me and my hubby have been talking about this for some time. i know they say that during the winter u should still keep them on flea and heartworm meds but during the winter all the nasty bugs go and hibernate, so how would my cats and dogs get fleas? i know that heartworm is transmitted through mosquitoes but they also go away for the winter. 

so my question is once the snow hits the ground...does any one still put on the flea stuff? 

also my cats are indoor and they are on revolution and since we are moving i cant just go to my vet and buy it,  so now i have to spend around 200 for the vet to see them and test them for heartworm, do u think they will be fine or should i keep them on it?

please dont get me wrong i LOVE my animals and want them to be healthy and i do everything i cant to make sure they are happy/healthy but i just wondering if this was a vets way of us spending more money or if it is really true. i have been wondering about this for awile

thank u!

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I love DC! Good luck with the move.
thank u!:) i cant wait to move there, its so pretty!
Good luck with your move!!

We keep capstar handy in case we see a flea. And since we live in "Flea country" Naples, Fl, where it's humid, warm and a perfect environment for flea infestation I'm amazed (but very happy) that we don't have a flea problem. Soffie is 4 and Griffyn is 3 and I can honestly say there has been only one time in the last 4 years where we had to battle fleas. So, we don't use a monthly flea preventative. However we do keep them on heartworm preventative. And recently our vet has switched to Sentinel. She believes it to be more effective and it also works to cancel the flea cycle. http://www.sentinelpet.com/index.html
I would definately say it depends where you live. I never use flea meds except if they get them which depending on the summer may be a few fleas every 2 years.Heartworm I give until Nov./Dec. and start again in April depending on the year. Since we have wicked winters mosquitos are totally gone and I start again before the season starts so I don't have mine tested. I hate giving chemicals to my animals so I use the least possible.
Optimal temperature for fleas is between 20-30C (68-86F)

Humidity is another key:
50% eggs will hatch at 35C (95F) with 75% humidity. None hatch at 33% or 50% humidity.

50% eggs will hatch at 13C (55F) with 75% humidity over 34 days.

80% eggs will hatch at 32C (89F) with 75% humidity over 8 days.

Cat fleas can survive outdoor all year round even in light frost condition.

Flea eggs usually hatch between 1.5 - 10 days.

Zero (32F) is lethal to most eggs within 24-46 hours.

BOTTOM LINE

It really depends how cold it is INSIDE YOUR HOME and what is the humidity indoor.
We do not have fleas or mosquitos where we live! YEAH! It also gets cold in the winter, already down to 26 over night. That said, we use heart worm 6 months out of the year, just as a preventative. Last year the vet suggested year round heart worm, and we questioned that one! We continue to do the 6 month only.
Interesting..where on earth do you live?...sounds like heaven with no fleas or mosquito but the 26 degrees in September doesn't sound so good!
We live in NE Ohio. I had a Jack Russell for almost 16 years. Believe it or not she never needed flea stuff until she was 14, when I got my Corgi pup and suddenly there were fleas. I usually began the flea drops in June or July and stopped after first frost...so probably 4 months. Heart Worm medicine I did May through Oct. Once it got really cold the mosquitos were not an issue.
I think it depends on the part of the country that you live in and if you walk your pet through heavily wooded areas.
I am very leary of over medicating. We do titers instead of just getting shots year after year. Rabies is the only one Gunny has gotten ( every three years is required in Ohio) since he was 2. Titers have shown his levels of protection for the other stuff are well above what is needed. I think dogs tend to be over immunized as a money maker for traditional vets.
I use comfortis year round and heartworm year round as well. i lived through one flea infestation in aonther house in another climate, and i never want to do that again. The cats get flea topical year round, even though one of them never goes outside. aftera all, who knows what can ride in on a corgi, the other cat or my shoe, for that matter.

Central Texas is ALIVE with critters--and we take no chances.
i agree about the shots but since i live on base it is required to go there to the vet on base and get all his shots, they even give us a paper stating it. (i know this off topic but it still bugs me) teddy has had his rabies shot since march but since we r moving to boiling DC in just a few weeks we have to take him in and get another rabies shot that will last 3 years, we throw out the old tag and if i take him for a walk i have to have the papper on me stating that he has had the shot even though he is wearing his tag (same goes for cats, if they r outside but there not) but i do give them shots them there yearly shots just in case, i just want them to be healthy.

that is pretty neat that your jack russell never had fleas, it must have been a blessing lol

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