How to treat dog and cat fleas and ticks?

If you have a pet, say a dog or cat, then you are almost most likely to face flea/tick infestation issue one or the other time in your life. In this article, our aim will be to explore various solutions to this problem.

It’s absolutely essential to check up your pets for any parasite – ticks and fleas being the most common ones and easily visible externally. They not only cause discomfort to pets by their biting, but they are also vectors of some very serious diseases. They may even bite humans and cause some zoonotic diseases in us.

Differences between Fleas and Ticks

• Ticks have 6-8 legs and are arachnids (a class of joint-legged invertebrate animals). A flea is wingless and can jump with its 6 legs.

• A tick can feed on different hosts, whereas a flea normally stays on one host throughout its life.

• A female flea may lay 1000-1200 eggs in her lifespan, while a female tick may lay 8000-10000 eggs.

But before you start applying the solutions listed in this article, you should ensure whether your pet is actually infested with fleas and ticks, or not. And if it is so, then how bad is it?

Table of Contents

• How to find if our pet is infested with fleas or ticks?
• Home remedies for fleas and ticks

How to find if our pet is infested with fleas or ticks?

Well. It’s not that difficult to know if your pet is infested with fleas and/or ticks.

• Fleas and ticks are visible to naked eyes. Just inspect your pet’s skin hiding behind his fur and you will get to know. Or you may comb him and see if some fleas/ticks get caught in it.
• However, it’s easier to spot fleas/ticks, but not their eggs or larvae, as they are microscopic in size.

Note

You are more likely to find fleas in the following areas of your pet’s body:

• Head and Neck
• Belly
• Tail Area

• You may also see dust like reddish-brown faeces of fleas (called flea dirt), if your pet is infested with fleas. It’s a tell-tale sign that your pet is infested with fleas. Again, combing your pet will catch some of the fleas and their faeces. It’s the easiest way to identify this problem.

Now, it’s always the best to practice to prevent flea/tick infestation through following proper hygienic practices, but even then, it’s almost certain that you will have to face this problem, especially if you have pets.

So, tighten your belts and put on your gloves.

Home remedies for fleas and ticks

Now, let’s see how to get rid of dog or cat fleas/ticks, or in fact fleas/ticks in general.

Getting rid of fleas and ticks in pets

If you wanted a dog/cat, but instead he’s behaving more like a chimp, scratching all over his body, then it’s time to clean up the mess.

• Bathe your pet regularly, with regular shampoo/soap or medical shampoo made specifically for this purpose. Simplest solutions are often the most effective. However, make sure it does not get into his eyes or inside his body. Make sure you wait for 5-6 minutes before rinsing off the soap. Also, make sure to wash their neck first. This creates a barrier of sorts and prevents the fleas from climbing up towards their head, once you start washing their body.
• You or some expert may manually scan the skin and fur of your pet and pick out the fleas and ticks manually, using a tick-removal tool-kit (I use a Tweezer from my tenth-class biology kit, which I still have with me!). Just make sure to use a tool that is painless for your pet. Do not use a tool with sharp tip or edges, as your pet may jump a bit while you are pulling out its ticks and it may end up hurting him. Also, hold the tick close to its mouth while applying mild pressure, just enough for it to leave its hold on from the skin of your pet. If you will put a lot of pressure on a tick, say near its belly, then it may inject a lot of its saliva and other ingredients into your pet’s body. It may prove hazardous. Make sure you kill the tick by putting it in a soap or alcoholic solution. Do not kill it by crushing it on the floor, as a female tick or flea may have hundreds of eggs in its belly and they may spread on to the floor. As these eggs are microscopic, you probably won’t even be able to see them with your naked eyes.
• You may apply some herbal oil on your pet’s skin, e.g. Neem oil (Azadirachta indica oil). Ticks, fleas and insects in general are repelled by oil. Neem oil also has mild antibiotic properties. So, it will also help in treating any allergy and skin rash caused by tick bites. However, you should dilute neem oil with water. Just 2-3 drops in half a litre of water will be enough. Or you may use neem leaves and soak them in a bowl of water overnight. Use that water thereafter.
• If situation is severe, you should take your pet to a vet and get him some anti-flea and anti-tick shots.
• Give extra attention to your own personal hygiene too just to be on the safer side. Always wash your hands after playing with your pets and before eating your food.

Getting rid of fleas and ticks in your house

Just disinfesting our pets from fleas and ticks is only half the work done. These parasites and their eggs/larvae are often spread throughout our house – beneath our carpet, under the sofa cushions, in our lawn, and especially in areas where our pets spend most of their time.

So, next step would be to disinfest our house too. Otherwise, your pets will face this problem again and again.

• Do regular cleaning of your house, do vacuuming, may even use disinfectants. Clean your lawn, cut out the low hanging branches of trees in your yard, etc. Pay special attention to the areas where your pets like to hang out a lot. Chances are that you will find a lot of fleas and their larvae there. Throw away the trash in a sealed plastic trash bag. If possible, burn the trash.
• You may use some soft toxins for this purpose, such as vinegar or kerosene oil. Mix them with water to dilute them a bit. You may also apply it on your pet’s skin, especially where infestation has occurred. However, if he’s uncomfortable further dilute the solution. Do not apply it near his eyes.
• However, vinegar or kerosene oil may stink up your house. So, you may use lemon water instead. You may cut up a few lemons and soak them in a jar of water. After a few hours, spray that water in areas of flea infestation. Fleas, ticks and insects in general abhor lemon smell. In fact, it’s true for most citrus fruits – so you may also use fruits such as oranges.
• You may also use rosemary for this purpose. Grind it into fine powder and sprinkle it around your house. It’s more of a preventive step. It will avoid future flea infestations, though it won’t be of much help if your pets and house is already infested with fleas and ticks.
• You may also use flea traps in your house. Fleas are attracted to light (especially yellow light) in the dark. You may place a bowl filled with soap water under that light. You will soon find fleas committing suicide in that soap-water bowl. Though this will only kill the fleas that can move and not their larvae.

Many more methods!

There are many more methods that you may try out to solve the flea/tick crisis. The list given above is in no manner exhaustive. For example:

• Mixture of Baking Soda and Salt

• Cedar chips to repel fleas

• Diatomaceous Earth (DE)

• Chamomile – Just prepare a Chamomile tea and rub it on you pet’s skin. It’s also effective in controlling proliferation of their eggs.

• Sulphur or Boric Acid – If you are using it, then make sure you use gloves, and cover your eyes, nose and mouth with some protective gear while applying it. It may prove hazardous to young pets. So, avoid its use if you have young pets or small kids in your house. Its smell is also not pleasant.

All of the above solutions will definitely help you mitigate the flea/tick crisis in your home. Though do not expect an overnight miracle. Fleas and ticks can be pretty sturdy and resilient and always make a comeback after some time.

Cost of getting a pet in your house is constant vigilance!

Warning

If you are using some medication for resolving the flea/tick issue in your pets, then always consult a vet. Do not use cat medication on dog, or vice-versa.

Cats and dogs have different physiologies and medicines may affect them differently. Using wrong medication in this manner may even prove fatal.