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Pest Prevention for Pets
Your dog or cat can run but can’t hide from fleas, ticks and mosquitoes. Luckily, Pet Supplies Plus offers a wide selection of preventatives and treatments that can help protect your pets from fleas, ticks and mosquitoes. If you suspect your fur baby has a serious case of fleas or ticks, or have questions about what products to use, don’t hesitate to consult your veterinarian.
Meet the Pests
Fleas, ticks and mosquitoes are literally out for blood. More specifically, female fleas and mosquitoes depend on the protein and iron found in blood to help them reproduce. If you see tiny white grains on your pets, floor or even furniture, those could be flea eggs and (brace yourself) a flea can produce millions of offspring during its lifetime.
Meanwhile, ticks require blood meals to get them through their life cycles and will feed on a host for days. It’s during this feeding process when fleas and ticks transmit disease-causing pathogens into an animal. As for mosquitoes, they can inject tiny larvae into a pet’s bloodstream and after 3 to 4 months, the larvae could become adult worms in your pet’s heart and lungs. These are the worms that cause heartworm disease.
Fleas
You’ll find fleas living in shady, moist areas like shrubs, leaves and trees. Even though they’re wingless, these parasitic insects can jump up to 2 feet high.
Ticks
These parasitic arachnids can’t fly or jump, so they tend to live in tall brush, grass or shrubs where they can crawl up or onto a nearby dog, cat or even person.
Mosquitoes
Since mosquitoes lay their eggs in standing water, it’s important that you replace the water in your pet’s bowls frequently and drain any pet pools or splash pads.
Checking Your Pet
To find a pest, think like a pest. Carefully examine the warmer parts of your pet’s body as well as areas where pets have a hard time scratching or grooming themselves. These pests are attracted to carbon dioxide and can detect even trace amounts of this gas animals naturally exhale when breathing. Furthermore, they can use an animal’s body heat to find their next blood meal. Even staying indoors is no sure thing because these pests can be easily brought in from the outdoors.
Fleas
Lots of itchiness can mean fleas (many animals are allergic to flea saliva). With dogs, check out their abdomen, armpits, groin area and head. For cats, look around their neck and the base of their tail.
Ticks
Tick bites can go unnoticed because they usually don’t make pets itch. Look around your pet’s head, neck, ears and feet for tiny, dark spiders. Ticks can get up to 5 times their normal size after they feed.
Mosquito Bites
Licking or chewing areas of skin with small, red swellings are signs of a bite. Symptoms of heartworm disease (caused in part by mosquitoes) may not appear for at least 6 months, so get pets regularly tested.
The Dangers of Fleas, Ticks and Mosquitoes
In the science world, pests like fleas, ticks and mosquitoes are classified as “vectors.” That means they’re living organisms that carry diseases between animals and humans. Unfortunately, vectors can also carry infections via blood, spreading all kinds of serious illnesses. Fleas don’t infest humans because they prefer the dark and warm confines of fur; however, they still may bite you (thankfully flea bites are less lethal to people). Ticks aren’t as discriminating as fleas, so if you find ticks on your pets, you should check for ticks on your body as well.
Lyme Disease
If left untreated, this disease (transmitted mostly by deer ticks) can cause fatal damage to your pet’s kidneys, nervous system or heart.
Symptoms: fever, swollen lymph nodes and joints, reduced appetite.
Heartworm
This disease is caused by parasitic worms (spread by mosquitoes) and can lead to severe lung disease, heart failure, organ damage or worse.
Symptoms: coughing, fatigue, decreased appetite, weight loss.
West Nile
In most cases, the virus (spread by mosquitoes) leads to mild flu-like symptoms but can be debilitating or even fatal if it reaches the brain.
Symptoms: fever, depression, incoordination, muscle weakness.
Tick Paralysis
Caused often by the American dog tick and Rocky Mountain wood tick, this disease can lead to respiratory or heart failure if untreated.
Symptoms: weakness, limping, difficulty breathing & swallowing.
Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever
Transmitted by the American dog tick, Rocky Mountain wood tick and brown dog tick, this disease can damage muscles, nerves and organs.
Symptoms: fever, reduced appetite, depression, joint pain, vomiting.
Dog Fever
Most of the time, this disease (spread by deer ticks) results in mild flu-like symptoms; however, in some extreme cases, it can cause seizures.
Symptoms: fever, loss of appetite, stiff joints, lethargy.
Recommended Products & Medications
Fleas, ticks and mosquitoes are associated with spring and summer because they thrive in warm, humid climates; however, they can survive in milder temperatures too, so protect your pets year-round. Oral preventatives work by absorbing into your pet’s bloodstream and disrupting the pest’s nervous system as it feeds, causing the flea or tick to die. Other oral medications only go skin deep but still kill the pests. Topical preventatives either kill on contact or get absorbed through your pet’s skin, so the pest dies upon biting. Collars either repel or repel and kill. While preventatives are generally safe, different pets process medications differently. Talk with your veterinarian if you have any questions or concerns. You can also remove ticks by hand but do it properly. Touching tick blood can infect both you and your pet.
- Collars
Non-greasy and easy to use, collars can work up to 8 months. Choose from Seresto, Vetality, Vet’s Best and more. Available for dogs and cats.
Shop Now - Oral Treatments
Choose from Vetality, Capstar, CapAction and more. Dogs and cats should use products labeled for their species.
Shop Now - Topical Treatments
Pick from Frontline Plus, K9 Advantix, NextStar and more. Dogs should use products made for dogs and cats should use those labeled for cats.
Shop Now - Shampoos & Sprays
Kill fleas and ticks on contact with our selection of shampoos and sprays from Vet’s Best, Advantage, Vetality and more.
Shop Now - Home & Yard Treatments
Unleash these indoor foggers, spot sprays and outdoor treatments to not only repel and kill fleas and ticks but also repel mosquitoes.
Shop Now - Flea Combs & Brushes
Trap and remove fleas, flea eggs and flea “dirt” from your pet’s fur with these special fine-toothed combs and brushes.
Shop Now - De-Wormers
Give these oral medications to your dog to help them treat and control tapeworms, roundworms, hookworms and whipworms.
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