Sunday, April 23, 2006

How To Keep Your Dog Tick-Free?

Hi all,
Lets move on to an important topic today.
That is how to keep you Dog Tick-Free.

Dogs and in general all pets tend to spend more of their time outdoors. In case of dogs, it is very important to be careful about parasites, bugs and micro organisms that can harm them while they get their whiff of fresh air. Precautions are necessary to keep these dangers away.

One of these pests that can cause a lot of nuisance and damage are the ticks since they carry diseases. Avoiding the ticks is of prime importance than curing at a later stage.

Why Ticks?

Ticks tend to stick to warmer temperatures, CO2 and movement. Ticks do not transmit through the air. Their motion is limited to crawling. They transmit themselves by climbing up taller structures or plants and drop onto any living and moving human or animal.

The danger of diseases or kinds of diseases transmitted by ticks depends upon the country and culture, therefore the cure of after effects of ticks and ticks itself varies from country to country. The danger of having ticks on your dogs body begins once the tick bites.

The bite itself is painless and unfeeling but the place of bite might get infected in no time. Consulting a veterinarian is advisable for treatment which normally involves oral antibiotics.

If your pet dog is diseased due to a tick bite, there is a risk of infection spreading due to your dog salivation on or biting another pet. The most popular disease spread by a tick bite is the lyme disease but not the only one.

How to keep ticks away from your pet dog

The best way to avoid ticks is to avoid walking your dog in the midst of vegetation during tick season. Always keep the vegetation around your house trimmed. Certain preventive medication products are also available. More information can be gathered from your veterinarian about suitability of these to your dog in respect to age and area.

Do not use medications without consulting and proper instructions must be followed in using this kind of medication. Please remember that these medications are suited for a single class of pets only, meaning that tick prevention medication for dogs is for dogs only and should not be used on cats or any other pets.

Removing Ticks

When your dog comes back from outdoors make sure to check him carefully for ticks. They are normally found in warm areas, under the arms, in the ears, between the toes and in the folds of the skin.

If you find any, remove them safely. Do not touch the tick, use a alcohol swab, then pull it up slowly with tweezers. Make sure not to leave any parts of the tick sticking to your dog. If you are unsuccessful contact your vet.

Okie, that's all for this time round, folks.

See ya.

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