Lets Talk About skin Care, Beauty And Health Tips

Hello. I've just discovered two ticks on my dog. One of them is dead, but the other is alive. The second one looked fresh, and wasn't even attached to my dog's skin. I also found some brown dirt like stuff that I think are tick eggs. My dog is around 90 pounds, and about 2ft tall at least. I'd like to know what the best tick removal medication is. Something that...

- Kills ticks
- Prevents ticks
- Kills tick eggs

I have some Advantage but I've read that it doesn't kill ticks. Thanks from both my dog and I, in advance.

Answer
FrontlinePlus helps manage ticks.

The best way to clear away ticks:
Use a flea prevention every month
Spray your yard if you suspect a problem, no tick prevention kills eggs because ticks lay their eggs in the grass
Pull any ticks you find on your dog off and place in a container of alcohol. No tick prevention is 100% effective, sorry, that's just the way it is.

The brown dirt like stuff is probably 'flea dirt' which is flea poop. Again, prevention every month! And FrontlinePlus takes care of fleas as well as ticks. Spraying the yard will help, but flea eggs (also laid on the ground, not on the dog) are hard to kill, so you'll probably have to spray 3 weeks in a row.

If you say you never see fleas? Well, if you see flea dirt, there are fleas. Some dogs are just very good at grooming them off themselves so you don't see them, and fleas either stay on the dog or get swallowed by the dog, so you're not likely to see them jumping around your house. They only jump off the dog to lay eggs in the grass/carpet.

If you think there are fleas in your house, then vacuum every 7 days for a month. That way you're removing eggs before they can hatch. Same thing with any soft furniture (couch, recliners) vacuum those as well, and wash any pillows, dog beds, or blankets every week in hot water.

And lastly, where there are fleas, there are tapeworms. Remember I said some dogs groom them off? That usually means they get swallowed. Fleas carry tapeworms, and the tapeworms get transferred to dogs when the dog swallows the flea. If you see evidence of what looks like white rice or cucumber seeds in your dog's daily poop, then yeah, there are tapeworms. These you'll have to see a vet to clear up. If you do find them in the poop, plop them in a container of water or alcohol and take to the vet with you so they know what kind of worm they are dealing with, and can therefore give you the right drugs to kill them.

How often can you bathe a two month old kitten safely?

I recently got a new kitten that had previously lived outside. It had fleas and from what I can tell only tape worms. I have the worm problem under control now but the fleas keep seeming be the problem. I first gave her a bath with dawn dish soap, and it took care of most of the fleas. I comb her every day with a flea comb to catch the rest. I wanted to know how long is the shortest wait time till I can safely bathe her again since the dawn soap worked the best?

Answer
Whoa! You're doing the right thing asking for help.
Dawn dishwashing soap will dry the baby's skin and fur horribly, and won't get rid of the fleas. A few of them may jump off of her when she gets wet but most fleas stay on animals with wet fur. Even over the counter shampoo that says it gets rid of fleas doesn't really do much.

Combing her with a flea comb is good but they'll be back in massive amounts by the next day.
The best way for your baby to be completely rid of fleas is to be treated with a medication that gets applied to her skin between her shoulder blades. Examples are Advantage and Revolution. Advantage can be bought over the counter but if you go that route it's kind of pricey. Revolution has to come from a veterinarian's office. Revolution will kill critters other than fleas such as ear mites, that Advantage doesn't. If somebody tries to charge you an outrageous fee for Advantage or Revolution shop around. Some veterinarians know how to make Revolution available to customers at very reduced rates. So the Advantage, Revolution, ect. between the shoulder blades is step #1 :)

Next she needs to take medication to get rid of the tapeworm (poor baby.) It will either be a pill or a liquid. She will take it in two doses a few weeks apart. The medication for tapeworms also has to come from a veterinarian but CAN be gotten for a very reasonable price.If some doctor tries to charge you an arm and a leg for the tapeworm medicine, again, just keep calling around until you find a veterinarian who will give you a reasonable price.

The last step is to get rid of the fleas in the areas of your house where your kitty has been. Vacuum, wash anything that's washable, and if you want to make sure they're gone for good spray the area with a spray called "Knockout." You can buy Knockout from Amazon or from a veterinarian.

Good luck. Hope your baby feels better soon.