We all love our pets. They’re part of the family, right? We post about them on Facebook, feed them at the same time we sit down to eat, and take them about anywhere they can go. One thing we probably don’t do well enough is to keep them healthy. We make sure we’re doing fine, but our pets? We seem to forget that fleas and ticks love our pets with all their super soft fur. You probably let your dog out several times a day, and your cat, even if it’s an indoor cat, sneaks out a good bit. Pets love the outdoors, so let’s see what we can do to help them.
Build a Fence
Wild animals are covered in fleas. Everything from raccoons to stray cats carry the tiny insects, so letting your dog out into the same area increases the likelihood of your pet getting a flea infestation. Building a fence won’t completely prevent stray and wild animals from getting into your yard, but it will do wonders for keeping them, and their bugs, away from your pets.
Clean Up Your Yard
Ticks are known for hiding in untamed plants, so make sure you keep your yard in pristine condition. Mow your lawn, trim your bushes, and remove your leaf piles. By keeping your yard clean, your pets can roam around your yard without you having to worry about where the ticks are hiding.
Flea Traps
A flea trap is a great way to catch any fleas that still manage to get into your yard after you’ve fenced it off and cleaned it up. Flea traps function in much the same way that a fly trap would. Fill a dish with soapy water, leave a light just over the surface of the water overnight, and bam! The fleas will get pulled in by the light and get caught in the water. You can also find indoor flea traps that work similarly for cheap.
Check Your Pets
Regularly checking your pets will stop a tick and flea infestation before it gets out of hand. If your cat sneaks out, give him a quick check. Because dogs have to go out, try to check them multiple times a week. This is a great time to give them a good brushing — just check your pet as you brush!
Prevention
Fleas and ticks, even fully grown, are tiny. The fully-grown insects take a lot of work to find, but they’re children are even more difficult to find. They can produce thousands of children at a time, and those tick and flea children take weeks until they are fully grown. You need to treat your pet with flea and tick control products before they have a problem, because flea and tick children are very difficult to find and kill.
Shampoo
If you know your pet has fleas or ticks on her, buy some specific shampoo for either fleas or ticks. Be sure to use it frequently enough to kill the fleas and ticks on your pet. They need consistency to kill the bugs, so make sure you wash your pet with the bug-killing shampoo multiple times a month.
