When owning a furry friend, such as a dog or a cat, flea and tick prevention is an important aspect that anyone can provide for their pet.  It’s important to protect your pet by applying the prevention on them once a month. This prevention can be found at a local veterinary office.  That is the best way to prevent flea infestations in a household.  Especially around this time of year as the weather decides to get colder.  Fleas are looking for a warm place to live.  In that case, a feline or canine is their best bet.  Not only are they able to keep warm, the fleas are able to feed off of the animal resulting in significant blood loss of the host (which would be the dog or cat).  With a bad infestation, the animal can become severely anemic that would require veterinary attention.  In some cases, the prognosis is not good.  Also, animals can develop hair loss from the constant itching from being attacked by fleas.  This condition is called Flea Allergy Dermatitis.  When fleas hop onto an animal, it injects the host with their saliva which many dogs and cats have an allergy to.

If a flea infestation occurs, its important to treat the animal first before the house.  If an individual treats the house first, the animal is still bringing fleas in the house since that’s what the fleas are living off of.  Once the animal is treated, then the house can be treated.  By doing this, all the furniture and carpets have to be vacuumed (since fleas are most likely to hide their too) and a flea bomb, or spray has to be purchased.  Some local animal hospitals have a spray that can be used to terminate the fleas in the household.  When using a spray or a flea bomb, the house needs to be evacuated for a few hours, depending on what product the individual uses.  Once the method is performed, the house would need to be vacuumed again to make sure the fleas are gone.

So instead of making everything a big process, it’s easier to just apply the prevention once a month.  The prevention also kills ticks as well, depending on which one is purchased.  Some ticks carry diseases, such as Lymes disease, which can result in many issues as well.  The preventions that are sold at animal hospitals are more effective when preventing fleas and ticks.  It is recommended to purchase the prevention from there rather than a pet store, such as Petco or a grocery store.  This is a good start to making sure your pets has a safe and healthy life.