15th July 1999
The Noticeboard

ANIMAL CARE CENTRE - FLEAS - DID YOU KNOW?

In Summer months fleas can run rampant and reproduce at an enormous rate.
Cat fleas are the main cause of parasite problems as they can feed of any host. Canine fleas will stay mainly on your dog.
Fleas can, and will, bite humans, thus creating an extra incentive to rid yourself of these parasites.
Flea bites can cause a skin allergy which will also cause annoyance and discomfort to your pet and which requires further veterinary treatment.
Fleas are the main cause of skin disease in pets and are responsible for the transmission of tapeworms. In severe cases fleas can cause anaemia.
Flea eggs drop off your pets coat and into their environment, ie. carpet, bedding, clothes & furniture.O Fleas hatch within 10 days and mature quickly, and by feeding of a suitable host they can begin reproducing again within 2 days, producing hundreds of more fleas.

HOW TO SPOT FLEAS
Unless your pet is infested with parasites, it is very difficult to see fleas with the naked eye. Although you may see areas of hair loss on your pet’s back.
To determine if your pet has fleas, run a flea comb through your pets hair and tap the comb on a white sheet of paper. If there are black specks, dampen your finger and run it over a couple of specks. If the black specks run red, your pet has been the main course for a family of fleas and you should treat your pet immediately, and its environment.

PREVENTION - ERADICATION
As adult fleas represent only 5% of the population and flea eggs 50%, by vacuuming and treating your pets favourite resting places with “environmental” spray, you can reduce the incidence of fleas.
Advantage Spot-on, Program tablets and Frontline pump action are all effective products specially designed to eradicate flea problems.
However, prevention is better than cure and so it is advisable to treat your pet for fleas every month, even if they are not strikingly visable.
Following this advice on keeping your pets environment clean and treating them for fleas, you can have a flea free pet and home.

SUCCESSFUL LIVING

with Declan Cronin of Apex Clinic

Every person on this planet desires success. Everyone wants the best out of life and that would include financial security, a nice home two or three holidays a year, a successful relationship, give the children the best advantages etc. A person who is successful is a winner. This person is focused on the positive aspects of life, a deep belief in themselves, working on an attitude of “I know I will succeed”. Many people fall into the trap of believing that successful people have some special qualities that are simply not available to the average person. We all know successful and unsuccessful people. My question here
is what is the huge difference between these people? You might say that it’s intelligence or education or any other attributes you would like to bestow on a person for having such a successful life. I know people who have earned degrees or that had more advantages growing up than the average child does and in spite of these advantages are still unsuccessful. They’re hanging around in mediocrity. I also know people who did not have all these advantages and are very successful. So what is the difference between successful and unsuccessful people? The difference is belief. Believe you can and you will. Believe you can get to the top and you will. Believe you can have a successful relationship and you will. Believe you can have your own successful business and you will. Before anyone run’s off to remortgage the house in order to start a business then a word of caution - there is a difference between wishful thinking and belief. You can’t wish yourself into a six bedroom house or wish yourself into a top leadership position. You can’t wish yourself into a hugely successful business or indeed a hugely successful relationship. But you can by believing you can succeed. The how to do it always comes to those people who truly believe that they can do it. We can only change by initiating a process of change, not by talking or thinking about it, if it were that simple, the hungry could be fed by thoughts of food. Successful people believe that they are responsible for whatever results they experience in life. Given the proper knowledge and guidance, anyone who has a sincere desire for success can do so. The first step is to start thinking positively about yourself. In your programme for becoming a new person you will begin to develop normal self-love, self-confidence, self-respect and contentment. You will begin to believe in yourself and acquire confidence you never had before. Like all successful people you will experience a feeling of self-importance, i.e. I am unique and I have special qualifications. I am important to life for never before has life been expressed through any other person in exactly the same way as it is expressed through me. I have a special place in the scheme of life. I approve of myself as a loving person. I have the right to success and the best that life can offer. And so as I stated above, success is obtained by having a deep belief that you will succeed. Mark Twain observed that you will be successful when your vocation becomes your vacation Abraham Lincoln lost 23 of 26 elections. Henry Ford was bankrupt before starting Ford motors and as he once said, “Whether you believe you can or whether you believe you can’t, you’re right!

… Continued next week.