After a long winter, you and your dog are excited to go out. However, the pleasantly warm weather, fragrance of flowers and bright sunlight is accompanied by some nasty creatures named flea and tick. These tiny pests not only affect your furry friends but also you and your household. So, for the health of your dog as well as your family, here are some fleas and ticks dos and don’ts for you.
If you think that your pet remains indoor most of the time and so, he is safe, you may be mistaken. Remember that mice too can carry fleas to your home. Besides, raccoons, opossums and feral cats can bring flea eggs in your yard. Ticks can ride urban wildlife like coyotes and deer and drop along the paths where you take your dog for a walk.
Even if after you find what is the best flea treatment for dogs and start giving the treatment, remember that ticks and fleas may not be killed at once. The sooner you can spot and remove them, the less is the chance for the ticks to transmit disease-causing microbes. An easy way to check your pet before letting her in the house is to run your hands over her body and especially around her ears. Use tweezers to remove ticks and dispose them of properly.
Understand that only 5% of fleas are on your pet, while the remaining are in your environment in different stages of development. In case of cats, since they keep grooming themselves, evidence of fleas can quickly be eliminated. Thus, you may not see fleas. But you may see small black specks resembling pepper. This may be flea feces. If these specks are placed on a wet paper towel and the towel becomes red, it’s the digested blood in flea feces.
According to the CAPC (Companion Animal Parasitology Council), you should apply flea and tick prevention measures throughout the year and not just in the warm season. There are many reasons for this. For example, your house may contain microenvironments that are suitable for flea and tick to thrive even during winter. Some species of ticks can get activated anytime with a warm spell in the winter. The brown dog tick can be alive completing its full life cycle on dogs, reproducing all through the year in houses.
Understand that fleas not only transmit bacteria and tapeworm, but also cause severe itching. The worse thing is that your pet may be allergic to flea saliva; thus, even a single flea bite can cause inflammation, severe itching and hair loss. So, find what is the best flea treatment for dogs and start it as early as possible. Ticks too are equally hazardous. They can transmit carrier organisms of dangerous diseases like Rocky Mountain spotted fever and Lyme disease.
Most flea and tick medications provide a particular dose for the pet’s weight. If you divide the doses, your pet may not receive a therapeutic dose to help protect against fleas and ticks.
Although it’s not easy to rid your beloved pets completely from these pesky parasites, you can definitely reduce the risk with the above tips.