Ticks and fleas are not just a nuisance – they are a major cause of disease and death in dogs.
Ticks and fleas are commonly overlooked by dog parents. Vets often provide solutions to problems like infestation of the dog, frequently overlooking best practices to keep dogs free of ticks and fleas.
Ticks cause tick fever. Tick fever is a silent killer – there are no overt symptoms. It is often detected when there is weight loss or loss of appetite. By the time the platelet count has fallen to a critical level, death may occur. Fleas, on the other hand, do not cause fatal disease but flea bites are very painful. Some dogs respond with an allergic reaction (called flea allergic dermatitis) causing widespread inflammation of the skin surface and lesions because of a scratching and biting response from the dog. Repeated biting causes the dog to ingest a large amount of flea eggs. They hatch in the stomach and become worms. The dog will at this stage stop eating and become anemic.
Ways to address ticks and fleas
Treatment of tick and/or flea infestation.
- Using a high-quality tick and flea shampoo. While a lotion to kill ticks and fleas can be applied, direct shampooing kills 100% of the ticks and fleas and most importantly washes off the eggs that are hidden on the skin and sometimes in hair follicles. Shampoos prevent the return of eggs in this way. The recommended product is the VOSD Dog Care tick and flea shampoo which is made of the highest quality ingredients and is a proven highly effective product.
- Using a high quality ‘adulticide’ spray or lotion. Adulticides will kill ticks and fleas on contact. Their toxicity is low because they contact anesthetic agents. For large animals and adult humans, they will numb the skin and the effect wears off after while but in the case of ticks, the drug numbs the entire animal causing respiration and other essential functions to fail and the tick/flea dies. VOSD creates top of the line Fipronil™ based lotion. Not only is the product highly effective but it comes in lotion form – and not a spray as do ALL other products. Spray causes a lot of loss from the aerosol action of using the spray and a large portion of the product wets the hair/fur and not the skin where the parasites live. The recommended product is VOSD Dog Care tick and flea lotion. You will use only 20-30% of the product as compared to any other product. And a special formulation wipes off the grime from the hair and leaves hair soft and flowing.
Prevention of recurrence of ticks and fleas on the dog
- Use VOSD SpotOn™ or another long term prevention. There are 2 kinds of products. Most cheaper products use only an adulticide such a Fipronil™ or Amitraz™ in a concentrated oil base. The product is applied to the skin and spreads over the skin over weeks killing ticks including the ones that have just hatched. These products will provide up to a month of protection. More advanced products use 2 ingredients – the other one is called an Insect Growth Regulator or IGR. The way that IGRs work is they are hormones and they disrupt the molting cycle of the insect so the eggs hatch but they can’t become adults. While few SpotOns in India use IGR the ones that do use S-Methoprene. However, VOSD Dog Care SpotOn™ use Novaluron™ as the IGR. This is the only such product in India and provides long-term protection with no toxicity to dogs. VOSD Dog Care SpotOn™ including Fipronil™ & Novaluron™ as the IGR can be bought here.
- Use Neem Oil as a preventive. Neem Oil has been used traditionally in India for its strong insecticidal action. It works well for short haired dogs when massaged on the skin and has the added advantage of keeping the skin hydrated and can be used in the case of small abrasions cuts etc. VOSD Dog Care Organic Neem Oil including can be bought here.
Keeping the outdoors and indoors tick and flea free
- If there is a heavy infestation on the dog the ticks will gorge themselves on blood, fall off the dog and lay eggs in walls and crevices. Where they will hatch and re-infect the dog. This can be prevented one of 2 products (1) this is a concentrate and is diluted for use as a spray on surfaces where ticks and fleas would be present. VOSD Dog Care Deltamethrin™ based concentrate can be bought here. (2) a more advanced option is an outdoor spray with IGR as described earlier. VOSD Dog Care outdoor spray with Novaluron™ as the IGR can be bought here.
Next steps
- Personalized expert advice for your dog: You can get an in-depth understanding of causes, and treatments of tick born, flea born and various other diseases by checking the VOSD Expert Advice™ system. You can describe symptoms if something is not available in the expert system and you will get a personalized response.
- Buy the best dog care products out there: VOSD Dog Care is the only comprehensive set of products that allow you to treat light, medium or heavy tick and flea infestation in a safe and secure way for any dog breed or age. As well as prevent infestation and treat the surrounding area to break the infestation cycle. VOSD Dog Care products can be bought here and ship across India.
