Dog blog
Protection of Pets Against Ticks and Fleas
With a warm winter the time for applying tick and flea prevention products comes much sooner than we are used to. You can choose from many products available in pharmacies, drugstores, veterinarians or pet stores.
When choosing a product, keep in mind the possible health problems of your dog, the specifics of the environment in which your pet lives as well as the lifestyle of your pet.
If you have to shampoo and bath your pet daily for medical reasons, you will substantially reduce the effectiveness of spot-on products (pipettes that are applied behind the neck). If you have an active swimmer, you should avoid bathing outdoors for at least three (but preferably five) days after the spot-on has been applied, so that the product is absorbed sufficiently and the washout rate is reduced.
Consider very carefully what product you choose if your friend is suffering from a neurological disease.
It is important to note that the function of ordinary flea and tick prevention products is based on the content of PESTICIDES (although this term is avoided by manufacturers), i.e. substances with an insect poisoning effect. Most of these substances act as nerve venom for insects. Advanced variants of these products function already when the parasite is in contact with the skin of the treated animal and thus minimize the risk of "biting". The full effect (paralysis and death) occurs whenever a flea or tick bites and begins to suck blood. These most widespread products are considered safe for the general population, but may cause severe neurological problems or death in susceptible or ill individuals and seniors, as reported by the US state supervisory authorities FDA and EPA (https://www.fda.gov/) animal-veterinary /cvm-updates/animal-drug-safety-communication-fda-alerts-pet-owners-and-veterinarians-about-potential-neurologic and https://www.epa.gov/pets/epa-evaluation-pet-spot-products-analysis-and-plans-reducing-harmful-effects). The highest risks are found in products in the form of tablets and spot-ons, where a higher volume of active substance is applied on a one-time basis.
Plant-based REPELLENT products are an alternative to the above-described products. These are essential oils and oils, which nature provided to some species of herbs, shrubs and trees as a natural protection against insects and other parasitic organisms.
The great thing about these products is that they are non-toxic and you can therefore apply them even to very sensitive dogs, puppies and dog seniors. In case of natural antiparasitic drugs it is also not necessary to apply safety precautions as with chemical ones, e.g. that your treated dog should not sleep in bed with you. In addition, herbal collars and pipettes smell good to us, people. They can also be combined with conventional insecticidal pipettes and collars that they complement in terms of functionality by their repellent effect.
Moreover, the mechanism of their effect is preventive - they repel insects and reduce the risk of transmission of diseases, such as borreliosis or encephalitis, that are transmitted when bitten by a parasite. In the case of insecticides, the effect usually occurs only when bitten.
In our offer you will find herbal repellent products from the top Israeli company ARAVA. It is famous worldwide for its natural cosmetics for dogs and cats with a high content of essential vegetable oils, innovated by the nanoemulsification method to achieve optimal therapeutic and supportive effect for healthy and beautiful skin and fur of pets.
It is nanoemulsification that is behind the high efficiency of tick and flea prevention shampoos and pipettes - the active substances easily bind to the lipid layer of the skin and penetrate through the skin to the dermis.
ARAVA combines fourteen active ingredients in its flea and tick prevention shampoos for puppies and adult dogs - nimbus oil, geranium essential oils (pelargonium), peppermint, cinnamomum, lemon grass, cloves, thyme, cedar, eucalyptus, rosemary and lavender, chant and chrysanthemum extracts and Dead Sea minerals. The shampoos will help you if you find that the dog has already been attacked by parasites. By washing the dog not only you will get rid of unwelcome guests, but you will also provide your pet with perfect care to soothe irritated skin.
In pipettes (in variants according to the weight of the dog, up to 9 kilograms, 10 - 25 kilograms and 26 - 50 kilograms) you will also find essential oils of bitter orange, laurel, pine, roues and juniper. The package contains four pipettes. The shampoos and pipettes complement each other perfectly and enhance their effect. It is ideal to apply the pipettes two days after bathing in ARAVA flea and tick prevention shampoos and repeat the application every three to four weeks. Thus the pipette pack will last about four months.
A practical variant is the polymer ARAVA flea and tick prevention collar with a slow release of active substances for six months. The collar contains oils of geranium, cloves, lemon grass, rosemary, cedar, cinnamomum, mint, thyme and castor oil. It is great especially for dogs who cannot resist any pond, river and stream in summer, because even frequent bathing does not reduce its efficiency. In 2019 we used the collar for our "company" Frenchie, who suffers from chronic kidney disease and we therefore did not want to burden his body with insecticides, and we were very satisfied with the effect. He had only two ticks throughout the whole season!
However, natural products also have their BUTs, that you should consider! They may cause an allergic reaction at the application site in very sensitive individuals (see e.g. grass or a certain type of herb allergy in dogs), even though we have not seen this in our practice so far and their efficacy, as with insecticidal products, is not 100 %. Even some sensitive people, especially allergy sufferers and asthmatics, may have a negative reaction to some ethereal oils. Therefore, this fact should also be considered when choosing.
Perhaps we have provided you with as much information as possible to choose the right products to protect your four-legged friends from unwanted guest attacks. We wish you and your pets a beautiful coming spring. Without fleas and ticks.
Yours We love dogs
