Flea and Tick Season Is Here!

BY: Laurie Brzostowski, President, Snaggle Foot Dog Walks and Pet Care-Round Lake, IL

This blog post is just a reminder that Flea and Tick season is now upon us.  Fleas and Ticks can cause severe illness to your whole family so make sure you and your pets are protected.

Flea bites can cause skin disorders, infections and allergies, and spread tapeworms. And bacteria spread from infected tick bites can cause Lyme disease, a bacterial infection that can affect humans, dogs and cats.

Lyme disease is characterized by lameness, swollen joints and fever. Ticks carrying Lyme disease don’t discriminate, so it is imperative to take a proactive stance in protecting not only your pet, but your family from this debilitating disease.

The following are some steps to take to help protect your family and your pet from Fleas and Ticks:

• Treat Your Pet: The first step is to apply a preventative treatment on your dog and/or cat such as Frontline or Advantix. If you are not sure about the type of treatment to use, please contact your veterinarian immediately.  The sooner you protect your pet the better.

• Treat Your Home:  Washing pet bedding, vacuuming carpets and treating with household insecticide sprays, powders and foggers are good first steps to ridding your home of fleas and preventing infestations. Make sure you use a spray that’s pet friendly and designed to reach the hiding places of fleas -- rugs, carpets, drapes and upholstery.

• Treat Your Yard: Your yard should be a safe zone for pets to play, not a place to pick up parasites. Ticks, which are usually dark brown or black, have pincers and can be spotted by the naked eye. Fleas are tiny, brown insects and can be difficult to spot.  Spray your yard and around the foundation of your home to kill flea populations.  Make sure you spray while your pets and family members are not around as some of these sprays are toxic.

• How to Remove a Tick: 
• 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, an iodine scrub, or soap and water.

Keeping your pets and family healthy is priority number one.  Make sure you take proactive steps in keeping everyone safe !