Blog

Author Karianne Corwin, August 2018

As a pet owner, I take flea and tick prevention very seriously. After all, who wants a flea infestation in their house? I also grew up in New York, where we have a virtual epidemic of ticks, and Lyme Disease is a big issue there.

According to the CDC (Center for Disease Control), the number of illnesses from ticks, mosquitos, and fleas has more than tripled since 2004. It also seems like the population of fleas might be increasing in urban communities. From stories I read online, there appears to be a growing concern that fleas and ticks may be developing a resistance to the treatment we’re using.

So, I set out to research these claims, and I’m writing this blog to tell you about what I found! At the end of this article, I’ve put together an FAQ of some of the questions I came across. I’ll be putting up more articles soon, so follow us on Facebook here for updates!

Does flea and tick medication still work? Do flea collars work?

Fleas and Ticks are still attacking their pets, even though they’re using monthly treatment!

There are a lot of stories online where people will talk about how their pets got fleas or ticks, even though they were on preventative medication or using a flea collar. This happened to me too when I was living in a densely populated, urban area in California! My dog became infested with fleas, even though I was treating her monthly with a flea and tick preventative. After I switched medications and eradicated the infestation in my house, the fleas didn’t come back.

Are modern flea and tick treatments losing their effectiveness?

Are fleas and ticks becoming resistant to medications like Frontline, Advantage, and Sentinel?

That might seem to be the case, but there could be other reasons that your pet might get fleas and ticks, despite the medication they’re on.

The Population of Fleas, Ticks, and Mosquitos in Urban Areas

It’s very hard to conduct proper studies to track the population growth of pests like fleas, ticks, and mosquitos. Maybe if they were the size of bald eagles, we could count them – but luckily enough, they’re not!

What we can do, is track the progression of illnesses and diseases that are transmitted by fleas, ticks, and mosquitos. What we have witnessed is something of an epidemic! Tick-borne diseases have increased enormously in a very short period of time. Flea and mosquito populations appear to be booming as well!

So - What is causing this massive increase in disease-carrying pests?

Declining Bird Population

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Birds are an important predator for insects in the US, including ticks, fleas, and mosquitos.

Why is our bird population declining?

• A while back, we were using a pesticide called DDT. It turned out that DDT was very destructive to the environment and was even killing off a variety of bird species. DDT is now banned in the US, but bird populations still struggle.
• One of the major challenges faced by birds is urbanization. Building houses, roads, and other structures has caused birds to lose a lot of the woods and land they needed for nesting, and hunting for food. Migratory birds have an especially difficult time, because they are deprived of the rest stops they have always used along their migration routes.
• There is a lucrative business industry in the US around creating “green energy” to stop global warming and help the environment. These businesses have windfarms that use wind turbines to generate energy. However, because the turbines need access to wind currents, they are often placed along the same paths that birds use to migrate! Wind turbines kill about 140,000 to 328,000 a year in the US, but the industry continues to grow.
• Housecats kill between 1.4 billion to 3.7 billion birds a year. Luckily for cat owners, it’s easy to help keep your cat from participating in the death toll! Outdoor cats should wear safe-release collars with cat bells that can warn birds of their approach. If you want to take it a step further, keep your cat indoors during the day during the spring when birds are nesting, and babies are vulnerable.

Changing Temperatures

Whether or not you agree that global warming has caused it, average temperatures in the US appear to be on the rise. In fact, they have been on the rise since around 1990. Unfortunately for us, ticks, fleas, and mosquitos love hot, humid weather. In fact, without it, many of these insects won’t hatch, grow, or thrive. Warmer temperatures and more humidity speeds up the earlier stages of their life cycle, which increases the pest popular. Ideal temperatures also make these pests more active – they start running around opening up flea markets on your dog and throwing mosquito pool parties.

How do rising temperatures affect flea populations?

• Rising temperatures make fleas, ticks, and mosquitos reproduce faster.
• Warmer climates make fleas, ticks, and mosquitos more active.

