Flea and Tick Season is here.
5 Things every pet owner must know
As the warmer months approach, it’s important to get your cat and dogs treated for fleas and ticks.
When owning a pet, it’s necessary to prevent your pets from being affected by Ticks and fleas. Ticks transmit not only Lyme disease, but also other illnesses like babesiosis.
According to the CDC “Lyme disease is the most common vector-borne disease in the United States. Lyme disease is caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi and rarely, Borrelia mayonii. It is transmitted to humans through the bite of infected blacklegged ticks.
Typical symptoms include fever, headache, fatigue, and a characteristic skin rash called erythema migrans. If not untreated, infection can spread to joints, the heart, and the nervous system.
According to Veterinarians, dogs usually get ticks because they’re out in that environment, walking through the woods or high grass. Ticks can crawl up on these low shrubs or grass, generally 18 to 24 inches off the ground. Ticks will then attach themselves onto their victim.
If you suspect that your dog or cat might have tick please follow these steps provided by the CDC.
How to remove a tick
- Use fine-tipped tweezers to grasp the tick as close to the skin’s surface as possible.
- Pull upward with steady, even pressure. Don’t twist or jerk the tick; this can cause the mouth-parts to break off and remain in the skin. If this happens, remove the mouth-parts with tweezers. If you are unable to remove the mouth easily with clean tweezers, leave it alone and let the skin heal.
- After removing the tick, thoroughly clean the bite area and your hands with rubbing alcohol or soap and water.
- Never crush a tick with your fingers. Dispose of a live tick by putting it in alcohol, placing it in a sealed bag/container, wrapping it tightly in tape, or flushing it down the toilet.
Fleas are a nuisance for several reason, they can spread what’s called flea allergy dermatitis, this is the most common skin disease for cats and dogs. Pets will bite and scratch and lose their hair. It can take only a few fleas for this allergy to become a problem. Fleas are also an extreme danger to puppies, since they’re blood-sucking insects, pets can become anemic and even die from heavy infestations.
On the other hand, pets mainly acquire fleas by some other infested animal – a stray dog or stray cat, or some other neighbors’ dog or cat, or urban wildlife.
Treatment
There a several different ways to prevent your pets from getting fleas and ticks. Chewable pills are a great option that your pet can take once a month. They come in different flavors and are priced based on the weight of your pet.
Secondly, they make topical treatments that you can administer to your pet. In general, applied between the pet’s shoulder blades so the pet can’t lick it off. Most topical medications last a month. Some topical medications not only kill fleas and ticks, they also repel them.
Lastly, Tick collars are very common and work as long as your pet is wearing the collar, prevention lasts for up to three months and usual prevents new ticks from attaching and feeding within 48 hours of the collar being applied.
If you are wondering how effective flea and ticks are then you will be happy to know that Veterinary Parasitology recently published a study that found that topicals were 88.4 percent effective, while oral treatments were 99.9 percent effective. There were 128 dogs from five states involved in the study that lasted
Here at The Furshire, if your pet is found with tick or fleas we will contact the owner to inform them of the situation. The pet is to get a flea and tick dip immediately by our groom shop after we speak to client. An additional cost will be incurred by client.
Next, the pets room is immediately treated and the pet is not allowed to play in a group setting for 24 hours after treatment and up to 72 hours depending how bad the infestation was. Depending on the severity of the situation, our groomer might have to go back to the pet to clean the pets coat.
In conclusion we can’t stress enough how important it is to take the proper per-cautions to make sure your pet is safe and ready for tick and flea season.
