5 Reasons Why Your Dog Needs Flea and Tick Prevention in Oklahoma City, OK

Caring for your dog requires that you think of a lot of details. You need to make sure that they have the right food, that they get exercised every day, and that they are not going to be exposed to any unnecessary health risks. Flea and tick prevention is key to your dog’s health, and this is something that you cannot neglect, no matter how old your pet is or where you live in the country.

Flea and tick prevention is about more than protecting the health of your dog’s skin and coat. These kinds of infestations can impact all other aspects of your dog’s health, not just their skin. These pests can also communicate diseases to your dog, which you do not want to have happen.

1. Fleas and Ticks Cause Skin Problems

Fleas and ticks can both cause issues with skin rashes, infections, and even abscesses. There are many reasons that these pests can irritate the skin, both due to burrowing and due to their saliva and their bites. Pets might scratch at their skin and cause open wounds, hot spots, or bald areas as well. The skin irritation caused by these pests can be very uncomfortable to your pet, and it can threaten their overall well-being too.

Fleas and ticks often cause skin irritation from the very start of the infestation. This is often the first sign that your pet needs some flea and tick prevention to help them to feel better. These pests need your dog as a host so that they can reproduce and feed. This causes lots of skin irritation that will get worst over time if the infestation is not treated.

2. Fleas and Ticks Spread Disease

One of the things that not every pet owner knows is that fleas and ticks can spread disease. Beyond being a nuisance and causing potential skin issues, fleas and ticks might cause Lyme Disease, Anaplasmosis, Bartonellosis, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, Tapeworms, and Babesiosis. All these conditions should be avoided whether there is a treatment on offer for them or not. The longer that diseases go undetected, the more likely it is that your pet will have long-term health problems as well.

The other factor related to the presence of these diseases in your home is that some of them are zoonotic. This means that you and your family can catch these diseases from your pet. In addition, your family can also get fleas from your pet, which can be very unpleasant for everyone in the home.

3. Eradicating Fleas from Your Home Can be Hard

It can be difficult to get fleas out of your carpet, furniture, and other items. Flea bombs and other kinds of simple solutions might not take care of serious infestations. You could have to call someone in to use insecticides and get your home back to being pest free.

Moving you and your pets out of the home to have an exterminator come in can be really frustrating. It is much easier to avoid having an infestation in your home than it is to deal with one once it has become entrenched. Plus, the chemicals that are used to kill fleas are not ideal for you and your family to be exposed to.

4. To Keep Your Pet Comfortable

Fleas and ticks can cause a lot of discomfort in pets. If your dog has even a mild case of fleas, it might be uncomfortable enough that they will not sleep well or be able to relax during the day, either. Keeping pets happy and healthy is usually the goal of all pet owners, and fleas and ticks can greatly interfere with your dog’s comfort.

Keeping your pet feeling their best is easier when you use the right flea and tick prevention. Your pet will thank you for looking out for their health, and they will be happier if they are not itchy, sore, or sick from secondary problems related to the infestation that they have contracted.

5. Protection for Other Pets in the Home

If you have more than one pet, fleas and ticks can impact the other animals in the home. Having one pet with an infestation can lead to all the pets in your home suffering from the same infestation. This is one of the reasons that prevention is key for those with more than one pet. There is nothing worse than trying to exterminate pests in more than one pet at a time. Plus, the likelihood of your home being infested too is much higher if you have many pets with fleas and ticks.

If you do find out that one of your pets has fleas or ticks, take them all to the veterinarian to be examined. All the pets in your home will need to be treated, and your home will need to be thoroughly cleaned as well. If you do not treat the various sources of pests, you will continuously reinfect your pet population, making it hard to get rid of these pests.

Fleas and Ticks Need to be Prevented

Preventing fleas and ticks is always the best route to take when it comes to pet care. It is much harder to tackle the problem of fleas and ticks once your dog has them. Between cleaning your home of pests and keeping other pets in the home pest free, you will find that flea and tick prevention is just easier overall. Keeping pets on the right flea and tick prevention is much better for their health, and it is also much better for the health of your family.

Fleas and ticks can carry diseases, and they can also make your pet feel sick. Flea and tick prevention is affordable and simple to manage. Keeping your dog on the right flea and tick prevention is a simple and effective way to safeguard your pet’s health for the long term.

If you have questions about flea and tick prevention give Hefner Road Animal Hospital a call at (405) 773–5557!