Why endectocides matter

Endectocide products merge flea, tick, heartworm, and roundworm control into a single medication, simplifying parasite management for veterinary teams and clients. As parasites remain a constant threat throughout a dog’s life, and can even affect human family members, choosing broad-spectrum endectocides is one way to ensure effective, all-inclusive protection.

Transcript

Kathryn E. Reif, MSPH, PhD: So previously, in order to control our ectoparasites and a variety of our different endoparasites that affect our dogs, we may have had to reach for multiple products to provide really comprehensive, broad parasite control. But over the last decade or so, we’re now starting to see different companies bring together ectoparasite-control drugs as well as endoparasite-control drugs to create what they call an endectocide product—one that offers protection against both ectoparasites, like fleas and ticks, and a variety of endoparasites, like hookworms, heartworms, roundworms, etc.

Maybe your priority parasite where you’re living is ticks, for example, and you might not think about some of the other potential parasites that pose a risk. Choosing an endectocide-based product offers a pet comprehensive protection so they’re not just protected against that one “priority” parasite, but also against other parasites we don’t always consider—parasites that, for the vast majority of places in the U.S., still pose a persistent or constant risk. Parasites are omnipresent threats: pets are at risk from the moment they’re brand-new puppies, throughout their lifetime, and even into their senior years. We constantly have to think about protecting our pets and ensuring they have the most healthful life possible.

By doing that, we’re often also protecting our human family members, because many of the same parasites that affect our dogs can pose risks to human health as well. So by practicing good parasite control, we’re really helping to ensure the health of our pets and the health of the broader family.