Summer means that all types of animals and insects are crawling around enjoying the weather, but that also means extra fleas and ticks attacking your pets.
What’s the difference between a flea and a tick? We’ve found many people don’t know. While neither has wings, fleas have long back legs and a “tube-like” mouth. Fleas are usually a darker color than ticks, which is helpful in distinguishing between the two. Ticks are also easier to spot than fleas, but they will sometimes bury themselves in your pet’s fur.
In addition to the appearance of the pests themselves, their bites also look different. Tick bites are sometimes not noticeable on your pets, but when they are visible they are usually red marks and occasionally have a rash around them. Tick bites heal anywhere from 10 to 30 days. Flea bites, are raised red welts that are very itchy. When scratched, they will become bigger as well. Flea bites will heal usually within a week or two.
Here are some images to help you tell the difference:
Cat Flea
Wood tick
Ticks like to bite anywhere there is hair, and unfortunately for pets, that’s everywhere. Ticks are very small and their bites are virtually painless so you don’t always notice them right away. When you do spot it, the easiest way to remove a tick from your pet is by grabbing it with a pair of tweezers. Get as close to the skin as possible, and avoid squeezing the tick too tightly when you’re removing it.
Fleas like to bite in clusters, usually around the head, neck, and tail. Fleas also like to stay on your pet for multiple days, so if they are scratching more than usual you should look for fleas. The most common ways to remove fleas from pets is through a flea comb, a flea spray, or, for dogs, a flea collar.
- A flea comb is a comb or brush mixed with lemon and water. The lemon contains a chemical called limonene which is dangerous to fleas but harmless to humans, dogs, and cats.
- A flea spray is made of water, lavender or cedar oil, and white distilled or apple cider vinegar. For more information on how to make these two remedies, click here.
There are also medications that you can give to your cat or dog that kill fleas and ticks. For dogs, you can give them K9 Advantix II, Petarmor, and Revolution. Cats can also be given Revolution. In addition, there are some medications like Frontline Plus that work for both pets.
We hope this article helped give you some more information to helping your pets deal with fleas and ticks this summer.
Thank you to for Tickbites, Healthline, Everyday Roots, Pet Care Rx , and Enki Village for information they provided on their websites. To read more, click the links above.