British Columbia is a popular home to Flea's and Ticks due to the humid warm weather and forestry.While ticks thrive in warmer weather and can go dormant during the winter frost they still thrive in-doors. Ticks also thrive in warmer and humid weather they can still be found in the woods, shrubs and bushes during colder months' many survive the winter by finding cover or hosts.
If your dog is anything like my pooches our fur-babies are out at the dog parks, chasing birds or rabbits in the shrubs or just simply rolling in the grass all un aware of the pesky flee's and ticks that are lurking in our beautiful yards and parks.
Fleas can jump onto our dogs or cats and feed off their blood' they only need a small meal to reproduce and lay eggs - They can lay 40-50 eggs per day and will hatch in 2-12 days' so this can get out of control very fast and all of sudden your dog or cat will be itchy like crazy and you will have a infestation that will need to be treated. Keep in mind that fleas can live on other surfaces for up to 90 days so an infestation means that you will have to treat all your pets in the house hold but you will have to also deep clean your house similar to the way you would treat/clean a lice infestation.
Fleas are also carriers of tapeworm' as our dogs and cats lick themselves if they ingest a flea they are highly likely to contract tapeworm- this can make you pet not feel well and will often see tape worms making their way out of your dogs/cat bottom end or being thrown up.
Ticks often lay in bushes and shrubs and once your dog brushes past the tick will cling to your dog and borrow into their skin to feed. Once a tick has been attached for 48 hours it CAN transmit Lyme Disease that will make your dog very ill and can cause death.
There are 5 types of parasite worms that our dogs and cats can get infected with:
RoundWorms' often contracted from the nursing process or by ingesting an infected animal or contact with infected feces of another animal
Tapeworms ' Often contacted by encounters or ingested through a host such as a bird or flea.
Hookworms' Often contracted by sniffing at contaminated feces or soil they are found primarily in their small intestines and feed off blood that can cause life threaten anemia.
Wipworms' Often contracted by ingesting an eggs found in soil or dog feces' they can. cause severe organ damage.
Heartworm' Contracted from an infected mosquito bite by passing infective larvae to the dog and it will take 6 months for the infective larvae to mature into adult heart worms they migrate through -out the body and rest in the circulatory system- It is treatable in the early stages but can be fatal if not treated before the advance stages
It is our job as fur-parents to ensure we are protecting our fur-babies from flea's , Ticks and worms that. can easily be picked up from our evening walks or weekend dog park meet ups or doggy daycare,
Great News!! Preventive Treatment is very effective in protecting them from the above. There are several products you can find over the counter at your local pet stores and online ' I would NOT recommend any of them if you do your research they are not regulated and have been known to commonly cause seizures and such and often found not to work.
There are some natural flea and tick repellents you can give your dog but i cant speck personally to if they work or not- you will also not get the worm coverage..I would ensure anything you use naturally is safe to use on your dog or cat.
The best place to get your flea and tick and worm preventive is your trusted licence Veterinarian.
They sell Two great products Revolution and Advantage.
I personally use and recommend Revolution as it covers Heart worms ' otherwise coverage is the same for both products. You apply it topically to your dogs/cats skin once per month for full protection.
Hopefully I have been able to share some helpful informative information and as always if you have questions about what product is best for your fur-baby to book an appointment with your vet.
Kommentarer