When you bring a pet into the family, whether it is a dog or a cat, you take on not only lots of love but also some real responsibility. Your pet needs you to protect him or her from all sorts of dangers. There are certain bugs that can just be irritating to your furry friend, but others can carry diseases or illnesses that can pose serious risks to your pet.
Here are three of the more common pests that can cause harm to your pet.
1) Fleas
Fleas are some of the smaller insects that can harm your pets. They live in shady areas with tall grass just waiting for an animal to come by to serve as a host. While they don’t have wings, they can jump very high and fast onto a passing pet. Once they decide to live on your dog or cat, they will begin to bite and lay eggs at a rapid rate.
In order to protect your pet against fleas, it is critical that you start them on a flea prevention medication. These types of medicines are usually given to your pet once a month and come in either an ingestible treat or as a topical ointment that you need to apply to the skin. You should also make sure that your yard is free of fleas by having it treated by any number of trusted pest control companies.
2) Ticks
Another pest that feasts on the blood of a host is the tick. These can be particularly harmful as they can be carriers of some serious diseases like Lyme disease that can actually infect you and your family as well. Similarly to fleas, ticks live outdoors, particularly areas that your pets are like to wander to. They like to inhabit trees and tall grassy areas and will attach to your dog or cat as they wander by.
Once a tick bites into the skin of your pet, they can be tough to remove. If you find one on either yourself or your pet, take care to remove it carefully as its mouthparts can stay intact even if you remove the abdomen. Make sure to remove the entire tick so that you eliminate any further risk of infection.
3) Fire Ants
You might think that the only harm posed by fire ants would be some irritating and itchy bites. While this is generally true if your pet suffers from a couple of bites from these potent pests, some dogs and cats can have a severe allergic reaction to fire ant bites. If your pet is on the smaller side and encounters a large colony of fire ants, they can suffer greatly from multiple bites.
Inspect your yard thoroughly to see if you have a colony of fire ants anywhere. If you find that your pets has any fire ant bites, watch them carefully so that you can catch any allergic reaction that may start to occur.
