Retailers push year-round flea and tick prevention

Pet Age is making the case that flea and tick prevention isn’t just a spring-and-summer message, and that retailers have a year-round role in reinforcing it for pet parents. The broader backdrop supports that framing: the Companion Animal Parasite Council recommends year-round flea control for dogs and cats, and year-round tick control because tick activity varies by geography and season, while brown dog ticks can infest homes and kennels in any month. Federal agencies also continue to emphasize that fleas and ticks are both animal health and public health concerns, with CDC noting that pets can bring ticks into the home and that fleas can spread pathogens affecting both people and animals. (capcvet.org)

Why it matters: For veterinary teams, the retail message can either reinforce clinic guidance or compete with it. That makes education at the shelf, online, and in marketing especially important: CAPC warns that reactive or seasonal-only tick control can allow infestations and disease transmission, and once flea infestations are established, they may take months to control and usually require treating every pet in the household. Retailers and clinics that steer pet parents toward labeled, species-appropriate products, and back to the veterinarian for individualized recommendations, can help reduce preventable lapses in protection. FDA and EPA also remind clinicians and consumers that flea and tick products fall under different regulatory pathways, so product selection and label literacy matter. (capcvet.org)

What to watch: Expect more emphasis on year-round parasite prevention, product safety education, and retailer-veterinary collaboration as parasite risk messaging continues to shift from “seasonal” to “continuous.” (merck-animal-health.com)