Flea-free and Ticks off!

Fleas are so tiny that they are almost invisible to the naked eye, but the effects of a flea infestation on your pet are very noticeable. Fleas grow to 1/16- to 1/8-inch, and have a narrow, armor-like body. Their small size and tough shell make them hard to kill by the usual "squishing" method used for many insects. The flea's body design also makes it easy for it to move through the hairs of its host. Its powerful rear legs allow the flea to jump up to 7 inches vertically, and up to 13 inches horizontally - that's up to 200 times its own body length. The flea is designed for survival: it is hard to spot, hard to catch, and hard to kill.

Female fleas lay eggs in batches of up to 20, and they can lay as many as 500 eggs in their lifetime, which means that once your pet has fleas, the population in or around your home can grow rapidly.

Adult fleas feed on blood, and seek out warm-blooded animals for their food sources. Flea bites form as a small, swollen, itching spot with a single puncture in the center. The itching and inflammation can last for several weeks afterwards. Many people and animals also develop an allergic reaction to flea saliva which manifests as a rash.

Because the flea population is unevenly distributed - 50% eggs, 35% larvae, 10% pupae, and only 5% adults - the best method of control is prevention. Just killing the adult population only works as a temporary fix, as 95% of the problem is still developing.

Frequent vacuuming of your home, and especially the areas where your pets sleep and rest, is advisable as it can pick up not only flea eggs, larvae, and pupae, but also the flea dirt and debris that the fleas need to survive early in their development. Adult fleas can also be picked up by the vacuum, but they can escape quickly.

Ticks are tiny arachnids that, even when full grown, are smaller than the tip of a match. While soft ticks live in cracks and crevices and emerge briefly to feed, hard ticks will anchor themselves to the skin of a host for the duration of their feeding period. Like fleas, ticks feed on blood. However, unlike fleas, ticks do not jump, nor can they fly. Physical contact is the only way for a tick to attach itself to a new host, so they usually climb grass stems and wait for a host to brush past. They may also drop onto a host from above.

When ticks feed on their host they use a hypostome, a harpoon-like structure, in the mouth area to physically anchor themselves to the host's skin. The hypostome has barbs which are angled back towards the tick's body, which makes them very difficult to remove.

Ticks are second only to mosquitoes as vectors of both infectious and toxic diseases. Some ticks common to North America are the American dog tick, the black-legged tick or deer tick, and the Western black-legged tick. These and other ticks are known to carry Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, and Colorado tick fever, among others.

Prompt removal is needed to avoid infection, as most infections take an extended period of time to develop. When removal is attempted caution needs to be used, for if the tick's body is crushed it may force the tick's stomach contents into the host's skin, which increases the chances of infection.

Crushing or irritating the feeding tick with heat or chemicals is not advised as it may cause the tick to regurgitate its stomach contents. It commonly said that using petroleum jelly on and around the tick will close the tick's breathing passages and force it to dislodge; however, this is not advisable since ticks only breathe a few times per hour so feeding may not be interrupted and the petroleum jelly may irritate the tick to the point of regurgitation.

The safest way to remove a tick is to use a small set of tweezers to take hold of the head of the tick, and then slowly, but steadily pull the tick out.

Advantage, produced by Bayer, is advertised as a fast acting flea control. Applied topically, it begins to work within minutes. Within 12 hours of treatment 98-100 percent of fleas on the animal are killed. Advantage also kills flea larvae within twenty minutes of contact. Advantage continues to protect your pet from fleas for up to a month, and does not lose efficacy after swimming or bathing.

In addition to fleas Advantage Multi also kills heartworm, hookworm, roundworm, and ear mites. The formula for dogs also kills whipworm, mange mites, and lice.

Advantage Multi is available by prescription in the United States, but it is packaged as non-prescription Advocate in Australia.

Advocate is also manufactured by Bayer. It is designed to kill more kinds of parasites than any other single over-the-counter remedy. It is a spot-on that is applied monthly to eliminate fleas and flea larvae, heartworm, hookworm, roundworm, and ear mites. The formula for dogs also kills whipworm, mange mites, and lice.

Advocate will stop fleas from feeding on your pet within 5 minutes of application and kills adult and larval fleas within 20 minutes of contact. 98-100% of fleas are killed within 12 hours of application and any new fleas that jump onto your pet post-treatment are killed within an hour of contact.

Advocate may be used to treat kittens from 9 weeks of age and puppies from 7 weeks.

Advocate is packaged as prescription Advantage Multi in the United States.

The series of Frontline products are developed and manufactured by Merial. They claim it is the number 1 choice among veterinarians for flea and tick control. In fairness, it should be noted that many of the products used in comparison are intended for control of one pest, or the other. Frontline essentially stands alone as a control for both fleas and ticks.

Frontline products are applied topically, either as a "spot-on" like Frontline Top Spot or Frontline Plus, or as a spray. Once applied, Frontline uses networked oil glands in the skin of your pet to spread out across the animal's body. Merial states that within 24 hours up to 100% of fleas on the treated animal's body will be dead, and that up to 100% of ticks are killed within 24-48 hours.

Frontline Spray is recommended for multi-pet households since it is easy, and quick to apply. It is often used in veterinary offices as a quick treatment.

Frontline Top Spot predates Frontline Plus by a few years. Both are topical solutions that are applied to a single spot on the back of the animal. Frontline Plus adds to the treatment process by including an Insect Growth Inhibitor which prevents the development of flea eggs and larvae. The earlier forms of Frontline only kill adult fleas.

Program, by Novartis, is available as Flavor Tabs for dogs and cats, or as a Suspension for cats. Both versions are taken orally with food. In addition, there is an injectable form for cats that is effective for 6 months per injection.

Program is not used to kill adult fleas, but their eggs and larvae from developing. The active ingredient in Program is lufeneron, an insect development inhibitor.

The Program Flavor tabs are to be given to your pet once a month, mixed with wet food. For cats, the tablet should be crushed and mixed with the food. If not mixed with wet food, the Flavor Tab may not be properly absorbed. The Suspension for cats should be mixed with two tablespoons of wet food, then, once the cat has eaten this, it should be followed with a regular meal.