Summer is here and the ectoparasites are out in full force, mostly, those nasty little creatures, fleas and ticks. They have been waiting for this all winter. Yes, these parasites do live through the winter months. Remember the seed ticks we had last year, well they are the adult, bigger ticks we have seen this spring. They have been laying eggs. The ones that are seed ticks now have been hatching from those eggs and are ready for a blood meal.
We have what we call one host, two host and three host ticks. This means that a two host tick will attach to two different hosts during its life cycle for as blood meal. The first one is molt into a six legged tick or adult. The second one is to reproduce and lay eggs. Normally the males take a smaller blood meal and do not get very big. While the females take enough blood to get as big as a dime.
For control of these ectoparasites, we do have excellent products for our small and large animals. We all know about the topical frontline products, due to advertising. All of the companies are advertising to try and get us to use their products. Most all of them do work. Some of the topical permectrin products, sold over the counter, I do have problems with. I have seen horrible side affects from some of them. Mostly this is uncontrollable tremors and muscle fasciculation’s. This looks like seizures, but it is not coming from the brain. It is coming from a short circuit of the neuron working the muscles. Most I have been able to control, but I have lost a few animals due to this. It mostly happens from ingestion of the product. Cats are the most sensitive. DO NOT PUT PERMETHRINS ON CATS. They will groom it off their skin and this how we get them ingested.
When we are using these products, we can see them not lasting like the label says. Well most of these products have been tested in a laboratory. For example, take a certified parasite-free kennel, they put certified parasite-free animals in it and treat part of the animals with the product they are testing. Then introduce about 100 parasites per animal. Then grad students pull these animals out and count the parasites on them every week. Most products are 100 percent for two weeks. The third week a lot of products will be 96 percent. The fourth week a lot of the products will wane down to 88-95 percent. This means that they counted 10 parasites on the animal for an effectiveness of 90 percent.
Now my question is, “Do we have just 100 parasites in our normal environment?” I would say we have more like one million plus. Well 10 percent of one million is 100,000. This means that we are over running our products. We have also noted some resistance to some of the products. But, the best way to control ectoparasites is to treat the environment and treat the animal. If you live in the country, the best way to do this is to at least put a treated band around your house and yard. And if you have a pet that is in the house, treat inside your house.
Please, follow all label directions.
