Parasite control in the kennel: dams, litters and age limits

Warm weather brings fleas, ticks and mosquitoes back to the kennel, and a breeder has to protect dogs that most products were not designed around — pregnant and nursing dams, and puppies too young or too small for many treatments — so parasite control in a breeding kennel is a plan made with your veterinarian before the season starts, not a product picked off the shelf.

Why year-round control

The Companion Animal Parasite Council (CAPC) recommends treating all dogs for ticks year-round, throughout life, because seasonal or reactive use lets ticks establish, and recommends keeping all dogs on heartworm preventives year-round, with annual testing. The CDC notes that the brown dog tick can infest homes and kennels, where it can complete its life cycle indoors. In a kennel, one untreated dog can keep a flea or tick problem going for everyone.

Pregnant and nursing dams

Not every flea, tick or heartworm product has been tested in pregnant, breeding or lactating dogs, and labels say so. The US Food and Drug Administration’s safety communication on isoxazoline flea and tick products asks veterinarians to review each animal’s history and decide with the owner whether a product is appropriate; that matters even more in a breeding program. Practical points:

• Check the label for “breeding, pregnant or lactating” use before every season, and ask your veterinarian when the label is silent.
• Don’t switch products in late pregnancy without advice.
• Keep the whelping area clean and dry, because flea eggs and larvae develop in bedding.

Puppies: age and weight limits

Most flea, tick and heartworm products have a minimum age and weight. The American Heartworm Society advises starting puppies on a heartworm preventive as early as the product label allows and no later than 8 weeks, and reminds owners that doses are based on body weight, which changes fast: a German Shepherd puppy may go from about 17 pounds at 4 weeks to 29–30 pounds at 8 weeks, enough to move into a different dose range. For fleas, the Merck Veterinary Manual warns that heavy infestations in young puppies can cause anemia from blood loss.

So:

• Weigh puppies before each dose and use the right product and size.
• Never use a product below its labeled age or weight, and never split an adult product.
• Use non-chemical measures for very young puppies: clean bedding, a clean dam, and flea combing, on your veterinarian’s advice.
• Coordinate with worming. Puppy deworming is a separate schedule; see parasites and worming schedules.

Treating the kennel

The Merck Veterinary Manual explains that flea eggs fall off the dog into bedding, carpet and soil, that the life cycle takes about 3 to 8 weeks, and that control means treating the pet, the environment and every animal in the household, which can take 6 weeks to 3 months.

• Wash bedding hot and often, and vacuum or steam-clean resting areas.
• Mow and trim around runs to reduce tick habitat, as the Merck Veterinary Manual suggests.
• Check every dog for ticks daily in season, and remove them with fine forceps as CAPC describes.

What to hand on to buyers

• Product name, date and dose for every flea, tick, heartworm and worming treatment.
• When the next dose is due, and a reminder that doses change as the puppy grows.
• A suggestion to discuss year-round prevention and testing with their own veterinarian.

When to call your veterinarian

• Pale gums, weakness or fleas on young puppies.
• Tremors, wobbliness or a seizure after a flea and tick product.
• Lameness, fever or lethargy in a dog in the weeks after a tick bite.
• Coughing, tiring easily or weight loss in a dog that has missed heartworm doses.
• If in doubt, call — your vet would rather hear from you early.

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Sources & further reading

1. Companion Animal Parasite Council — Ticks (guidelines). capcvet.org
2. Companion Animal Parasite Council — Heartworm (guidelines). capcvet.org
3. American Heartworm Society (2013) — Puppies and Kittens Need Protection, Too. heartwormsociety.org
4. US Food and Drug Administration — Animal Drug Safety Communication: FDA alerts pet owners and veterinarians about potential for neurologic adverse events associated with certain flea and tick products. fda.gov
5. Merck Veterinary Manual — Fleas of Dogs. merckvetmanual.com
6. Merck Veterinary Manual — Ticks of Dogs. merckvetmanual.com
7. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — Preventing Ticks on Pets. cdc.gov

Where evidence is limited, recommendations rest on established practice and expert judgment, and may be updated as knowledge develops. Products, doses and schedules must come from the label and your veterinarian. This is general information and does not replace advice from your veterinarian.

Next steps

• Read next: Parasites and worming schedules.
• Related: Pregnancy medications and risk factors · Ticks and tick-borne disease in dogs.
• Return to the guide: Raising a healthy litter: the complete guide.