How To Protect Your Dog Or Cat From Fleas, Ticks, And Related Infections

2024 Author: Sebastian Paterson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:47

Are there people who love fleas and ticks? What a stupid question, of course there is !!! These are the owners of veterinary pharmacies and pet shops - the summer season brings them good income. It's getting warmer every day. The first mother-and-stepmother broke through. Crows celebrated weddings and build nests. Cats rushed in search of love and adventure. Sitting at work when there is such grace on the street becomes completely unbearable! However, not only lovely birds and animals are revived in the spring, but small, but very insidious monsters are also activated.

Flea season is coming. And it will last until September (if summer and autumn are cool and short, and we wouldn't want that!), Or even until November. And for the unfortunate people living on the first floors of houses with damp warm basements, the flea season lasts all year round! Ticks started hunting season for the company with fleas. These bloodsuckers sit in the thick grass and on the branches of bushes, stretching out their raking legs in lust. Many of us believe that fleas and ticks are not too serious an enemy for our pets. Mosquitoes bite us every summer - and nothing! Well, the dog will scratch a little. But in vain … These little annoying creatures can cause considerable harm.

First, of course, fleas bite, causing considerable disturbance to the animal. In addition to the fact that the bitten sufferer is tormented, the owners are not happy when the sounds of scratching, nibbling and moaning are heard from the pet's bedding at midnight. Ticks are less bothersome for the animal, but they can also irritate the skin.

Secondly, with a very strong infestation, flea bites cause severe inflammation of the skin, followed by inoculation of the coccal flora. This is not far from pyoderma - purulent inflammation of the skin. Ticks in this respect are more "delicate", but if you accidentally pluck a tick, leaving the head in the skin, then an abscess may develop in this place. Thirdly, in especially severe cases, blood loss is so great that anemia (anemia) develops. Of course, this is rare, but an animal with a weakened immune system or a sick one can be completely covered with annoying vampires. Once in the clinic, I personally saw a cat with such cold and pale mucous membranes, which are only with severe blood loss (ruptured liver, bleeding from the femoral artery, etc.). The reason is fleas. A rare case, but nevertheless … And, for example,in pasture animals this is more common - with a massive attack of ticks, there is even a special term - "tick-borne thinness". Fourthly, some types of ticks carry the causative agent of a dangerous disease - piroplasmosis, caused by protozoa, which severely affects the liver and kidneys, and fleas are intermediate hosts of the flatworm - cucumber tapeworm. In our latitudes, it is quite cold, therefore, pyroplasmosis is extremely rare in our country, but Muscovites moan from it (not to mention more southern latitudes). A bunch of flea-worms also does not promise joy and health, therefore, after getting rid of fleas, it is imperative to conduct a course of anthelmintic drugs.some types of ticks carry the causative agent of a dangerous disease - piroplasmosis, caused by protozoa, which severely affects the liver and kidneys, and fleas are intermediate hosts of the flatworm - cucumber tapeworm. In our latitudes, it is quite cold, therefore, pyroplasmosis is extremely rare in our country, but Muscovites moan from it (not to mention more southern latitudes). A bunch of flea-worms also does not promise joy and health, therefore, after getting rid of fleas, it is imperative to conduct a course of anthelmintic drugs.some types of ticks carry the causative agent of a dangerous disease - piroplasmosis, caused by protozoa, which severely affects the liver and kidneys, and fleas are intermediate hosts of the flatworm - cucumber tapeworm. In our latitudes, it is quite cold, therefore, pyroplasmosis is extremely rare in our country, but Muscovites moan from it (not to mention more southern latitudes). A bunch of flea-worms also does not promise joy and health, therefore, after getting rid of fleas, it is imperative to conduct a course of anthelmintic drugs. A bunch of flea-worms also does not promise joy and health, therefore, after getting rid of fleas, it is imperative to conduct a course of anthelmintic drugs. A bunch of flea-worms also does not promise joy and health, therefore, after getting rid of fleas, it is imperative to conduct a course of anthelmintic drugs.

Fifth, some types of fleas and ticks can carry human pathogens: plague, tularemia, rickettsioses and others. Fleas do not care who they bite - basement rats, our dogs or ourselves, so theoretically, through a flea cat that came from the basement, there is a chance (albeit minimal) to become infected with anything.

Well, how? Are you convinced that you have to fight with these "dear" guests?

So how to get rid of these vile creatures? In order to better understand this, you need to know more about their lifestyle.

Ticks that attack our dogs are also called grazing or forest ticks. Indeed, they do not live in houses, and the risk of meeting the parasite is much higher in the country or in a forest park than at home or in the yard. The tick development cycle goes through several stages, but in all, except for the stage of the egg, they are hungry, and they feed only on blood. Hungry larvae, nymphs and adults are able to starve for several months, winter calmly, are perfectly adapted to parasitizing precisely those animals that live in this natural zone, therefore, it is not possible to destroy ticks in nature. But it is possible to develop methods of protection, because, as you know, whoever is forewarned is armed.

