Protecting your pet from heartworms, fleas, and ticks is crucial to good health. These parasites spread nasty diseases with potentially life-threatening consequences.

Your pet deserves a personalized protection plan.

Pets are almost never entirely unexposed to parasites. Numerous studies have shown a pet, even an indoor one, can get heartworms any day of the year. In fact, 28 percent of heartworm-positive cats are indoor only. Mosquitos can get into the house. We can track flea eggs inside on our shoes. That’s why protection is key.

Prevention Is Better, and Less Expensive, Than Treatment

All dogs and cats should be on heartworm preventative, consistently and year-round. North Carolina is a hot-spot for mosquitos, and mosquitos transmit heartworms.

It only takes one bite one time to transmit heartworms from an infected mosquito into your fur baby.

Numerous studies have shown a pet, even an indoor one, can get heartworms any day of the year.

Heartworms are difficult to treat in dogs, and heartworm treatment costs much more than heartworm prevention. Heartworms are impossible to treat in cats. Heartworms damage the heart and lungs, making it awful for a pet to suffer or die from heartworms.

It is imperative to administer heartworm protection properly. Oral and topical heartworm preventatives must be given every 30 days to provide continuous protection. Many AHBC pet parents pick the first of the month as a reminder to give the preventative.

If your pet has been on continuous heartworm protection—products guaranteed and provided by AHBC’s in-house or online pharmacy—and ever tests positive for heartworms, the company will cover the cost of treatment. This is one reason an annual heartworm test is so important.

North Carolina is also flea-zone central. Flea infestations are hard on both you and your pet. Flea infestations in your home can take months to resolve even with treatment. Flea bites are painful and can spread disease.

Customized Care Is What We Do Best

We offer fully customized heartworm, flea, and tick protection for your fur baby. We understand the best protection is the one that is best suited to your pet’s lifestyle—and the easiest for you to administer.

At AHBC, you have plenty of protection options for your pet.

Some pets love treats, making an oral preventative easy to give.

Yet some pets are so canny (or picky) they know if there is medication in a treat and will not take it no matter what. In this case, topical preventatives are better options. Topicals are also recommended for pets with certain food allergies.

Yet some pets have sensitive skin, so a topical product could cause a reaction. In this case, we offer a 6-month heartworm injection for dogs and an 8-month flea/tick collar for both dogs and cats. You might also prefer these options if it is more convenient than administering preventative every 30 days.

We will work with you to determine the exact best protection for your pet.

Safety First

We believe in using only the safest and most efficacious preventative products available.

Dr. Goetz uses our flea preventatives on her own dogs and cats, and she has carefully researched and approved all the products we carry both in-house and in our online pharmacy. Over-the-counter preventative products are simply not as effective and not as safe.

Our online pharmacy, Vets First Choice, can even ship heartworm and flea/tick protection to your home every month to help you remember to give it to your pet.