There is no way that your dog doesn't come in contact with ticks and fleas, especially in spring and summer when you and your pets have increased exposure to the surroundings. Fleas and ticks are a real nuisance for dogs, as they cause serious health issues and must be avoided to maintain the health and wellness of your dog.
You cannot just stop the flea and tick infestation; therefore, prevention and treatment is the only option you have to keep these nasty parasites away from your pets. These parasites not only affect your dogs but can also cause rashes on family members as they can shift easily to humans. Even the best dog breeds get infected by the fleas, which lay eggs and spread before you can even control them.
Fighting against these common and somewhat mysterious infestations becomes quite a task, as it takes a lot of time to completely get rid of them. Being a dog owner, if you ever had the experience of removing ticks from the folds of your dog, you know how irritating and frustrating it actually is, and you definitely know the worth of preventive measures.
This blog will discuss some of the top treatments to get rid of fleas and ticks from your pets. There are a plethora of treatments that promise to get rid of the nasty parasites, but we all know that not all of them work on every dog. Trying out different over-the-counter treatments can also be quite irritating; however, we have enlisted some of the best and trusted treatments you can use for almost all breeds of the best family dogs to protect your dog and your family against these parasites.
Spot-On Tick and Flea Treatments
Spot-on treatments are good for getting rid of fleas and are simply easy to use. You just have to separate your dog's hair and apply the pipette's contents directly to the skin of your dog. The active chemicals in the treatment start working by spreading on the skin within 24 hours. A good spot-on treatment starts working in the first 24 hours of application and kills all the fleas by the next 24 hours, getting rid of the parasites in an interval of just 48 hours.
The spot-on treatment leaves its effects for one whole month, so you can apply it once every month to keep your dog free of fleas and ticks. It is not only easy to use, but the quick reaction time of the chemical makes the parasites go away in no time. Just make sure that you don't pet your doggo in the meantime.
Household Spray for Dog Flea Treatment
One reason you might not get rid of the fleas entirely from your dog is because they don't live on dogs only; they can infest your carpets, bedding and other areas by laying eggs. Once these eggs hatch, the life cycle of the fleas starts again, and this never-ending cycle doesn't allow you to get rid of them completely.
Therefore, you need to spray your house with a flea treatment spray, and not just your dog, to get rid of these parasites completely. There are effective household sprays for fleas on the market, which give you complete protection from fleas for 12 months. The spray works by demolishing and ending the life cycle of the fleas forever. This spray is not used on the pet but only for your household; it can be sprayed on carpets, beddings, etc.
Dog Flea and Tick Collars
A dog flea and tick collar is a collar made out of plastic with the parasite-killing chemical on it; it is to be worn around the neck of your pet and aims to kill the parasites and prevent them from laying and hatching more eggs. It has a very strong smell which kills the parasites; when the smell fades out, it's time to change the collar because it loses its function when the smell fades away.
The working span of this collar varies for different brands and usually lasts up to four months at max. The collar is easy to put around the neck of your pet and the length can be adjusted by cutting off the extra collar. You can use the extra collar to kill the fleas in cushions, carpets and bedding.
Dog Shampoos
Although there is not a special shampoo that directly aims at killing fleas and ticks, there are suitable options that claim to have anti-fungal and anti-parasitic properties. The shampoos can be used to wash the dogs and help kill fleas as well as wash away their eggs. They are soothing in nature and calm the irritated skin of dogs that have fleas or other parasitic infestations.
You can also add anti-parasitic shampoo with other flea treatments to calm your dog's irritated skin. The shampoo also makes the coat shinier and silkier, making your dog look healthy and fresh.
Dog Flea Treatment Tablets
Spot-on and tropical treatments are not the only options when targeting parasitic infestations in your pets; you can also opt for chewable tablets. They have a fast-acting chemical called Nitenpyram, which targets the fleas and is capable of killing them in just half an hour.
This chemical treatment is very effective and super fast, and dog parents reported that they saw fleas falling off their dogs' skin in a short span of just an hour. The effect of a single flea treatment tablet lasts for a day. It is an incredible option to quickly get rid of the fleas and ticks from your pets; however, it is not a complete treatment as it does not target the fleas' eggs; and, therefore, doesn't demolish the cycle.
Up to You!
Fleas and ticks are nasty parasites that can bring harmful effects to the health of your pets. You cannot get rid of them in one go; the process needs persistence and patience; however, with consistency, you can get rid of them. Delivering different treatments at the same time is a great way of targeting the flea at different parts of its lifecycle and hence gives positive results.
