Protecting your dog against flees, or treating a flee infestation can be a tough thing to do. You need to find a treatment that's convenient, safe and effective to use around kids, as well as other pets. Just like most dog supplies Australia vet clinics offer a wide range of flea treatment methods, some of which are more effective and safe than others. The two most conventional flea treatment methods for dogs are oral and spot-on medication.
Spot-on medication is basically concentrated liquid that you apply to the back of your dog's neck. Within a day, the medication will dissipate into the dog's natural skin oils and kill fleas, while at the same time prevent new fleas from developing. Oral medications, on the other hand, use insecticides that go through the dog's bloodstream in about an hour, and when fleas bite your dog, they ingest the insecticide and die. While oral flea treatments are faster-acting, they might not protect your dog from future infestations, simply because the insecticide is present in your dog's bloodstream for about a day.
When looking for flea treatment methods in dog supplies Australia stores, you should look for ones approved by EPA. However, even some of those approved by the EPA can have serious side effects if handled incorrectly. No matter how safe the products you're using are, they're still meant to kill insects and can be harmful if ingested or rubbed into an eye. With that said, when applying topical medication, use gloves and always wash your hands afterward.
Further, there are some chemicals that you should look to avoid, namely tetrachlorvinphos, pyrethroids and pyrethrin. Tetrachlorvinphos may cause dizziness, nausea and confusion and it can be even fatal. Pyrethroids can cause itching, stinging, numbness and tingling in humans, so you should always check the labels and avoid products that contain ingredients that end with "-thin", such as permethrin, flumethrin, deltamethrin, etc, and etofenprox. And pyrethrin is safe for humans and dogs, but they can trigger seizures in cats.
Lastly, it might be worth considering getting a flea treatment that is also effective on ticks, so that you kill two bugs with one stone. Ticks are found everywhere around Australia, and they can be the cause for Lyme disease and other bug-borne diseases, which are much easier to prevent than cure. Some of the best preventative flea and tick treatments for dogs are Frontline Plus, PetArmor Plus and Sentry Fipoguard Plus.
Comments
Post a Comment