Dear pet owners, did you know that your pet’s soft and warm fur provides the perfect environment for fleas and ticks to grow? These pesky parasites attach to your pet’s skin in order to feed on your pet's blood. The real question is how harmful are they? Very, and here’s why.
According to Dr.Amy Flowers of WebMD, these parasites can suck up to 15x of their own weight in blood. Dogs and cats that lose too much blood can develop anemia due to the dangerous drops in their red blood cell count. Do take note that puppies and kittens are especially at risk. Having anemia can make your pets really sick and have a low quality of life.
Fleas and ticks are the leading cause of skin disease in dogs and cats. When a flea or tick bites, it injects saliva into your pet's skin. This can cause an allergic reaction. Signs include non-stop itching, hair loss (especially just before the tail), crusting, and red, inflamed skin, which can lead to worse skin infections.
Aside from your furbaby's blood, fleas also like to feed on human blood and can jump onto your skin from your pet's fur or bedding. These flea bites may cause bad reactions on human skin. Scratching and severe itching can lead to skin infections. In order to avoid flea bites, keep your pet and home flea-free. Veterinarians estimate that for every flea present on your pet, there are 100 more fleas in the house.
Unlike fleas, ticks rarely bite humans, but they can cause potentially fatal diseases in pets. Some of the most common tick-borne diseases in Malaysia are Babesiosis, Ehrlichiosis, and Anaplasmosis. Individual ticks can harbor multiple pathogens, so patients can be infected with multiple pathogens at the same time, making diagnosis and treatment difficult.
Most fleas and ticks require moist and warm weather to survive. Malaysia's tropical climate is literally the ideal breeding and survival ground for them. For this reason, it can be found on your pets all year round. That’s why you should always keep an eye out for the presence of fleas and ticks and protect your pets with effective control products like the PawPal Flea & Tick Control Series.