessen the burden.”

You can get diatomaceous earth at feed-supply stores, some pet-supply stores or online. It’s made of silica and is a good food supplement at the advised dosage. Its shelf life is apparently forever. I plan to try this on my house feral. Eat dirt, fleas.

Low-cost vets

CAMP LA’s mobile clinics make it convenient and economical for people to get flea treatments and other veterinary assistance. Community Animal Medicine Project (CAMP)

Consulting a vet is a better idea than grabbing something off social media or asking a friend. Of course, not all veterinarians will give the same advice about any treatment, including flea prevention.

“Flea treatment is definitely a topic, and you’ll get 10 different answers,” said Sherri Stankewitz, co-owner of Fix Long Beach.

Some pet parents, however, cannot afford veterinary costs.

“That’s another big thing these days,” Dryfhout said. “Vet costs are going up, and it’s making it really challenging for a lot of the community to seek veterinary attention for their pets. They don’t know that there are affordable options for them to seek medical attention, and that’s big. [People need to] realize that there are still good doctors out there that are not just about the money.”

Besides Fix Long Beach, Dryfhout urges pet owners having trouble with veterinary costs to access CAMP LA’s wellness and mobile clinics for appointments and advice. The link at the end of this column offers resources as well, including low-cost veterinary clinics

“Medicine is always evolving, as are the products that we’re using,” Dryfhout said. “But we have to keep in mind that so are the bugs. So, it’s important to find a vet you trust to give the animals a lot better protection and take the time to explain why a treatment might be a little more expensive but why it might be better for your pet.”

For more information about fleas and protection, access the typhus link in the Watchdog's article. See also the CDC information pages for typhus and fleas.

YOURS DROOLY

Thanks to sharing a space with Fix Long Beach, the adoptable doggies and occasional cats available to adopt at Sparky and the Gang are always treated with love, good food, medical care when needed, and flea medicine, of course. These three are ready to go home with you! Check out all the pets here; to adopt any of them, email sparkyandthegang@yahoo.com.

“And then, there was one.” Honey Dew is one of a trio of Brussels griffon/pug mix puppies that Sparky and the Gang scooped up. They were pretty grungy at first, but after baths, good food, exercise and lots of love, they became hopelessly cute. Two have been adopted, and guess what! If you hurry, you have dibs on Honey Dew! She’s only 3 months old and ready for a long life with a special person. Or people!

Sparky and the Gang regularly takes in guests from Long Beach Animal Care Services to help them out with overcrowding. This fellow is one of them. Sparky staff and volunteers call him Frankie because his blue eyes remind him of Frank Sinatra. Frankie doesn’t sing quite as well as the original Ol’ Blue Eyes, but his unique qualities go beyond those cerulean orbs! He loves his walks, listens well, and loves to play. He did great at a recent event, but didn’t go home. Yet! Adopt Frankie, and you’ll have the world on a leash!

Sorry to say this, but Ginny is a fentanyl dog. Sherri and the Fix Long Beach team see several pets, cats and dogs both, who were either directly fed fentanyl and other illegal drugs or inhaled it when it was being smoked. (Go ahead and throw something against a wall — I’m in line behind you.) Some of the animals can’t be saved, but the veterinarians and techs do everything possible to save them, and when they do, everyone at the clinic works on rehabilitating them. Ginnie and the others deserve loving, safe homes where they’ll eat well, play happily, and sleep calmly. Please adopt her.

TAIL-WAGGIN' AND NOSE-BOOPIN' EVENTS

Show Me Your Kitties Cabaret for Charity

After a day of feline fun, spend an evening at a cabaret show and help cats while you enjoy yourself! Dress in evening garb with your best cat ears, and wear your purrrrls to clutch! A full slate of cat-themed performers will bring oooohs, aaaaahs and definitely catcalls from the audience, and raffles, cocktails and other surprises will complement the evening.

Not included but surely tempting are a full bar, a limited menu from the Carvery, and a prize wheel. Get ready for a night of feline-filled fun and fabulousness! All money raised from ticket sales will be donated directly to Little Lion Foundation to fund their kitten nursery and their new on-site spay-and-neuter clinic for community cats. De-tails and tickets available here.

Show Me Your Kitties Cabaret takes place Saturday, Aug. 23, 5:30 p.m., at The Top, 105 W. Broadway, Long Beach. Tickets are $42.75 for a single ticket, $72 for two tickets, and $118 for an Evening for 2 Bundle, including two dinners and two prize spins.

Friends of Long Beach Animals Casino Night

Friends of Long Beach Animals (FOLBA) is hosting its 36th Annual Gala and Fundraiser, and tickets are going fast! The evening will feature great food, lively entertainment, casino tables, an incredible live auction and guest speaker Courtney Campbell, DVM, DACVS-SA, owner of Stitches Veterinary Surgery in Long Beach.

All proceeds will support FOLBA’s mission to protect and improve the lives of animals in our community by providing vital programs like spay/neuter services, emergency veterinary care, and support for our local shelter and rescue partners. Dress like a player, but don’t bring the cat — the roulette ball won’t make it through a single spin.

Casino Night will take place Saturday, Sept. 6, 6 p.m.–11 p.m., at The Grand, 4101 E. Willow St., Long Beach. Tickets $100, available here. Reserve a table of 10 for $1,000.

Blessing of the Animals and Pet Fair

Animals both domestic and wild bless our lives daily, so how about we return the favor? Join the Long Beach Christian Fellowship for individual blessings and activities for kids! Of course, bring your well-behaved pets, and remember to either keep them on a leash or in a carrier. Don’t have a pet? Sparky and the Gang and The Little Lion Foundation will have adorable ones for you to adopt! See graphic for details.

The Blessing of the Animals and Pet Fair takes place Saturday, Sept. 13, beginning at 4 p.m. at the Long Beach Christian Fellowship, 3210 E. Airport Way, Long Beach. Free event.

Need a low-cost veterinarian, information about trapping community cats, places to volunteer, rescues and shelters to adopt from — anything pet related? Follow this link for resources. Please add your own ideas in the Comments section.