Fighting Fleas and Ticks on Dogs - Pet information from Medstore International

Fighting Fleas and Ticks on Dogs

It doesn’t matter what time of year it is, one thing is for certain; fleas and ticks are not any fun at all. Whether it is the summer when you have to deal with the fear of your dog bringing ticks into the house, or the spring where fleas are thriving in your home, there is a lot you have to do to fight fleas and ticks both on the dogs and in your home.

Fleas

More of an annoyance then life threatening, household fleas do not usually transmit diseases to people in pets, but they sure can make your life miserable, as well as your dogs. They cause a great deal of itching and scratching, as well as overall discomfort to your dog if they are allergic to fleas.

In case you didn’t know, there are more than 200 different varieties of fleas living in the USA. The main flea and the one that you see most often on your pet is the cat flea. This is the type of flea that feeds on anyone in your house, your cat, dog, or even yourself. They are wingless insects that look for the warmth of a pet’s fur to use as their breeding ground.

Fleas have four stages of life. They start off as eggs, progress to larvae, then to pupae, and then become adults. Female fleas can lay as many as 50 eggs per day starting the stages of a flea’s life that can be completed in as little as three weeks depending on what the temperature and humidity are like.

There are certain types of problems that can arise from a flea infestation. These include:

Anemia which has symptoms of pale gums, weakness, and lethargic behavior
Tapeworm to pets
Other diseases which can cause fever, swollen lymph nodes, swollen tongue, and pneumonia
Loss of hair
Rashes and inflammation to the skin

In order to avoid fleas it is best to start on a regular preventative flea control which you can get from your veterinarian, at a pet store, or online. There are oral insecticides that can be given once the dog is infested with fleas, as well as, liquid treatments that you put on the skin, shampoos and topical creams that will kill the fleas on the dog. However, you also need to work to get rid of the fleas inside of your house. That can include “bombing” the home with a flea killer. Also, you need to wash your pets bedding regularly and vacuum frequently, always changing the bag after each vacuuming.

Ticks

Ticks are much more serious than fleas and pose a greater risk. They have a one piece body with harpoon like mouths that are used to suck the blood from a pet or a person.

They also have crab like legs as well as a sticky secretion that helps hold its body to you or your dog. That is why so often when you try to remove a tick that is on your body or the body of your dog, you often have a much harder time getting it off then you expected.

Ticks also have a four stage life cycle that starts as eggs, progresses to larvae, then nymphs, and finally to adults. A typical adult tick can lay as many as 100 eggs at a time, with some females laying as many as 6000 per batch. Ticks take much longer to evolve than fleas. They can actually take up to several years to go through all four stages, and as long as they get at least one “blood meal” after each stage of hatching they can survive for years within their respective stage.

There are almost 200 varieties of ticks, including those that spread infectious organisms that can be transmitted to cats, dogs and humans. Lyme disease is the most serious which can cause symptoms that include:

Swollen joints
Fever
Poor appetite
Fatigue
Vomiting

Ticks can also cause paralysis in some dogs, lethargic behavior, weakness, high fever, and muscle aches. The best way to avoid ticks and to keep your pets safe is to treat your dogs with a tick control which can be found either through your veterinarian, in pet stores, or online. Frontline is one of the most popular treatments which, once soaked into the dogs skin, can actually help the tick fall off sooner than the 24 hours in which is needed for a disease to be transmitted.

Other preventative measures include examining the dog frequently especially during the summer, cutting your lawn to keep it very low so the ticks move elsewhere, keeping your dog in the sun where ticks normally do not go, and getting rid of rodents in your yard that ticks often feed on.

There are hundreds of pesticides, repellents and medicines that can keep your dog free from fleas and ticks. It is recommended that you use something on your dog regularly to keep them comfortable and disease free.

Medstore International lists a generic version of Frontline (Fipronil) for Fighting Fleas and Ticks on dogs.

To view strength, pack size, pricing information and to buy click on the product link below;

Frontline

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