The Great Outdoors: Tick and Flea Prevention for Your Summer Adventures
As the spring turns to summer, pet owners typically find themselves in “oh no” moments, especially when a pesky parasite has been found on a pet. We can assure you that it’s almost always better to find these bugs knowing a pet is up to date on their parasite prevention medication instead of realizing a dose has lapsed. Tick and flea prevention season is here, and we want to help owners stay on top of this critical element of pet health.
Beyond a Nuisance
Fleas and ticks are undoubtedly annoying, but it’s their potential for disease-spreading that makes them particularly loathsome. Rising temperatures give way to exceedingly high numbers of fleas, and accelerates the lifecycle of extremely hardy ticks. The bottom line is that preventing these parasites from ever gaining traction on your pet, and inside your home, is a priority.
Let’s Talk About Fleas
We are no strangers to heat and humidity, and fleas absolutely love it. With their crazy reproduction rates (a single female can lay up to 50 eggs a day) and their ability to bounce from target to target, fleas are a downright hassle to deal with.
They attach to a pet’s skin and while sucking their blood, fleas can transmit the following diseases to their hosts:
- Bartonellosis (cat scratch disease)
- Flea-borne parasites, such as tapeworms
- Tularemia
- Tungiasis
- Bubonic plague
The Thing About Ticks
Ticks lie in wait for prey to walk by. Found in marshes, tall grass, and overgrown, wooded areas, ticks are stealthy and quiet when they grab on to a pet’s fur. As blood suckers, ticks need about a full day to release a disease into their prey’s bloodstream. Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, Ehrlichiosis, and Anaplasmosis can all be transmitted by ticks to their hosts.
Empowering Tactics
Pet owners can stay in front of parasites in the following ways:
- Monthly treatments, either oral medications or topical applications, can guard against fleas, ticks, and other parasites. We can help you with the right product at your pet’s routine wellness exam.
- Regularly clean carpets, bedding, blankets, and areas your pet frequents.
- Keep outdoor areas, like leaf piles, compost bins, wood piles, and shrubs trimmed and tidy. Spay a tick and/or flea spray on the yard and garden, but only allow your pet access to these areas after the spray dries.
- Install a gravel or wood chip perimeter around the lawn to reduce tick migration.
- Minimize how many other animals have access to the yard, such as raccoons, rodents, deer, opossums, and neighborhood pets.
- Conduct daily tick and flea checks on your pet’s body, especially between the toes, on the abdomen, chest, ears, and armpits.
Acting Quickly
If you notice a tick on your pet, it is critical to remove them right away. Tick removal must be done in a certain way so that the head doesn’t get stuck inside. Wear gloves and disinfect the affected area immediately.
Fleas can create a reaction called flea allergy dermatitis in some pets. Excessive scratching, open sores, bleeding, secondary bacterial infections must be treated.
If you have questions about your pet’s parasite prevention, please call us at (616) 457-9200. Our team is always here to help you at Jenison Animal Hospital.