Most pets with fur can catch fleas or ticks. All it takes is one day outside or a single contact with other animals. It may be from the park or the countryside.
Below are a few tips and tricks on how to treat flea and tick infestation in your pets.
How do I prevent flea and ticks for my pet?
• Check your pets for Fleas and Ticks Regularly
Pets love to wander around and enjoy the air. Check your pets for fleas and ticks regularly. It’s important to catch it at the start.
Smaller breeds of dogs and cats are especially vulnerable. Take extra caution for these pets.
• Keep the Pet’s Bedding Clean
Washing and vacuuming the pet’s bed will help remove the eggs and larvae of the pests.
Experts recommend you vacuum every day, steam clean your carpet, and keep the pets indoors as much as possible.
• Use Preventive Shampoos, Collars, Sprays, and Spot-On Products
There are many products available on the market to prevent catching fleas or ticks. The best tool to buy is a flea comb. Comb your pet and kill the fleas and ticks in soapy water.
How do I create tick safe zones?
Here are some ways to rid your home of these pests that could give your pet the Lyme disease.
• Clear the Tall Grasses and Hedges Around the Home
These tall grasses and hedges are home to many pests. It’s best to get rid of them. If you can’t cut them all down once and for all, regularly trim them.
• Put a Barrier of Wood chips around the Play facilities
Barricade the play facilities with wood chips. The wood chip barrier prevents tick migration. It’s always best for your pet to play where there’s no fleas and ticks.
• Remove trash from the yard
Parasites love to hang out where it’s dirty. Remove trash from the yard and keep it clean. This extra step will reduce the number of places where a parasite can hide.
Do I need to check with a vet or can I just buy medicine?
See a vet and ask a lot of questions
If you know that your pet has fleas or ticks, it might be time to see a vet.
Different pets need their specific treatment, especially those who are older, sick, weak, or pregnant.
Instead of going to the pharmacy and guessing, a veterinarian will know best what to do.
• Use spot-on flea and tick treatments/ Medications
You can buy over the counter medicine for your pet. There are plenty available in the market. Read the labels in the packaging several times before using it on your pet.
Make sure you’re using it correctly. Some treatments can cause skin problems or worse problems if misused.
Flea and tick infestations are easy to handle. There are many things you can do on your own such as knowing basic prevention methods and over the counter treatments.
If you have any doubts, it is always best to consult a veterinarian.
How Our Pets Can Make Us Sick
Now we know everything there is about treating our pets for ticks and fleas, we also should be aware of how they can give us illnesses.
Our pets are like family members. We share our food, beds, and even gadgets with our cuddly companions.
But even members of the family can also transmit diseases and germs.
It doesn’t happen often that people catch illnesses from pets, yet there are still a few diseases that can pass from animal to people.
For protection from diseases of any kind, the CDC or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends washing our hands after pet contact or with handling pet food and stool.
Here are different pathogens or diseases we can get from our pets:
*The Flu
Felines can get infected with different flu viruses, including bird flu.
There is little risk of getting flu viruses from cats, but it still did happen in rare cases.
An outbreak of bird flu, a particular strain called H7N2, was reported among New York cat shelters in 2016.
A person became infected after unprotected and prolonged exposure to sick cats. The particular person had just mild symptoms.
The risk of getting the flu from cats is low.
*Salmonella
Salmonella can spread from pets to people, with turtles, most of all.
This kind of bacteria naturally occurs in turtles. People can get this by holding the turtle and touching the cages or tanks.
There were eight outbreaks of Salmonella from 2011 to 2013. It was found out that the cause came from handling pet turtles. The outbreak passed through forty-one states and affected 473 people.
Unfortunately, all turtles carry Salmonella, but turtles less than four inches long are especially high-risk of having the bacteria. The sale of turtles below four inches was banned in the US since 1975.
Salmonella causes salmonellosis, an illness from diarrhea that can last for a week.
Some severe cases occurred in some affected people and were hospitalized.
*The Plague
A bacteria called Yersinia pestis, also known as the plague, has been around for a long time.
Dogs are less susceptible to the disease than cats.
People can catch it by being scratched or bitten by an infected dog or cat.
People can catch it by breathing the droplets from the pet’s respiratory cavity.
From the year 1977 to 1998, twenty-three people living in the western part of the US were infected with the plague. They got it after getting exposed to infected cats.
Pets can indirectly spread the disease through their fleas. This parasite can pick up bacteria when they feed on other animals and spread it through flea bites.
*Hantavirus
This disease is a group of viruses that infect rodents.
The rodents spread it through their saliva, urine, and droppings.
Droplets can spread through the air if the rodents’ nest is moved or stirred up.
People become infected by breathing the contaminated air.
This virus is found typically in wild rodents.
Yet in 2017, eight people in Illinois and Wisconsin became infected with the virus while working in a laboratory that bred pet rats. All eight recovered, five didn’t show symptoms but tested positive.
*Rabies
It is a deadly disease spread by a virus and affects the central nervous system. It is passed from animal to human primarily from the saliva via biting.
In the 1960s, cases of humans infected by rabies were reported coming from domestic pets.
Thanks to scientific discoveries, rabies vaccinations for pets were made available.
Rabies in dogs was eliminated, and today ninety percent of animal rabies cases come from the wild.
Yet there are still reports of dogs and cats getting infected by rabies each year. It happened when pets weren’t vaccinated and infected by wild animals.
Rabies vaccines are available for ferrets, cats, and dogs.
*Leptospirosis
It is a disease caused by a bacteria called Leptospira. It can spread to animals as well as people.
However, it is rare in the US, and only about 200 reported cases each year of people getting infected by leptospirosis.
Pets are infected by wild animal contact or by drinking contaminated water.
People become infected by this bacteria if they come in contact with urine and stool of infected animals.
As a rule, people should wash their hands after holding anything that has the urine of pets on it.
A vaccine was also developed for pets against this disease, so if this happens, consult your veterinarian.
*Cat-Scratch Disease
Forty percent of cats carry this kind of bacteria. It is called Bartonella henselae or known better as the cat-scratch disease.
People can get infected by getting bitten or scratched by an infected cat. Or if the cat licks the wound of a person.
It induces fever, infection, poor appetite, exhaustion, and swollen lymph nodes. It can also affect the brain, heart, eyes, and other organs.
People should wash with soap and water immediately after being scratched or bitten.
*Capnocytophaga
It is a bacteria that can live in the mouth cavity of cats and dogs.
People can get infected through licks, bites, and scratches. People with the weak immune system are at risk.
Infected people will experience vomiting, headache, diarrhea, and muscle pain.
Severe cases can lead to death.
*Campylobacteriosis
It is an illness caused by a bacteria called Campylobacter.
This bacteria lives in the intestinal tract of warm-blooded animals, like chickens.
People become infected by eating raw poultry.
Dogs and cats can also be infected and can pass on to humans.
Washing of hands is the best prevention of this.
*Toxoplasma Gondii
Cats are the main spreader of this parasite.
People become infected through contact with urine and stool. It happens after cleaning the litter box.
It causes damage to the eyes, brain, and other organs.
Pregnant mothers that have this parasite can pass it to their unborn child.
Infected newborns can have severe eye and brain damage.
Some studies show that this parasite has a link to the development of psychotic and schizophrenic symptoms.
Being clean at all times will prevent the spread of this parasite.
