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With so many varieties of flea medication on the market, it's hard knowing which one is the most effective for the best cost. When I'm looking at flea medicine for my pets, I focus on safety, effectiveness, and cost. I'm going to some of the guess work out of choosing by outlining some key factors to consider when choosing flea and tick control for your dogs.
Not All Flea Medicines are Created Equally
Spot-on flea treatments are going to be more effective than a flea shampoo. This is because spot-on treatments absorb into the skin of your dog and kill fleas and ticks when they bite. Did you hear about the scare in 2009 concerning flea medication? The Environmental Protection Agency released a report focused on animals becoming ill from flea medication. The report brought along better product labeling and dosing sizes. The result is safer flea medication for your furry pals with better regulation by the FDA.
Natural Products Enter the Market
If there weren't enough choices in the eradication of fleas already, they have come out with natural flea medication as well. This is certainly a safer bet, but not always as effective at getting rid of fleas. Remember, we are dealing with a pest that has been around since the Jurassic Era. However, when used in combination with other methods of flea prevention, these natural medicines can be effective.
Bling collar, Try K'ling Collar
The flea collar. If it worked for our parents, it should work for us. Not necessarily. Flea collars keep fleas away...from the neck of your animal. So, if you want to keep fleas away from more than just the head of your dog, it may not be the best choice. Lets leave flea collars in the past.
I'll have a Number 7
When dealing with fleas, the experts have come to agree that it's a combination of treatments to stop fleas from reproducing and kill them where they live. Fleas spend about two thirds of their life living away from a host (your dog or cat). This means that treating your animal will not help get rid of a flea infestation in your home. Lets talk about the winning combination.
Pet, home, and yard. Here are the steps to take to ensure that you remove any trace of fleas from your home and pets.
1. Wash your pet. It doesn't necessarily have to be a flea and tick shampoo. You are just removing as many fleas from your pet as possible to provide the best results for step number 2.
2. Treat your animal with a spot-on medication. Could be Advantage, Frontline, or a natural medication. Your choice! Save the empty applicator, you'll need it for step 3.
3. Treat your carpet and wash all linens. I highly recommend treating the carpet with a flea powder. Remember, the fleas spend a large part of their life away from a host. Take the empty applicator from step number 2 and throw it inside your vacuum bag or canister. This will kill any surviving fleas that get sucked up from the carpet.
4. Treat your yard. Natural insect and flea repellents are available to put in the outside perimeter of your home so that your furry pet doesn't pick up any unwelcome hitch hikers.
Get the Fleas Before they Get You!
We've covered the basics on choosing the best flea tick control for dogs. I will be providing more tutorials on everything related to the destruction of fleas so that your pet is happy and healthy.
Thanks for reading!
I recommend Revolution for cats and dogs! It is wonderful! There is nothing like it out there! You don't have to do anything else but use the Revolution on your animals. EXCEPT vacuum all furniture and bedding about 2 or 3 times during the following week after application of the Revolution on your pet!
This came in handy! I'm going to take this advice and use it on my landlord's dog because he never gets her treated and not only is his dog suffering, so is my cat! The fleas go from the dog to the cat and then of course they come to the carpet and then it's a nightmare. I hate bombing the house with flea bombs, hopefully after this I won't have to do it so often during the hot seasons.
I saw this article on the front page of SA this morning. Congrats! Not sure how long the articles stay there, but I did a screen capture in case you need something for your scrapbook. :-)
Great article, buddy. This is way too coincidental as I was just discussing how I was having a flea issue with my dogs. (We must be on the same wave length). I used Frontline for years but two years ago, the fleas seemed to grow resistant to the medicine, and it became ineffective. So last summer and this, I am using a product called Comfortis. It is an oral medication that also works for about 30 days. The veterinarian told me eventually the fleas will adapt to this product as well. As far as the baths, many groomers use Dawn dish washing liquid to rid the animal of fleas before they groom them. The Dawn brand seems to work better than other varieties. The fleas die off in the thousands! You did teach me about the vacuum cleaner trick. I never considered that. Thanks for the information. I am now going to follow you in Street Articles.
Great first article, Jared. You mixed an upbeat style with some spice and humor, and that kept the piece moving nicely. You might've actually been able to crank out two articles with the subject matter covered here (flea medications, other methods for removing fleas), but as you pointed out, both avenues need to be addressed for complete and efficient flea control. Congratulations on your first SA triumph! :-)
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