Ceva Animal Health is working with shelters, volunteers and veterinary hospitals across Texas and Louisiana to support the needs of animals left homeless by recent flooding. And the team is staging product in the southeast in preparation for Hurricane Irma’s landfall.  

Ceva has sent thousands of doses of parasiticides, dermatology products and calming pheromones to help volunteers caring for animals lost or left behind by families fleeing the recent storms. These products are available for shelters and clinics caring for strayed or abandoned animals. The company is also sending donations to organizations sheltering people and their pets.

 And the company is looking to do more.

 “By working with volunteers during previous natural disasters, we know it may be many months before the situation is back to normal for these region’s pets,” said Steve Hoffman, vice president of marketing at Ceva.  “It is an unfortunate fact that many families simply won’t be reunited with their pets. Many of those animals may be adopted locally, but based on the number of animals being taken in by local shelters, we know many of them will be sent to shelters throughout the region and even across the country. We will be ready to assist those shelters as well.”

The company will provide pheromone products Feliway® and Adaptil® to help calm cats and dogs during transportation and the period of time when they adjust to their new surroundings. Ceva will also provide free doses of the Vectra® 3D for Dogs parasiticide to shelters receiving dogs testing positive for heartworm disease. The offer applies to shelters in the flood zone as well as shelters located elsewhere which are receiving dogs to reduce the strain on Texas, Louisiana and Florida shelters. 

 “We must take action now to prevent heartworm disease from spreading across the country like it did after Hurricane Katrina,” said Dr. Nora Grant with Ceva Animal Health. “Whether you are working in areas affected by the hurricanes or not, it's important to implement a multi-modal approach to block heartworm transmission from infected dogs to mosquitoes, and from infected mosquitoes to uninfected dogs. That means treating dogs with Vectra® 3D as quickly as possible after they arrive in your care to kill and repel mosquitoes. Then follow up with an oral heartworm preventive.”

Following Hurricane Katrina, rates of heartworm disease infection began to climb when infected dogs were sent to shelters across the country. While this eased the strain on shelters caring for thousands of displaced animals, in many cases it shifted the front lines of fighting the disease from the Gulf region to shelters and veterinary clinics in regions where heartworm disease had not been observed before or had only been noted in low levels.   

The most recent Companion Animal Parasite Council (CAPC) data shows as high as 10 to 20% of the canine population in southeast Texas and southern Louisiana may test positive for heartworm disease. Furthermore, the American Heartworm Society’s 2016 survey on heartworm disease shows the region hit by Hurricane Harvey has more than 100 heartworm-positive dogs reported per clinic.¹ 

New data shows using Vectra® 3D for dogs to kill and repel mosquitoes along with a macrocyclic lactone preventive as part of a multi-modal or double defense approach, is more effective than using the macrocyclic lactone alone to prevent heartworm infection.

“So many groups and individuals have stepped forward to provide shelter and care for the animals who have also been victimized by these hurricanes,” said Hoffman. “We’re happy to provide a variety of products to ensure volunteers have what they need to help ensure the health and wellbeing of these pets. And for shelters willing to take in heartworm positive dogs, we want them to know Vectra® 3D can provide an extra layer of defense in blocking the transmission of the disease by killing and repelling mosquitoes.  We are happy to provide these free doses to help protect their general population of dogs awaiting adoption.” 

Shelters in need of supplies should contact their Ceva representative or email basic information about their needs and current situation to usa.communications@ceva.com or call 1.800.999.0297.

To learn more about a double defense approach to fight the spread of heartworm disease visit: FightHeartwormNow.com.

 

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