Flea and tick season generally starts in the spring, around March, but with the warmer than average winter we experienced this year, they were out much earlier, if indeed they disappeared at all.

"Fleas and ticks are not paying attention to the calendar, just to how warm it is," says Dr. Mike Nelson, veterinarian at Mahoning Valley Animal Hospital. "They'll go dormant, but when it warms up, they're no longer dormant. Cold reduces the risk, but even that's no guarantee."We asked our readers if they have been seeing ticks lately.Jenny Kline Nonweiler said, "Since February! I have taken two off me, two off my daughter and about six off my dog, who already is being treated for Lyme disease! Without a good cold winter, the ticks will be three times worse than they were last year."Laura Berger said, "We've found several tiny ticks on our golden retriever. Always on top of the fur like by her head area."And Dean Gombert said, "We need cold winters with a good amount of snow. It kills the tick population."The doctor says he's a big supporter of treating pets year-round."I used to live in Wisconsin and it would go to 20 below, and I would still give it to my dog. It looks bad for a vet to have fleas."Flea and tick season run concurrently: spring, summer and fall."Fall is the worst," says Nelson. "They can build up, and we'll see more. They multiply in spring. They're babies now. The adults breed, and the next generation is in the fall and through the rest of the year."Fleas and ticks don't discriminate either."If you have fur or feathers, you can get fleas and ticks," he says.If you don't treat your pet all year, you should start in March, but it's never too late.You can start treating your dog or cat once they are 8 weeks old, although some products say they are safe at 7 weeks.Nelson started his new puppy, Emma, a chocolate Lab, on Nexgard a few weeks ago. She had her second dose this week, now that she is 12 weeks old.She will continue on the pill monthly.But what do you do if your pet already has fleas?"If your pet has fleas, you want to use something that kills adults and prevents eggs from hatching and the larval stages from turning into adults," he says.The doctor says fleas on an animal can represent as little as 5 percent of the population in the house, which means the other 95 percent are elsewhere, such as rugs, bedding and carpets. You'll want to treat your entire house in order to kill fleas in the environment."With some products, the animal sheds skin cells and whatever else, and it will shed the drug as well. It helps clean the environment."Nelson says that shedding won't totally eradicate fleas, but it certainly helps."If your pet has fleas, use a good product and treat it for at least three months, and clean the environment really, really well - bedding, carpets - get them super clean. A flea bomb will help, but it doesn't get under things. And vacuum well. Then take the bag out of the house right away. If you have a bagless vacuum cleaner, dump it outside immediately. Fleas will crawl out and get right back into the environment."And here's something you might not know. Even if you treat your pet religiously, fleas can still get into your house."You can track fleas into the house, and if you have mice, they can bring them in. Rodents can drag them anywhere."As for ticks, you might still find them on your pet even if they're protected."If you have a little Chihuahua that takes two steps outside and then returns to the house, it's probably fine," says Nelson. "If you have a hunting dog, it's a tick magnet."Nelson says to get your pets on prevention."Ticks are super hard to kill. With Nexgard, a tick will get on them, but it's dead within six hours."He also recommends combing out your dog and giving it a good look if it goes into the woods."That could be hard to do, especially if it has long hair, but it certainly would help."In addition to the Nexgard, which is a pill taken once a month, Nelson recommends Bravecto, which is a pill taken every three months.For pet owners who prefer collars, he says Seresto works well and is the cheapest option per month."As long as the animal is wearing it properly, it's fine," says Nelson. "You should be able to get two fingers under it. The collars work through contact with the skin."If you don't protect your pets, they can develop serious illnesses."Any tick can carry Lyme disease. A deer tick is a bad tick because it has three cycles of feeding off an animal. It drops off, molts, and gets bigger, and then gets on another animal. It has to feed on an animal with Lyme to carry it," says Nelson."It's worse because they go through so many feeding cycles. Regular ticks have less cycles."Nelson says pets can also get anemia and tapeworms."Fleas also carry tapeworm. Cats will lick them off and ingest the fleas. Ticks carry all kinds of nasty stuff. We're a hot zone for Lyme."