Winter is at its peak in the country and it is that time of the year when pet owners think that their pets do not need fleas & tick protection. This is absolutely false. In fact during the dormant stages of winter, these pesky parasites try to find a warm place like near the heaters to populate. When your doggy or feline friend are inside the house enjoying the warmth these parasites lay eggs on them thereby making their eggs fall in the vicinity of the house.
Remember fleas and ticks can even be harmful for human beings and so even you are not safe from these pesky parasites. So what needs to be done to eradicate this problem? The very first thing that you can do is to understand how these parasites transfer diseases to pets and human beings.
Fleas have the tendency to jump or crawl from one host to another while ticks play the waiting game for their potential meal to walk by. These parasites transfer deadly diseases on pets and human beings by feeding on their blood. This results in transfer of bacteria amongst hosts. There are certain diseases that are passed through bites while others result due to the transmission of flea feces.
Some of the prominent flea-borne diseases that pets and human beings can catch include:
- Typhus
- Plaque
- Cat Scratch fever
- Tapeworms
Tick-borne diseases are spread when the ticks feed on different array of hosts including dogs, cats, mice and lizards. Each tick has a different disease attached to it. Lyme disease is one of the most harmful tick-borne disease but ticks are also well-known to carry other bacteria that can result in Lyme-like infections.
Some of the other prominent tick-borne disease includes:
- Tularemia
- Typhus
- Ehrlichiosis
- Anaplasmosis
- Babesiosis
- Colorado Tick Fever
- Rocky Mountain spotted fever
The peculiar thing about ticks is that there are certain ticks that carry more than one type of bacteria while others might not carry any at all.
How to control Fleas and Ticks?
It is very important to keep fleas and ticks away from your family and pets. You can commence this ordeal by some common-sense cleaning practices:
- Reduce the growth of the grass in your lawn to reduce the tick population in the house
- Wooden chips should be placed between wooded area and your yard so that there is no tick migration
- Clean the area where the pets and kids spend time outside
- It is essential to vacuum the house frequently to get rid of fleas that might be hiding in the house
- Regularly bath your dog to ensure that they do not bring these pesky parasites inside the house
If still you find that the fleas & ticks are winning the battle then it is time to take help from pest control services that can stop the fleas & tick infestation and ensure that your family and pet are protected from the harmful effects of fleas & ticks.
