|
|
Flea & Tick Control
- Control of these blood-sucking arthropods -
|
Summary: Fleas, but not ticks, can be managed with only minimal use of insecticides. However, to save time and effort most people will eventually opt for one of the new medications (insecticides) that controls both of these blood-sucking arthropods in one easy step. Use this article to make an informed decision about which flea and tick control method to use.
Jack DeAngelis, PhD
OSU Ext. Entomologist (ret.)
|
|
|
|
Flea control
 The most important thing to keep in mind is that both adult fleas and flea larvae (top photo, right) must be controlled at the same time. Flea larvae live in the animal's nest, or bedding, not on the animal and larvae do not bite. Adult fleas move between the host animal, where they bite and feed, and the animal's nest, or bedding, where the females lay eggs. Most of the time adult fleas are found on the animal. See our article about the flea life cycle for more information.
Tick control
Like fleas, ticks (bottom photo, right) feed on the blood of their host animal (mammals, birds and reptiles). Ticks hop onto their host animal to feed for awhile (1 to several days) then drop off to digest the meal. All stages require a blood meal in order to grow. See our articles about tick biology for more information.
The only way to effectively prevent tick bites is to treat the animal with an insecticide ("medication") that kills the tick when it tries to attach and feed. These insecticides can be delivered either by a flea and tick collar or an insecticide (medication) applied to the animal's skin (see below).
Minimal-insecticide flea control
You can control fleas, but not ticks, with very little insecticide if you are willing to spend the time and effort required. See this article for some suggestions.
|
|
|
|
flea larva. This stage lives in the animal's "nest" or bedding. Larvae do not bite but live on debris in the nest.
|
 |
|
tick (unfed). After feeding on blood from an animal host the body of this tick will swell to several times its original size.
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Simple flea & tick control
Most people, however, will eventually opt for some type of insecticide-based flea control because the other method requires so much time and effort. Insecticidal medications are somewhat more expensive but they do save time, and, for many people, time equals money. Also, these insecticides (flea collars or topical medications) are the only realistic option to prevent tick bites.
There are two different types of flea control medications. One type is applied as drops of liquid to the pet's skin between the shoulder blades. These are called "topical" or "spot-on" medications and some control ticks as well. The second type is given as a pill or chewable tablet. These are sometimes called "systemic" because once taken the medications are absorbed and circulate in the animal's blood. These oral medications typically do not control ticks.
|
|
|
Spot-on flea medications
Frontline Top Spot (tm) is our first choice for an all-purpose, topical flea and tick control medication.
Frontline Plus (tm) adds methoprene to the basic ingredient in Frontline Top Spot. We prefer to apply the methoprene as a separate application (here's why).
Advantage (tm) is our second choice for an all-purpose, topical flea control medication. Advantage does not control ticks.
Whichever medication you decide to use don't forget to also treat your pet's sleeping areas with methoprene for long-term flea control.
|
Caution: Do not use flea & tick medications that contain permethrin, or other pyrethroid insecticides, in households with cats.
Certain pyrethroid insecticides like permethrin are toxic to cats and should not be used around them. Check the label and avoid products whose active ingredient ends in "-thrin" such as permethrin or cyphenothrin if you have cats living in the house.
|
|
Other flea medications
Program (tm) is an oral (systemic) medication that acts as an insect growth regulator, preventing larval fleas from maturing into adult fleas. It is administered once a month. Program (tm) does not control adult fleas or ticks directly.
Capstar (tm) is an oral (systemic) medication that acts quickly to control adult fleas (not ticks) on dogs and cats. It is safe for young animals (see label) so might be used to quickly control a flea infestation in very young animals that cannot be treated by other means.
A number of lower-cost, spot-on products as well as K9 Advantix (tm) contain the active ingredient permethrin or some other pyrethroid type insecticide (see warning above). We do not recommend using these products because of the dangers they pose to cats that might come in contact with these insecticides.
|
Precautions with any new medication
Like any medication there is a small percentage of animals that will react badly to any of the flea and tick treatments. The risk is small compared to the benefits but these medications are, after all, essentially insecticides.To minimize the risks of an adverse reaction you should:
|
|
|
|
(1) Always apply the topical, spot-on, medications in a way that prevents the animal from licking on the spot where the medications are applied; usually this is the pet's back, at base of neck. You may need to watch the animal for a few hours to make sure they are not getting to it. (2) Carefully follow package instructions as to dosage and timing. If your pet is only a few pounds over the weight limit for a partiular dose you may want to use the lower weight range dose. (3) Split the dose the first time you use it. When using a new medication on our dogs we always apply just half the recommended dose then wait 24 hours and apply the second half dose if all goes well. If an adverse reaction does happen it is better to have only a half dose in the animal's system.
|
|
|
|
