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203 results for “flea and tick”
Why is my dog shedding skin and fur on its nose and body, and what medicine helps?
This is likely a fungal or mange (mite) skin infection, often from a damp unclean home, vitamin deficiency, or missed flea/tick prevention. If you can't see a vet, try veterinary B-complex orally plus a skin spray; bathe with a medicated wash and do external deworming after 3 days. Use an Elizabethan collar.
How to Choose a Parasite Treatment for Cats and Dogs
Parasites are among the most common yet overlooked threats to pet health—even indoor cats can carry fleas, ear mites, or intestinal worms. With many combined internal-and-external products on the shelf, the key is choosing one that is safe, effective, and practical for year-round use. This guide explains why regular control matters, the four points that should drive any choice, the main active-ingredient classes owners will meet, and how to match a product to a pet's age, lifestyle, and parasite risk. Always confirm the right product with a veterinarian.
Free-Roaming Cats: The Pros and Cons
Free-roaming (letting a cat roam outdoors) has both upsides and downsides. The benefits are freedom, more exercise, and better mental health, the cat explores, satisfies curiosity, stays active and social, and is less repressed than a strictly confined one. But the outdoors carries real danger: traffic and fights with strays, exposure to bacteria, ticks, and fleas that raise skin and infectious disease risk (and can threaten the family at home), and the chance the cat wanders off and never returns. If you choose to free-roam, do it in a enclosed safe area, keep up deworming and vaccines, and fit a tracker. Weigh the trade-offs for your cat's personality and setting.
Are Combined Flea-and-Worm Treatments Right for Your Dog?
Combined spot-on treatments protect against many internal and external parasites in one dose, which is why they are a top choice for busy owners. But they are not universal—many don't cover ticks or tapeworms, and timing matters. This guide explains how they work, how to match the active ingredients to your dog's risks, and how often to dose.
Symptoms and Treatment of Parasites in Dogs
Parasites are a leading threat to dog health and come in internal and external forms with different signs. Internal parasites cause diarrhea, vomiting, cough, bigger appetite, weight loss, dry coat, red skin spots, pale gums, and lethargy. Some parasites already live in the home, so even indoor dogs are at risk. Fleas, lice, roundworms, and tapeworms each have their own life cycle and route into the dog. External parasites are zoonotic and cause allergic dermatitis and anemia; internal ones cause poor digestion and can block the gut. Prevention and treatment rely on regular, broad-spectrum parasite control for both inside and out.
Lice on Cats and Dogs: Symptoms, Risks, and Treatment
Lice peak in winter, especially in January, when thick coats let them breed undisturbed. They strike young, stray, and undernourished pets, causing itching, restlessness, hair loss, and in heavy infestations anemia and weakness. Two main types live on pets: blood-feeding sucking lice and coat-chewing lice, each with its own species on dogs and cats. Lice are host-specific and do not infect people, though fleas from pets can. This guide covers the types, the harm they do, how they are diagnosed, and how to treat and prevent them.
Why Your Cat Licks You (and When to Stop It)
A cat that licks you is usually showing love, asking for food or a clean box, marking you with its scent for security, or telling you it's unwell. But the barbed tongue can abrade your skin into red patches, and a cat's mouth carries bacteria including Bartonella (cat-scratch disease, from fleas/ticks), which can pass through tiny unseen wounds. Stop licking promptly, separate the cat at night, or use a scent it dislikes. If licked, wash 15 minutes with soap and running water, disinfect with dilute iodine, and see a doctor for visible breaks—watching for rabies too.
How to Choose a Parasite Treatment: Internal, External, and Combined
Parasites threaten every pet, even indoor ones, and choosing among internal, external, and combined treatments is where new owners get stuck. This guide lists the common parasites cats and dogs face, explains the three product categories and their typical active ingredients, and answers beginner questions—why deworm even with no visible bugs, where to apply drops, when bathing is safe, and whether imports are always better. The takeaway: deworming is a long-term habit built on the right product, correct use, and consistency.
A Guide to Dog Dewormer Types and Active Ingredients
Spring warms the environment and multiplies parasites, and outdoor dogs are especially exposed to internal and external worms that cause poor nutrition, itchy skin, and organ damage. Deworming also protects people—some parasites spread to humans. With many brands and types, the smart move is to choose on proven ingredients and safety, not fame. This guide walks through the common active-ingredient classes—imidacloprid plus moxidectin, selamectin, fipronil, milbemycin, isoxazolines—and how to pick and dose safely for lasting protection.
Canine and Feline Eperythrozoonosis (Hemotrophic Mycoplasmosis): Symptoms, Transmission, and Treatment
Eperythrozoonosis, also called hemotrophic mycoplasmosis, is a tick- and flea-borne infectious disease of dogs and cats marked by anemia and jaundice. It is treated with tetracycline-class antibiotics and supportive care.