Pets love summer! Firstly, we seem to spend more time with them during this time of the year. The kids are home, vacations bring the family together and outdoor events are the norm. Unfortunately insects love summer too, the kind that bite, like fleas and ticks! Welcome to flea and tick season, yippee! Yes, those little creepy, crawly, jumping, biting pests love our pets. They love to live on them and in anything and anywhere our pets go like the grass in our back yards, our pets’ bedding, and yuck, in our carpets! The worst thing about ticks is the diseases they can spread to both pets and humans like Lyme and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. To be so small, they can be very dangerous If you haven’t gotten the heebee geebees yet, please read on for some tips to keep these pesky critters at bay!
1. Check your pet regularly. And don’t wait until your pet is scratching! If he’s already itching, you’ve likely waited too long. Run a flea comb through his fur every few days making note of not only fleas, but specks of black, the “flea dirt” they leave behind. If your pets frequent woodsy areas, give him a full body inspection before allowing him to enter the house. If you find a tick, remove it right away.
2. Keep your pets clean and well groomed. Often your professional groomer is the first to notice parasites on your dog, but waiting until your pet’s 6-8 week trip to the salon leaves way too much time for an infestation to get out of hand. Grooming and bathing your own pet in between professional treatments will give you the opportunity to catch the first signs of a potential flea or tick problem before it gets out of hand.
3. If you do find a flea on your pet, it’s time for you to go on the attack! One flea can lay up to 600 eggs in its lifetime. Eggs can live almost anywhere, and when they hatch, each little flea repeats the cycle. Therefore when finding one flea, you should assume there are eggs not too far behind! All pet bedding should be washed on a regular basis and carpets vacuumed often.
4. Along with treating pets and inside your house, attention should be paid to outside areas where your pet frequents as well. Ticks like to live in tall grass and brush, so keeping your own lawn short can help make it an undesirable hiding place.
5. Does flea and tick prevention have you scratching your head (no pun intended)? There are so many flea and tick preventatives on the market it’s easy to become overwhelmed when searching for just the right one for your pet. You should definitely consult your veterinarian and do some research on your own as well. A great place to start is the American Veterinary Medical Association website, which keeps tabs on any products that have had safety problems: avma.org/animal_health/flea-tick-products.asp.
If you’re interested in more natural alternatives for flea and tick prevention, do an Internet search for the latest products. Most importantly, never use dog treatments on cats or cat products on dogs and pay special attention to recommended dosages.
Unfortunately, parasites, both internal and external, go hand in hand with living with pets. As responsible pet parents, it’s up to us to be proactive and keep them protected.
Stafford business owner Laurie C. Williams is a published author, television and radio personality and nationally-recognized dog trainer. She can be reached at onesmartpooch@aol.com.
