Posts tagged "flea and tick control"

As spring arrives, balmy weather and blooming nature will lure pets and their owners into the great outdoors. But the season also brings unwanted guests: fleas, ticks and other pests.

While there are differing points of view on the best and safest choices for protecting your pets, if you want to go the all-natural route, there are many options to consider. To welcome in the warmer months, our friends at Zootoo rounded up some of their favorite all-natural flea and tick products to help your pets stay pest free all season.

A potent spray with a mild, pleasing scent, the Herbal Protection Spray from Dr. Harvey's helps prevent pests from making a home in your dog's fur, bedding or apparel. The mild formula features an all-natural ingredient list that includes neem and citronella oils -- common components of nonchemical flea and tick products -- as well as witch hazel and cedarwood oil, both natural astringents.


Featuring a sporty design and a comfortable fit, the Natural Fly Repellant Dog Collar from Fly Free Zone is a powerful, convenient weapon in the war against fleas and ticks -- as well as flies and mosquitoes. The collar's primary component is citronella, which seems to work as effectively in dog collars as it does in outdoor candles. And our tester dog showed no signs of discomfort from the collar's adjustable, sturdy construction.

April showers bring flowers for sniffing, long walks in the neighborhood and afternoon naps on the lawns. But before you let your pet leap into spring, make sure you're keeping your dogs and cats safe from these seasonal health hazards:

1. Watch Out for Poisonous Flowers
Tulip, hyacinth and daffodil bulbs can damage a dog's mouth and esophagus, causing drooling, vomiting, severe diarrhea or even abnormal heart rhythms, depending on the amount consumed. So be sure to keep bulbs out of reach before planting says Justine Lee, an emergency critical care veterinary specialist and Associate Director of Veterinary Services at the Minneapolis-based Pet Poison Helpline.

When planting, place the bulbs in deeply, surround them with plenty of mulch and then supervise your dog when it's outside to make sure it's not digging them up, Lee advises. Once the flowers are out and have bloomed, they generally don't pose a threat, as it's the bulb that's the most poisonous.

Also be very careful with lilies. Just a couple of leaves from certain lilies, like the day, Asiatic and Japanese varieties, can cause severe kidney failure in cats, according to Lee who said she dug up all the lilies in her yard in case her cat ever gets outside. "My own sister's cat died from it," Lee tells Paw Nation "Cats will always chew on plants. They're just curious and want to try something different. But one or two leaves will kill them."

2. Be Careful With Common Fertilizers
How you treat your yard is very important, as even organic supplements can be toxic to your pet.

Blood and bone meal are popular organic fertilizers, and dogs love the taste of these meat-based products. But ingesting blood meal can cause vomiting, diarrhea and severe pancreatic inflammation, while bone meal can create a cement-like ball in the dog's stomach, potentially forming an obstruction in the gastrointestinal tract and requiring surgery to remove.

Troubled by a huge spike in the number of dogs and cats that reported health-related incidents after being treated with "spot-on" pesticide-based flea and tick control products, the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced last year that it would be "intensifying" its evaluation of such products offered by various companies. This week, the EPA announced that it had concluded its study and published its findings in a report.

The verdict? Spot-on pesticide-based flea and tick control products are safe to use, concludes the EPA, but need better labeling so that the products are not misused by consumers. The products will also be subject to further testing. (It is called "spot-on" flea and tick treatment because they are applied directly onto the pet's skin, typically between the shoulder blades once a month.)

"Immediately, EPA will begin reviewing labels to determine which ones need stronger and clearer labeling statements," the agency stated on its Web site. "Next, EPA will develop more stringent testing and evaluation requirements for both existing and new products. EPA expects these steps will help prevent adverse reactions." ABC News reports that "one warning expected to be on new labels: keep cats away from dogs that have just been recently treated with a spot-on product. There is a worry the cat might lick the dog's fur."

Those adverse reactions among dogs and cats, acknowledges the EPA in its published report, include "vomiting, diarrhea, salivation, itching, hair loss, skin ulceration, lethargy, nervousness, ataxia, terrors, seizure," and in the most severe cases, death. (In 2008, there were 44,263 such reported incidents, compared to 28,895 incidents in 2007, reports the Associated Press, including 600 deaths.) "Most incidents were classified minor," states the EPA report, "but all products had deaths and major incidents."