Every dog that comes through our door receives all of the necessary and standard care a dog needs.

Standard care includes treatments like vaccinations, microchipping, neutering, flea, tick and worm treatments. For standard care alone, it costs the charity more than £43,000 a year.

So to help us with these costs we’ve teamed up with VetUK. Throughout 2020, we’ve been using VetUK’s own brand, cost effective treatments for fleas, ticks and worms. Their support and fantastic products have helped us to keep our rescue dogs free from any nasty parasites and healthy while they wait for their forever homes.

A lot of people ask, why is it so important to flea and worm your dog?

All dogs are at risk of being infected with worms and most will be infected at least once in their lifetimes. Puppies are more at risk then full grown dogs as worms can be passed from the mother to the babies during or after birth through their milk, so it is really important you start treating them at a young age.

Your dog can catch worms from fleas and from the environment – that is why it is so important you pick up your dog’s poop to help minimise the amount of egg contamination in the environment.

A lot of the time, dogs with worms may not show any signs of illness until the worms present themselves in large numbers so it is important you keep on top of their treatment before they get really poorly.

Fleas and ticks can also infect your dog at any time, at any age, but are more common between April - September.

Adult fleas die after 7-14 days of being on your dog but are quickly replaced by eggs that are already developing and hatching in your dog’s fur and in the areas they’ve been in, like in your bed or on your carpet!

Fleas are not only uncomfortable and itchy for your dog, but they’re also a nuisance in your home and are hard to get rid of as they reproduce so fast. They survive by feeding off your dog’s blood and often just look like dirt on your dog’s coat so it is important you keep on top of their flea treatment and regularly check your dog’s coat.

Similarly, to fleas, ticks can appear on your dog at any time. They also feed on your dog’s blood and can pass on diseases to your dog as they feed. It is important that ticks are promptly removed by a veterinary professional to minimise the risk of them catching an infection.

How do you treat worms, ticks and fleas?

There are a variety of treatment options available – there is plenty of advice on the VetUK website to help you find a suitable option for your dog, alternately you can seek advice from your vet. Once you know how you’d like to treat your dog you can purchase your products and have them delivered straight to your door from VetUK: https://www.vetuk.co.uk/