Cold Weather and Winter

Most of these pests can tough out the winter, but they don’t like cold weather. Mosquitos lay their eggs in water, so that’s a problem for them when the water freezes. Fleas and ticks hate being on the go when temperatures drop. Instead, they hunker down and wait it out. While all this is happening, the whole “hatching new monsters” thing is pretty much put on hold.

• How does winter and cold weather affect fleas?

Fleas may take months to progress through their life cycles without appropriate temperature or humidity. Fleas can freeze, and flea eggs can become dormant during the winter. As long as the temperature doesn’t get too cold for too long, many fleas can survive the winter. Flea larva, however, is very fragile and cannot survive extreme temperatures or low humidity.

• How does winter and cold weather affect ticks?

Like fleas, ticks become more active, and can become adults more quickly when the weather is warm and humid. During the winter, most ticks become dormant and are able to survive until the spring. As with fleas, if the environment is not right for ticks, their eggs will take longer to hatch.

• How does winter and cold weather affect mosquitos?

Most mosquitos are less resistant to the cold than fleas or ticks. At temperatures below 50, mosquitos start to become dormant. Some may even have special adaptations that help them hibernate. A good deal of mosquitos are able to survive the winter.

Warm weather makes flea, tick, and mosquito populations grow.

Warm weather also generally means higher humidity because water is evaporated faster. Evaporated water sort of hangs out in the air waiting for friends so they can all join up and make stuff humid. This moist, sticky, hot climate is ideal for the bugs that bug you the most.

• Higher temperatures in the United States may allow ticks, fleas, and mosquitos to stay active for longer.
• Warm weather also means that people and animals are more active, too. With dogs and humans traveling so much, fleas and ticks have more of a chance to catch a ride.
• Deer have become overpopulated in the US, as well. With proper temperatures, fleas and ticks are able to become full grown and hitch a ride on a passing deer, which allows their population to spread.
• Warm, humid weather means a lot of sweating, for people, and a lot of panting for dogs. Mosquitos are attracted to carbon dioxide. Since you release more carbon dioxide when you breathe harder, it is easier for mosquitos to find you.

Urbanization helps fleas, ticks, and mosquitos thrive

Urban environments are great for parasites. Houses are temperature-controlled spaces that are safe from harsh weather and have ample opportunities for ticks and fleas to feed. In the wild, a bug would be fairly exposed in a field or even in a forest and would be in danger of being eaten by a predator such as a bird. However, city-slicking pests have a lot of places to hide and be safe.  Moreover, predators are less likely to want to intrude on property that’s occupied by a human, or their pets.

Many homes have sources of standing water, such as water buckets, kid’s toys, kiddie pools, and pooling water in driveways and near gutters. Mosquitos lay their eggs in standing water. Only female mosquitos bite, but once they hatch, they have plenty of people and animals to choose from! Cracks, crevices, and other little nooks and crannies around the outside of your home are great places for mosquitos to hide in while they wait out the winter.

Lastly, although you may have good practices in place to prevent infestations from these pests, your neighbor may not. This is especially a problem in apartment complexes where a few outbreaks of fleas can spread like wildfire between apartments.

Why are there more fleas, ticks, and mosquitos in urban areas? 

• Homes protect pests from harsh weather and predators
• Properties provide places for pests to live, hide, and survive the winter
• Standing water on properties help mosquitos hatch their eggs
• Densely populated areas help fleas to reach maturity faster
• Densely populated areas help flea infestations to continue, despite measures taken by the property owner to eliminate them

Why are flea and tick preventatives less effective?

Well, there could be plenty of reasons why pet owners are noticing that their flea and tick medicines may not be working as well.  

