What if animals were 'The Walking Dead'?

It's the zombie apocalypse. Cats and dogs are itching madly at themselves and snapping at others like crazed lunatics. You're armed with medical knowledge and a few boxes of parasite preventive. Can you cure it?

You know you can. And doesn't this sound a lot more dramatic and exciting than your normal parasite control talk with pet owners? You've got to rev yourself up, says Elizabeth Colleran, DVM, DABVP (feline practice), owner of two cat-only practices.

“My husband is nuts about The Walking Dead and so I've seen a lot of it. I think of parasite [infestations] like an episode of the show,” Colleran says. “I think of it as an infection that causes these animals to change into something else because they can become incredibly uncomfortable.”

Cats are even scarier, Colleran says. Of course, everyone notices parasite problems first on dogs. Cats, she says, are so much more subtle that helping to think of things in “a sort of dramatic way” puts the oomph into her client conversations.

And, look, if zombies aren't your thing, maybe you can think of heartworms like those ear worms from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan … and tenaciously biting fleas like vampires … and ticks like, well, ticks are disgusting. We don't need a metaphor for them, do we?

Check out this video of Colleran talking about her undead take on medicine during CVC San Diego.