Fleas & Ticks

Home Fleas & Ticks

 

KNOW ABOUT FLEAS ON DOGS

Fleas are tiny insects. very tiny. It’s no wonder they’re hard to see and hard to detect in your home. Fleas are wingless, but they have an incredible jumping ability. With an 8-inch vertical leap, fleas can easily hop from ground level to ambush your pet. One flea can bite as much as 400 times a day, They cause itching. They drive your dog crazy. Fleas can be a serious frustration for your dog – and they can be a serious health hazard too.

Fleas need a relatively humid environment to flourish. Humidity lower than 50 percent and temperatures higher than 95 degrees Fahrenheit (35 degree celsius) will kill flea larvae. Even in the coldest areas of the country, it’s obvious not all fleas die when temperatures drop. Some fleas are crafty enough to find ways to stay warm, A sufficient number of eggs remain on the animals to keep the flea population alive until it can boom again in the warmer temperatures of spring. Other fleas find cozy areas in barns, garages and outdoor kennel bedding or under decks and around foundations to hide in and wait for warmer weather, or an unsuspecting animal, to arrive.

95% of a flea infestation is in your home as eggs, larvae & pupae, Only 5% is on your pet; the adult fleas. This means that to prevent and control flea infestations, both ‘on animal’ and environmental, Fleas are commonly found in carpets, on upholstered furniture, gardens or near pet bedding.

1 in 5 cats and 1 in 10 dogs having fleas according to the Bond et al. A survey of flea infestation in cats and dogs in the UK during 2005. Veterinary Record (2007) 160, pg 505-506. And fleas multiply fast. Just one female flea can lay 50 eggs a day; so it can take as little as 21 days for one flea to become 1,000.

Flea Life Cycle

The flea life cycle has 4 stages: egg, larva, pupa and adult flea. The entire cycle, from egg to adult flea, is complete in 12 – 22 days when temperature and humidity conditions are ideal, but more commonly takes 3 – 4 weeks.

Flea born diseases & Symptoms

These conditions can deprive your pet of energy, cause skin problems or adversely affect your pet’s health in a number of ways.

KNOW ABOUT TICKS ON DOGS

Ticks are external parasites, living by feeding on the blood of mammals, birds, and sometimes reptiles and amphibians.Ticks require blood meals to complete their complex life cycles. Ticks are scientifically classified as Arachnida (a classification that includes spiders). The fossil record suggests ticks have been around at least 90 million years. There are over 800 species of ticks throughout the world, Ticks do not jump, fly, or drop. They simply reach out with their legs and grab or crawl onto a host. Ticks attach to your pets by inserting their mouthparts into your pets skin. Many ticks also produce a sticky, gluelike substance that helps them to remain attached. After attaching to your pets, ticks begin feeding on your dog’s & cats blood. The places where ticks attach can become red and irritated.

43% of owners have seen a tick on their dog*. Tick numbers also appear to be changing, with many tick species being found over wider areas or in places not noted previously. Changes in climate and numbers of wildlife hosts play a role in tick numbers.

Whenever a pet goes outside, they could be at risk of picking up ticks. These parasites are found in both rural and suburban areas, such as parks, garden, woods, heaths and so on. Using a treatment that kills ticks before they can transmit disease to your pet gives your pet the most effective protection.

Ticks go through four life stages,

  • Egg
  • Six-legged larva
  • Eight-legged nymph
  • Adult

After hatching from the eggs, ticks must eat blood at each stage in order to move on to the next one. It can take up to 3 years to complete a full lifecycle, and most will die because they can’t find a host for their next feeding. Ticks can live for up to three years, depending on the climate and available hosts.

Some of the most common ticks includes

Black Legged Tick (deer tick) - Ixodes Scapularis

Ixodes Scapularis is commonly known as the deer tick or black-legged tick, It is a hard-bodied tick, Significantly smaller than the more commonly encountered dog tick, adult female deer ticks are about as big as a sesame seed and have reddish hind bodies with black dorsal markings. Males are slightly smaller than females and are solid dark brown.

American Dog Ticks (Dermacentor Variabilis)

This tick is brown with white or silver/gray markings on the scutum, which covers the entire dorsal surface on males and only a small portion of the dorsum on females. Festoons are present and palps (mouth parts) are short. The tick is similar in appearance to the Rocky Mountain Wood Tick.

Brown Dog Tick (Rhipicephalus Sanguineus)

This tick is reddish brown and inornate. Of the tick species listed here, this is the only tick that has hexagonal base mouthparts. Festoons (small plates on dorsal shell) are present on these ticks.

Lone Star Tick (Amblyomma Americanum)

Lone Star ticks are found mostly in woodlands with dense undergrowth and around animal resting areas. The larvae do not carry disease, but the nymphal and adult stages can transmit the pathogens causing Monocytic Ehrlichiosis, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever and 'Stari' borreliosis. Lone Star ticks are notorious pests, and all stages are aggressive human biters.

Most common tick-borne diseases & symptoms

How to remove a tick from your dogs & cats

  • Use fine-tipped tweezers to grasp the tick as close to the skin’s surface as possible.
  • Pull upward with steady, even pressure. Don’t twist or jerk the tick; this can cause the mouth-parts to break off and remain in the skin. If this happens, remove the mouth-parts with tweezers. If you are unable to remove the mouth easily with clean tweezers, leave it alone and let the skin heal.
  • After removing the tick, thoroughly clean the bite area and your hands with rubbing alcohol or soap and water.
  • Never crush a tick with your fingers. Dispose of a live tick by putting it in alcohol, placing it in a sealed bag/container, wrapping it tightly in tape, or flushing it down the toilet.
  • Use our Tickfree Brand Products to completed remove Fleas & Ticks within 30 minutes.

Flea & Ticks Protection Tips

Preventing Future Infestations