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Facts About Fleas and Ticks

Updated: Jun 28, 2022

When the weather gets warm, you need to guard against pests that can harm your pets. Here are some common questions we get concerning fleas and ticks.


Why Is Flea and Tick Prevention Important?

Contrary to what many pet owners believe, protecting dogs and cats from parasites requires a year-round commitment. Although fleas, and ticks are known to thrive in warmer climates, they don’t disappear when the temperature drops.

Fleas

Fleas are the most common type of external parasite found on cats and dogs; fleas are more than just a seasonal annoyance. Even though fleas thrive primarily in humid environments above 70 degrees, they can survive near freezing temperatures and are not entirely inactive during winter.

Once the fleas are on your pet, they can multiply quickly. Remember that the adult fleas you see on your pet only account for a small percentage of the potential population in your home. More than 90% are still in the immature stages (eggs, larvae, and pupae) and pose a looming threat.

  • Did you know that fleas don’t fly, but the average flea can jump as far as 12 inches forward and 7 inches high.

  • One flea can bite your pet up to 400 times a day.

Keeping your pet on prevention throughout the year is the best way to protect your pet.

Ticks

Turns out, these tiny ticks are very resourceful. Rather than dying off in the winter they seek shelter am

ong fallen leaves in wooded areas they normally inhabit. At the first sign of milder weather they emerge in search of a meal. Some disease-carrying species of ticks may stay active as long as the climate remains above freezing and isn’t to icy or wet.

Ticks latch on to pets and people by burrowing into the skin, producing a glue-like substance to stay attached and feeding on their hosts blood for days. Without regular prevention, it can be hard to stop a tick from attaching to an animal. It’s important to know that your pet can encounter ticks outside the woods too. They can be found in trees, woodpiles, and under leaves. Since pets are low to the ground, ticks can attach to their fur quickly and crawl down to the skin, where they will attach.

In addition to Lyme disease, a variety of other tick-transmitted diseases ad infections could harm your pet. Regardless of whether you think your pet is likely to come in contact with these harmful pests, its crucial to provide year long protection.

  • Ticks are not insects they’re arachnids, related to spiders and scorpions.

  • Ticks crawl, they don’t jump, fly or drop from trees. That’s why pets are susceptible.

  • Some ticks inject a substance that acts like a local anesthetic, so your pet unwittingly provides a tick with dinner and a ride.

Flea and Tick Prevention can be purchased at our clinic or by visiting our online pharmacy. Please make sure you check out our specials page to see if we have any specials going on.






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