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

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

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.

You can contact MedStore International to enquire about pet meds on: