Flea and Tick season is coming, are you prepared? Don’t worry if not, we are here to help! Here is a nifty guide on how to spot, treat and prevent fleas and ticks to live a blissful itch-free life.

Step 1: Get informed!

Know your enemy – you gotta know who you’re up against! Here are some skin-crawling facts about our unwelcomed guests:

• Fleas can live for as long as 12 months.
• Tick infestations are more common in dogs than cats.
• Fleas can produce millions of flea babies.
• Fleas can jump up to two feet high.

Step 2: Learn the symptoms.

For fleas, scratching can be an indicator, but a good test is to stand your pet over some white paper. Give them a thorough rub and examine the particles that collect on the paper below. Flea droppings will look like tiny brown or black pellets.

Tick bites can be often harmless, but it’s important to know what to look out for. Infection and Lyme disease can happen the longer a tick is attached to your dog’s skin. A small, but firm lump is an indicative of a tick. Fever, reduced appetite, seizures and paralysis are also common symptoms when it comes to tick bites.

Step 3: Treat the bites.

Flea Treatment:

To apply the spot-on treatment for fleas, remove the collar and part the fur slightly, so that you’re able to squeeze the assigned dosage onto the skin at the back of your pet’s neck. The spot-on treatment will generally kill fleas within 24 hours. We would suggest using Frontline for this.

Tick Treatment:

For ticks, spread your dog’s fur, then grasp the tick as close to the skin as possible. Very gently, pull straight upward, in a slow, steady motion. This will prevent the tick’s mouth from breaking off and remaining embedded in the skin.

Step 4: Prevent!

Don’t forget to treat all the pets in your household or the fleas will just be passed from one pet to the other. Your house can also carry fleas if there has been an infestation, so it’s vital that you treat your home too.

Wash all pet bedding (and your own if they’re allowed on the furniture) and get your hands on a household flea spray such as Virbac Indorex Defence Household Flea Spray– so effective that it keeps killing fleas for up to 12 months after application.

To prevent fleas hopping onto your pet, regularly groom your pet so you can spot any early signs of an infestation. Hoover and wash your pet’s bedding often and treat your pet with monthly flea treatments. Shop our flea and tick treatments for dogs and cats now.