Like many pet ailments, the best offense is a good defense. All of your furry family members should be treated year-round with flea and tick control products. These can be prescription or over-the-counter, and often require application every 30 days.
How frequently should I treat my dog for fleas? is a question that veterinarians are frequently asked. The answer is highly dependent on the product you use. Though it’s a common misconception among pet owners, fleas aren’t always seasonal and can pose a year-round risk. Because of this, adding regular flea prevention for your dog or cat to the kitchen calendar is a good idea.
It can be difficult to decide which flea treatment is best for your ideal dog – topicals, sprays, collars, or pills – because they all function differently and for varying lengths of time.
The product you select will determine how frequently you need to apply an effective flea treatment. Here is a helpful overview to assist you in selecting the most practical treatment for your dog and your way of life.
The first step to rid your dog of any fleas feeding on your best friend is frequently to give him a bath with a potent flea shampoo. It’s a great idea to act quickly and relieve your dog’s discomfort from itchy bites and flea allergies by washing those fleas out of its fur.
Knowing that you can’t rely on flea shampoo alone to get rid of fleas on your pet because these products don’t provide residual activity is important because flea shampoos can be labor-intensive. This means that the shampoo doesn’t offer long-term flea protection; rather, it only kills fleas as you shampoo them out of your dog’s fur. Once your dog is dry, any fleas nearby can easily board once they have dried off.
In addition to shampooing, treating your pet with a long-lasting substance breaks the flea life cycle, providing greater protection.
Your dog will be directly exposed to flea sprays, but they must be animal-specific. Never use a household flea spray on your pet. Pet flea sprays are effective at killing fleas, but they may need to be reapplied every few days to few weeks.
In order for flea pills to work in your dog’s bloodstream and kill fleas, they must be consumed by your dog. This means that fleas must bite your dog in order to be exposed to the active ingredient. Depending on the item, you may need to give them to your pet more frequently.
Despite the fact that pills can kill fleas, your pet is still getting bitten Some dogs’ reactions to flea saliva result in flea allergy dermatitis, which is an itchy skin condition. Your pet may suffer from hair loss as a result of this.
Additionally, tapeworms, an internal parasite carried by fleas, can infect dogs and cats if they are ingested, for instance, during flea grooming. In addition to being debilitating, tapeworms can cause nutritional deficiencies and weight loss. Because of this, it’s crucial for pet owners to consistently apply both flea and deworming treatments.
Simple applications of topical flea treatments to your pet’s neck prevent them from picking up fleas.
Some topical medications, such as Advantage®II flea treatment, function by spreading the active ingredient throughout your dog’s body through the hair and skin, killing fleas upon contact. This lowers the chance of your pet developing a skin allergy because the treatment doesn’t require a bite to be effective.
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Even though fleas and ticks are a year-round threat to pets, they are most active in the spring and summer, beginning as early as March in some parts of the United States. To find out when and where your pets are most at risk for fleas and ticks, locate your state on the map here. Prevention is always the best strategy.
Fleas & Ticks Pose More Than Just a Nuisance
Ticks are blood-sucking parasites that attach themselves to both people and animals, according to the Merck Veterinary Manual. Once attached to a host, ticks feed voraciously. Ticks have the capacity to spread a variety of diseases as they feed. These comprise ehrlichiosis (a bacterial infection), Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, and Lyme disease. Ticks can also cause anemia and skin wounds that could result in bacterial infections.
More than 200 different flea species affect dogs, and they can spread illness, result in tapeworm infections, and cause anemia. Some dogs are extremely allergic to fleabites and experience severe allergic reactions like hives, hair loss, and itchy, red, and scabby skin.
Unfortunately, despite popular belief, fleas and ticks are not at all safe for dogs after the first frost. Some tick species, including those that transmit Lyme disease, can continue to be active throughout the fall and winter.
Most of the fleas found on dogs and cats are Ctenocephalides felis, also known as cat fleas. Fleas require blood from an animal host to be able to live and reproduce. They don’t have wings, so they can’t fly. However, they are serious jumpers with the ability to jump 100 to 200 times their size.
Fleas have four developmental stages: egg, larvae, pupa, and adult. Flea pupae, the stage before adult fleas emerge, have the ability to remain in their tiny cocoons nestled in your couch or rug until the weather gets warm or they find a host when it’s cold or there isn’t a host in sight.
A single adult female flea begins to lay eggs the day after ingesting blood for the first time. She can lay up to 50 eggs per day and 2,000 over the course of her lifetime. Thus, an infestation on your dog and in your home can develop quickly, necessitating an expensive and time-consuming extermination process.
Ticks, unlike fleas, don’t need to live on their host. They live in grassy and wooded areas and prefer a humid environment. Then when your dog walks by, they attach themselves to him. The Centers for Disease Control recommends clearing tall grass and brush from your yard to make it less attractive to ticks.
Tick geographic distribution is expanding as a result of climate change, deforestation, and altered deer, bird, and rodent migration patterns. Ticks are found almost everywhere in the United States, including some urban areas, and throughout much of the rest of the world.
In the winter, some tick species can survive, especially in above-freezing temperatures. For instance, the Lyme disease-carrying Blacklegged tick starts its prime feeding season around the first frost. This type of tick lives on the warm body of its host until it drops off and attaches itself to your dog because deer are the main host of the blacklegged tick and are active in the fall and early winter.
How often should I treat my puppy for fleas?
Puppies under eight weeks of age typically remain inside and encounter fleas infrequently. It’s crucial to treat against fleas any other animals that come into contact with your puppy during this time. Before treating a dog that is nursing her puppies, consult your veterinarian.
Give your puppy a flea preventative when it first goes outside. If you are unsure which treatment to use for your pet’s flea infestation, your veterinarian can help. All flea products specify a minimum age for use.
FAQ
Do dogs need flea and tick every month?
The most effective way to prevent and ward off fleas is to keep your dog on flea and tick medication throughout the entire year. The majority of preventative drugs, both topical and oral, must be used on a monthly basis to remain effective.
How often do you apply flea treatment to dogs?
Regular application is the best defense against fleas and ticks for your dog. This indicates that you should reapply most topicals at least every 30 days. The best time of day to treat your pet depends on the situation. However, you should wait at least 48 hours before or after using this product to wash or bathe your dog.
Should dogs Take flea and tick medicine all year?
Today, it’s common to hear people say, “I don’t give my pet flea and tick prevention in the winter there is no need, since it is so cold,” but this is incorrect. This is a myth that is still believed today.
What months do dogs need flea and tick medicine?
Even though fleas and ticks are a year-round threat to pets, they are most active in the spring and summer, beginning as early as March in some parts of the United States. To find out when and where your pets are most at risk for fleas and ticks, locate your state on the map here.