About Fleas and Ticks

If your cat has had fleas or your dog has had fleas and/or ticks, you know how irritating a pest infestation can be for your pet. What you may not realize is just how dangerous that infestation can be, both to your pet’s health and to your family. For example, ticks are known to transmit Lyme disease, while fleas can transmit tapeworms, a dangerous parasite.

As their hosts brush past grasses and leaves, fleas and ticks can fall off and cling to the tips of plants, waiting to jump onto an animal as it walks by. As a result, by the time they enter your home, these tiny pests have become powerful “disease factories.” To understand what happens next, it helps to learn about the life cycle of each.

Fleas: Trouble from the moment they hatch

It’s important to understand fleas found today came from eggs laid more than three weeks ago. So, even after treating your dog or cat, immature flea life stages continue to develop and adult fleas will continue to emerge for a few weeks.





Ticks: A multi-stage problem for dogs

After hatching, ticks need a blood meal to molt into their next life stage or reproduce. That means larval, nymph and adult ticks can all pose a disease threat to your pet.





Diseases and conditions

In most areas, the most common type of flea is the Cat Flea, which feeds on both cats and dogs. Your dog, however, may encounter many different types of ticks, depending on your region, the climate and the season.

All fleas and ticks have one thing in common, however. They can transmit a range of diseases and conditions. Left untreated, flea and/or tick infestations are also a serious threat to you and your family’s health. The following are common diseases and conditions transmitted by fleas to cats or by fleas and ticks to dogs:

  Cats   Dogs   Flea or Tick   Disease/Condition   Symptom
     X Deer Tick; Black-Legged Tick Lyme Disease Fatigue, fever, musculoskeletal pain and arthritis, Kidney malfunction
     X Brown Dog Tick; Lone Star Tick Canine ehrlichiosis Anemia, low blood count, arthritis; also affects the central nervous system.
     X Rocky Mountain Wood Tick Rocky Mountain spotted fever Fever, organ dysfunction, neurological signs, anemia and blood platelet deficiency.
     X Lone Star Tick Ehrlichia chaffeensis Fever, headache and rash
  X   X Cat Flea Tapeworms Starvation
  X   X Cat Flea Flea Bite dermatitis Skin inflammation
  X   X Cat Flea Flea allergy dermatitis Skin inflammation leading to an allergic reaction
  X   X Cat Flea Cat Scratch fever Infection spread as fleas spread bacteria in the wounds of a cat to a dog or cat

Clearly, the health risks to your cat or dog are very real. So if your cat has fleas, or your dog has fleas and/or ticks, be sure to ask your veterinarian if ProMeris® is right for your pet. To learn about other steps you can take to protect your pet, visit Advice & Tips