More difficult with fleas. Contrary to popular belief, fleas don't spend much time on an animal. Females of fleas, arriving at apartments on horseback, a cat (or even on our trousers), lay their eggs in the crevices of the floor and furniture, in a word, where dust accumulates. There, the larvae hatch and live until they turn into an adult. The larvae do not bite; their food is organic dust particles. Adult fleas attack animals, but they can also feed on human blood (if we treated the dog, but did not kill the fleas on the floor), and also starve for a long time. From this it follows that fleas must be fought in two ways: with adults on the animal and with eggs and larvae indoors.

Many drugs have been developed to kill parasites on animals

The tick has an umbrella-like proboscis. The proboscis is inserted into the skin when folded. And then it opens up. If you pull the tick by the abdomen, the head will come off and the proboscis will remain in the skin. It, of course, can be removed like a common splinter, but there are better ways. A sucked tick can be smeared near its head with lean or machine oil - this will disrupt its breathing, it will relax its "grip". It is even better to use special anti-mite (acaricidal) drugs: Decor-1, Amit, Tsipam and others.

For the destruction of adult fleas on the body of an animal, there are more drugs: these are drops on the withers (they kill fleas and protect against repeated attacks for another 1 month: Advantage and Advantiks, Hartz, Bars, Irbis and others, but there are also "long-playing" - Frontline - for three months), sprays (Bolfo, Hartz, Bars and others - they kill fleas protect for another 1-4 weeks, Frontline - up to 3 months), shampoos (Bolfo, Bim, Bagheera, Delix, Doctor Zoo and many more), powders, like domestic and imported.

Drops on the withers are perhaps the most convenient and popular method of dealing with fleas. They should be applied directly to the skin, carefully separating the coat. The pipette should be held strictly vertically, since the dose of the drug is small (from 0.4 ml, measure with a syringe, how small it is) and may remain on the walls of the pipette. When choosing a drug, consider the type and weight of the animal. Many preparations are poisonous only for invertebrates and are completely harmless to warm-blooded animals, but usually drops are nevertheless specially made bitter. If you want to play it safe, drip them in places inaccessible for licking. If you have several animals, isolate them from each other for half an hour. Please note that the drops quickly spread over the thinnest layer of sebum and are absorbed into the sebaceous glands, so you cannot wash the animal 2-3 days before and 2-3 days after treatment. The absorbed drug cannot be removed, therefore, if your pet is allergic, weakened, etc. - consult your doctor.

Sprays and powders are convenient because they are easy to treat both the animal and the floor. However, the protective period of their action is usually short (there are exceptions) and some animals are afraid of the spray sounds.

Shampoos relieve the animal of both fleas and the pollution caused by them (from flea poop, in other words), but require the subsequent application of a collar or drops on the withers.

It is best to use drugs to prevent infestation by fleas and ticks, without waiting for the attack of parasites. These include the above-mentioned drops, sprays and powders (attention: some work only against fleas or the duration of protection against ticks is shorter than against fleas), as well as collars (Bolfo, Kiltiks, Beafar, Seva, Antiparasit and others). Collars work from 3 to 7 months after opening the package. The collar is convenient because it does not need to be changed for a long time, but not every animal should wear a collar according to it. In addition, if you already have fleas, you must first wash your pet with a flea shampoo. Collars are undesirable for those working dogs that can catch on something (for example, burrowing dogs or dogs of the Ministry of Emergency Situations looking for people in the rubble). Collars have another important use. As I was told by a policeman I know, before raids on basements, shelters and the like, they buy anti-flea dog collars and put them like bracelets on their sleeves and trousers.

Before use, you should carefully study the instructions, since some drugs are contraindicated for patients, pregnant animals, kittens and puppies. When working with antiparasitic drugs, you should protect your eyes and ears (both your own and the animal), and also refrain from cigarettes, food and drink (in other words: do not put your hands in your mouth!).

To destroy eggs and flea larvae on the floor and furniture, you can use sprays, shampoos, special ampouled concentrates. The latter are diluted with water according to the instructions and either added to the water when washing the floor, or sprayed with a spray bottle (more efficiently and economically), however, they must be used with caution in treating animals due to their toxicity. The processing of the premises must be carried out 2-3 times with an interval of 3-4 days.

In addition to the above, fleas do not like fresh shavings of conifers and wormwood. They can be used as a deterrent in the country. A mixture of equal parts of 3% vinegar, camphor alcohol and any floral cologne has a good effect. If there is nothing at all on hand, you can treat the animal with this mixture and place it in a plastic bag (HEAD OUT) for a few minutes. Then carefully comb the pet over the bathtub or basin of water. Pour water with stunned fleas down the drain. However, it should be remembered that these folk remedies have only a deterrent effect, and if there are already fleas, they help badly.

I wish that the coming summer will pass calmly with you, which largely depends on you!

Dear Readers! I apologize: in the last issue in my article, I made an unfortunate mistake. Of course, to terminate pregnancy in dogs on days 3 and 5 after mating, you should use the drug MESALIN, and the COVINAN that I mistakenly mentioned is used in the inter-flow period to prevent the onset of sexual heat in cats and dogs.