Flea and Tick Bites: Understanding How Your Pets Are Affected

Flea and tick bites are small annoyances that pose a big threat to the well-being of your pets and even your own family’s health. In a single 24-hour period, one flea may bite your dog or cat over 400 times. In the process, a female flea may bury hundreds of eggs in your pet’s fur.

Fleas and ticks can cause skin diseases and transmit tapeworms in pets. However, the potential ill effects extend far beyond just a constantly scratching dog or cat. Ticks may be carriers of diseases like Rocky Mountain spotted fever and Lyme’s disease, both of which threaten humans who receive flea or tick bites.

Once these pests are established in your house and yard, they can be hard to eradicate. The rapid reproduction and life cycle of fleas and ticks requires control methods that address the pet as well as the interior and exterior environment of the house.

Flea collars, sprays, powders, and dips have similar results, as does the new generation of spot-on treatments applied to a single spot, usually the neck, of the pet. Oral medications often produce good results in eliminating the primary infestation on the pet.

While treating the pet who received flea and tick bites may produce acceptable results when infestations are limited to the pet itself, fleas and ticks may be thriving in the house as well as in the landscape. Fleas can live year-round inside the sheltered atmosphere of a home, so regular vacuuming is important to remove adult fleas as well as eggs. Outside, fleas prefer shaded areas and occupy the ground beneath the overgrowth of weeds and brush. Keeping landscape areas well-trimmed deprives fleas of shelter from the sun.

Pest control professionals can design an eradication strategy for your house and yard, using chemicals that are safe around humans and pets. Control in the environment coordinated with vet-approved products to kill fleas and ticks on the pet at the same time usually yields the best results.

By the time you notice flea and tick bites occurring, you’ve already got an infestation problem. Contact Haggerty Services for safe effective treatments to eliminate fleas and ticks and prevent a recurrence.