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Straight Up Facts On Fleas, Ticks, Heartworm And Kennel Cough

28 12:14:32
Most popular these days are the spot-on treatments such as Frontline, Advantage, Revolution and Bio-Spot. These brands of pet flea treatments all provide a month of guaranteed protection.

Advantage flea treatment kills fleas very quickly. The active ingredient, imidaloprid, acts as a nerve agent that fries their entire nervous system. Ninety eight to a hundred percent of the fleas on the animal die within 12 hours of application.

Frontline and Advantage brand flea killers work nearly instantaneously and keep working for a long time. Your pet should not be a victim of fleas when relief is readily available. The best solution is to pick a good flea medication for your dog.

External parasites that live off of the blood of mammals, reptiles, and birds are often referred to as mites and ticks. While there are 5 species of ticks in North America, the America dog tick is the most widely known.

Now for the scary stuff: Ticks are only second to mosquitoes in transmitting diseases to humans. Ticks can transmit diseases such as Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, equine encephalitis, and ehrlichiosis. Additionally, they are responsible for transmitting livestock and pet diseases.

Another type of mite living in the Rocky Mountains is the wood tick. Tick treatments for dogs include tick collars and flea & tick shampoos. In order for tick control to be effective during tick season, ticks should be checked for and removed completely if found. Part of the tick may be left in the wound, if you are not careful, thus increasing the likelihood of infection.

Unlike diseases passed by ticks, heartworm is transmitted by mosquitoes, and the larva then live in the bloodstream of the animal bitten by the mosquito. The parasites go through several stages before becoming adults. Once adult, the heart worms travel to the heart to live off the blood supply. Symptoms such as coughing and difficulty breathing may ensure, and the end result is heart failure.

No owner would like to see their pet die of this terrible parasitic disease, fortunately treatment is available if the disease is caught early enough. Interceptor for dogs is one such treatment, which also tackles hookworms and ascarid infections.

Kennel cough is yet another a common ailment for dogs. This is a form of bronchitis which can hit dogs hard, and readily spreads from one animal to another when many canines are held together in the same facility. However, the infection can be treated with proper use of antibiotics, and it can even be prevented with vaccinating for canine adenovirus, distemper, parainfluenza, and bordetella.