Flea And Tick Prevention In Pets
AnimalCare 
Jul 2, 2016 
AnimalCare, NGOs 
0 comments
| Tweet |  |
The article on flea and tick prevention is here.
Another important caveat: fleas are not typically attracted to healthy pets. They’re typically drawn to the weakest animals they can find, first, so one of the best defenses against flea infestations is to feed your pet a balanced, species-appropriate fresh-food diet that will help keep his immune system functioning optimally.
In addition to diet, remove the environmental factors that can negatively impact your pet’s immune system including:
Poor water quality: make sure to provide fluoride- and chlorine-free drinking water
Too many vaccines: demand your vet check protection levels prior to giving more vaccines (called a titer test). Vaccinating unnecessary doesn’t build your pet’s immune system, it destroys it.
Toxic household chemical load: eliminate non-organic pet beds sprayed withPBDEs (flame retardants) that disrupt your pet’s endocrine system and toxic household cleaners that end up inside your pet.
Yard chemicals: eliminate pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers around your home that negatively impact your pet’s immunologic health
EMFs: provide your pet with a safe zone that’s free from toxic levels ofelectromagnetic fields from electrical devices in the home.
What is Flea Allergy Dermatitis:
Fleas and ticks are very different pests, each with their own set of risks. Fleas, which are related to ants and beetles, feed on blood and their bites can lead to irritation and skin allergies.
Flea allergy dermatitis (FAD), which is actually sensitivity (allergy) to flea saliva, is a very common condition in dogs. It’s not the bite of the flea that causes most of the itching in dogs with FAD, it’s the saliva. The saliva causes irritation way out of proportion to the actual number of fleas on the pup.
Lots of dog parents assume if their pet isn’t infested with fleas, the itching can’t be caused by fleas. But if your dog has FAD, the saliva of just one or two fleas can make him miserably itchy and uncomfortable for many weeks, even after the fleas are gone.
The article on five tick-borne diseases which may be fatal to cats, is here.
Another potentially deadly tick-borne disease in cats is haemobartonellosis, also known as feline infectious anemia or feline hemotropic mycoplasmosis. This illness is more common than either cytauxzoonosis or tularemia, and it attacks the red blood cells that carry oxygen throughout a cat’s body.
Haemobartonellosis in cats is usually caused by Mycoplasma haemofelis, formerly known as Haemobartonella felis, which belongs to a group of microorganisms called mycoplasma that live inside red blood cells.
Ticks and also fleas become infected with mycoplasma by feeding on an infected animal, and then they infect a cat when they attach to it. The mycoplasma can also be passed from an infected to a non-infected animal by a blood transfusion. Mother cats can infect their offspring through transplacental transmission. The disease can also be transmitted through cat bites.
Hemobartonellosis in cats can range from very mild and asymptomatic, to a slight anemia, to severe disease. Symptoms can include depression, loss of appetite, and dehydration. If the anemia is profound, it can cause pale mucous membranes (white gums), weakness, weight loss, accelerated heart and respiration rates, jaundice, and death, which is unfortunately a common sudden symptom.
Kitties with feline leukemia (FeLV) are more likely to have a severe form of haemobartonella infection. If your kitty is positive for haemobartonellosis, I recommend also checking for feline leukemia.
Antibiotics are typically given for three weeks to cats dealing with this infection. In kitties with a rapidly progressing form of the disease, hospitalization will be required, as well as a blood transfusion.
When left untreated, some kitties will die from a haemobartonella infection. Others recover, but can become carriers of the organism, causing the disease to recur when their bodies become stressed.
It’s important to note that haemobartonellosis is an entirely different disease than feline bartonellosis, which is confusing because they sound very similar.
Prevention:
Think Twice Before Opting for Chemical Preventives
I strongly discourage pet owners from automatically applying harsh chemical agents to repel or kill pests. The use of spot-on products may cause skin irritation, paralysis, seizures and even death if used improperly, and there are superior natural alternatives that are far safer.
In addition, ticks may be resistant to pesticides, which means your dog may still be exposed to tick-borne diseases even if you use chemical preventives.
Every year I see canine patients who have been given monthly doses of pesticides for years, yet turn up positive for tick-borne illness, including many dogs with Lyme disease that have been vaccinated against it. If, however, you choose to use these chemicals, follow these precautions:
1.Be very careful to follow dosing directions on the label, and if your pet is at the low end of a dosage range use the next lowest dosage. Be extremely cautious with small dogs, and do not under any circumstances apply dog product to your cat.
2.Don’t depend exclusively on chemical treatments. Rotate natural preventives with chemical ones including diatomaceous earth, pet-friendly essential oil products and natural deterrent collars. An every-other-month rotation works well for many pet owners. In many parts of the country owners find they can successfully control ticks with two doses a year: one in the spring and one in the late summer.
3.Monitor your pet for adverse reactions after you apply a chemical product — especially when using one for the first time.
4.Since your pet’s liver will be tasked with processing the chemicals that make it into the bloodstream, it can be very beneficial to give your dog or cat a supplement to help detoxify her liver. I recommend milk thistle, which is a detox agent and also helps to actually regenerate liver cells.
You can get milk thistle at any health food store. Work with your vet on how much to give your pet depending on her age, weight and the medications she’s taking. I recommend one dose daily for seven days following any flea, tick or heartworm application.
5.Another product I recommend is chlorella, a super green food that is a very powerful detox agent. Your holistic vet should also advise you about how much chlorella to give your pet depending on her toxin load.
Make Your Home and Yard Inhospitable to Fleas and Ticks
One of the key strategies to controlling fleas and ticks involves making your home and yard less hospitable to such pests. To do so:1
Vacuum your home often (carpets, floors, furniture, etc.) and empty the vacuum canister immediatelyWash bed linens, pet bedding and throw rugs frequentlyKeep your lawn mowed and clear brush, leaves, tall grass and weeds from your yard and areas your pet frequentsKeep stacked wood off the ground and away from your houseAfter the growing season, clear perennial plants and other brush from your gardenAdd beneficial nematodes to your yard
Source: https://myanimalcare.org/2016/07/02/flea-and-tick-prevention..
| Tweet |
|
Facebook Comments