There are several reasons why you should make tick and flea medication a once a year practice.
You may be thinking as colder weather is approaching that you might not need flea and tick medication anymore.
He really doesn't need it when the weather turns colder.
Unfortunately,
flea are very tenacious and can infest homes quickly. Nearly all veterinarians universally recommend continuing treatment all year long.
Fleas and ticks survive the winter and long after the temperatures drop.
The image below shows the four phases in the flea life cycle.
Adult fleas lay eggs on your dog or cat or leave them in the surrounding
environment. Once the eggs hatch, the larvae continue to grow. They
don't need to be on your cat or dog to survive; in their larval stage,
they can live in cracks in the floorboards, among the fibers of your
carpet or nestled in your sofa cushions.
Larvae turn into pupae, which eventually emerge as
adult fleas.
These adults are what you're familiar with – black dots the
size of grains of pepper that you can see in your pet's fur.
Fleas actually spend most of their lives out in the
environment, not on your pet. Fleas feed on the blood of your dog or cat
by biting through the skin, causing itching and inflammatory reactions.
While extreme cold may kill adult fleas, fleas can survive temporary
dips in temperature. If temperatures warm up above freezing, that's
enough to thaw out the fleas and let them live to see another day. It
takes about 10 days of prolonged freezing temperatures to truly kill off
fleas.
As for ticks, they're as resilient to the cold as
fleas. Ticks hibernate under wet leaves on the forest floor during the
winter to avoid detection from hungry predators, and to keep warm and
moist. When temperatures plunge, they hunker down, allowing them to
withstand several days of freezing temperatures.
But as soon as the
temperatures warm above freezing, they climb the nearest branch or blade
of grass to find a host they can feed upon. If the next critter that
passes by is your dog or cat, flea and tick medication during the winter
will be your first and best line of defense.
Flea and tick medication protects your pet during all seasons
Most flea
and tick medication disrupts the life cycle of the insect in some way.
For example, some medications paralyze ticks so that they cannot feed.
They starve and drop off the host animal, unable to survive or
reproduce.
This prevents new ticks from breeding and kills the adult
ticks before they finish feeding on your pet.
Fleas
and ticks can and do wake up during the winter, and when they wake up,
they're hungry.
Why take a chance and leave your pet unprotected from
the voracious pests? Using flea and tick medications year-round can
prevent ugly infestations, diseases and more. In this case, an ounce of
prevention is indeed worth a pound (or more) of cure!
Invest in the right medication
There are a variety of different treatments to prevent fleas and ticks for an entire month, so discover which is best for your pet.
.
Frontline Plus Flea and Tick Control for Dogs and Puppies 8 weeks or older, 3-Doses
– This over-the-counter medication works in only 12 hours to kill ticks and fleas, as well as lice and mites. It’s also an easy-to-apply topical medication that’s waterproof and provides 30 days of protection.
K9 Advantix II Flea, Tick and Mosquito prevention 6 doses
– This medication doesn’t just protect against ticks, fleas and lice, but also mosquitoes, killing all within 12 hours of application. Advantix is safe for pooches older than 7 weeks and protects for a full 30 days.
Advantage II for Dogs 10 lbs and Under - 6 pack
– Advantage II protects from new fleas in two hours after it’s taken and kills all eggs, larvae and fleas after 12 hours. While Advantage doesn’t protect against ticks, it’s perfect for dogs who live in areas where lice are a far bigger issue.
