Flea & Tick Alert: this Season May Be A Bad One!

Spring is springing. And while we don’t yet have the warmth we’d like for this time of year, it’s heading this way! And then what happens? Flea and tick season.

This is an engraving of a flea  from Robert Hooke’s 1665  Micrographia. Goes to show you:  some things never change!

You may have already heard that veterinarians are predicting that we will have an extremely bad flea and tick season this year. Why these predictions? Because across the country we experienced warmer than usual weather this winter. Not here in Vancouver of course, but over a lot of North America the typical winter freeze never happened. This means that fleas and ticks will emerge from their dormant life cycles much, much sooner.

This is not good news of course, especially when you consider that even just one flea can lead to a full flea infestation in no time at all. Did you know that an adult flea can lay 15 to 20 eggs per day and over 500 in her lifetime. At this rate one flea in your home can become a full-fledged flea infestation -- imagine fleas on your pet, in your carpets, sofas, clothing and even your bed... totally unacceptable and totally gross!

The only way to protect your pet is to treat them with a flea and tick preventative medication. I also know that many people are against flea prevention or medications because of the chemicals involved and while I appreciate that sentiment, I don’t take the chance that my dogs won’t get fleas and I do treat them. Both my Bichons are highly allergic to flea bites and the resulting biting and scratching themselves raw is not an alternative I can accept.

There are natural remedies out there and I would love to hear back from our readers about any of these that really work. I do bathe both my dogs with organic shampoos that are full of essential oils like lavender and citronella that are supposed to help repel fleas and they smell wonderful.

Is your pet on any type of flea medication yet? If not, please do not let your precious pet go another day without protection! A single flea can bite your pet more than 400 times: whether you go the medication or naturopathic route, act today and give your dog the protection they deserve from this nasty predator.