The Importance of Flea and Tick Protection

If there is one draw back to living in our Florida Paradise, it’s that we have fleas and ticks here all year long.  It is important to have your dogs and cats on flea protection all year.

Even if you have never had fleas before its just a matter of time before your pet comes across one or two which quickly turn into 10 or 20 and then you have a problem.  A fleas life cycle is 7 to 10 days, so if you get rid of 1 or 2, if they have laid eggs you now have many more and they are reproducing rapidly.

It’s not just the dog next door that can give your dog fleas, squirrels, rabbits, raccoons, mice and rats all carry fleas.  These fleas may end up in your yard where your dog or even your own shoes can bring them in your house.

There are many flea protection products on the market.  Most protect pets from ticks also, which is very important (more on that later).  DO NOT PURCHASE YOUR FLEA PROTECTION FROM THE “BIG MART” STORES.  The products purchased from these type of stores is not the latest generation of flea control.  Over time, fleas become resistant to the chemical mix and become stronger, the discount stores buy up the old stuff sell it at a discount but it is not effective.  The products offered to Vetenarians is the latest and most effective. So don’t waste your money on something that doesn’t work.

Another problem with having fleas on you dog is the skin.  A dogs skin is thinner than ours.  When a dog scratches it is easier to aggravate and break the skin which usually causes an infection which makes the dog lick and scratch more and may require an antibiotic.  Some dogs are allergic to fleas (actually the saliva from the flea when it bites) and this causes flea bite dermatitis which usually require an antibiotic &/or steroid to help settle it down.  So you can see why the cost of monthly flea protection is worth it. It may very well save you money in vet visits and medications.

Ticks are also a problem in Florida.  I never worried too much about them, assuming if I saw one I could just pull it off.  Well I could not have been more wrong.  My Pomeranian Topper had a very thick coat (providing some protection from bugs)  I may have pulled 2 or 3 ticks off him in 3 years.  I noticed his breath smelled awful one day and thought he might have had an abcessed tooth. I made an appointment with Dr. Moon for a teeth cleaning.  Upon weighing Topper , my 5 pound dog had lost a whole pound in 8 months since his last check up.  Thank goodness Dr. Moon decided to do a full blood workup rather than just a pre surgery work up.  Toppers red blood cell count was extremely low.  It presented as either leukemia or tick disease.  The blood went out to a lab and I had the longest two days ever waiting.  I was given instruction to watch for nosebleeds (or any bleeding for that matter) since Toppers blood could not clot and he could bleed to death without a transfusion.  The test came back positive for tick disease and he was put on a month long dose of antibiotics.  A few months later a client lost their dog to the same disease, he started a nose bleed and couldn’t be saved.  Thanks to the thorough diagnostic care from Dr Moon Topper is alright.  The illness did take a toll on his immune system which I am in the process of rebuilding with organic food, soothing baths to help his hair loss, exercise and lots of love.

My dogs now get a topical flea product called Activyl.  It is new on the market and treats fleas and ticks.  Heartworm should always be given two weeks from flea treatment just to be safe.  Activyl works off the enzymes of the flea and is basically benign on the dog.  I have found it to be very effective.

NEVER PUT DOG FLEA PROTECTION ON A CAT:  IT CAN KILL THE CAT.  The biological difference between cats and dogs is great.  MAKE SURE ANY FLEA PRODUCT YOU PUT ON YOUR CAT IS FOR CATS ONLY!!!

Well as always I hope this information is helpful and shows you that flea protection all year in Florida is important.

 

 

 

 

 

This entry was posted in Blog Posts. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post. Both comments and trackbacks are currently closed.
Home Home Home Home Home Home

BE KIND TO ONE ANOTHER