Here are a few :

• Incorrect usage or application : The medications only work when they’re applied correctly, according to the instructions on the back of the package. It’s pretty common to miss the deadline when it comes to giving your dog a monthly preventative. Topical treatments can sometimes rub off. Also, if you’re the sort that bathes your dog often, or has a dog who swims a lot, topical treatments can wear off before they’re supposed to – even when correctly applied.
• Killing time : There is a lot of different flea and tick medications that work in a lot of different ways. Some are faster than others when it comes to killing fleas and ticks that have just made it on to the host. You may notice a flea or a tick on your pet that will die, but hasn’t yet.
• Killing stages : Different products target parasites at different stages in their life cycle. For flea infestations in particular, it’s important to wipe out fleas in all stages of their life cycle – not just one. If there are fleas in your house, be sure to check your pet’s treatment to determine which life cycle of fleas it is supposed to kill. You may have to buy products to treat your home and yard to kill the rest of the fleas.
• Overpopulated areas : Areas that have a lot of people living close together are particularly vulnerable to flea infestations. Since some medications take longer to kill fleas than others, and sometimes only kill fleas at a certain stage of their life cycle, your pet may be bringing new fleas and flea eggs into your home from outside that are not being killed by their preventative medication.
• Resistance : While there are not any studies to specifically support it, there are other areas in medicine whereby lifeforms have developed a resistance to medications over time. Some studies show that some fleas (and probably ticks) may have developed a resistance to certain flea and tick repellents, but more research would have to be done to confirm those findings.

How do I choose a good flea and tick medicine?

• If you have a short haired dog, a house with multiple dogs, a dog that tries to rub off topical flea/tick treatment, a dog that takes a lot of baths, or a dog that swims a lot, choose a chewable flea treatment rather than a topical one.
• Flea collars can be useful but may not work as well for dogs that swim often, or if you have other dogs or kids that try to grab the collars or pull them off. Flea collars are easier to use properly on short-haired dogs than long-haired dogs.
• Many flea and tick treatments don’t protect against heartworm, so you either have to be prepared to buy heartworm medication separately or find an all-in-one medication. Buying heartworm medication separately is usually more expensive.

What our customers say :

Our customers like “NexGard Spectra”.

NexGard Spectra is an all-encompassing flea and tick solution that also provides heartworm protection as well. 

“Excellent price. Love that it does everything in one chewable. My dog loved them so no issues with getting him to take it. Will Definitely order again. Thank you” - Joanne Grove

FAQ

Do flea medications work?

Yes. However, if you have a flea infestation, flea medications won’t kill it. You need to use other products too, and clean your house really well.

Do tick medications work?

Yes. They are very effective when applied properly, but some areas have so many ticks that they can still get on your pet and bite them.

Do tick medications prevent disease?

No. They kill ticks. However, if a tick gets embedded on your pet and doesn’t die from the medication, they can still transmit diseases.

Are mosquitos dangerous?

Yes. They can transmit very bad diseases, but in most developed countries that’s rare. They also can give your dog heartworm though, and heartworm is very serious.

Do mosquitos transmit heartworm?

Yes. However, if your dog is on heartworm medication, the worms will die before they become a problem.

Are flea medications toxic?

Yes. It’s important to make sure that they kind of flea medication you’re using, and the dosage you’re using, is safe for pets and kids in your household. When in doubt, go with an oral chew like NexGard Spectra. Giving your dog a chew means that you don’t have to put the medication on their coat where other pets may come into contact with it. Keep track of the date you medicate your dog so you don’t accidentally give them another dose too soon. 

Is flea medication bad for dogs?

No. However, topical medications can be harmful if they are licked by another pet, or touched, before they sink in to the dog’s coat. If you have multiple pets or kids, we suggest that you use an oral medication – which is basically a treat your dog can eat. Our customers’ favorite is NexGard Spectra.

Is flea medication safe for cats?

Not always. If you have at least one cat in household, don’t treat any of your other pets with a flea treatment that has pyrethroid or pyrethrin compound as an ingredient. This chemical is toxic for cats. Some outdoor flea treatments contain pyrethrin or pyrethroids, and if there is a possibility that a cat may come into contact with the treated area, these flea control products should not be used. 

Are flea medications safe for humans?

Not always. Flea medications can be dangerous for humans – kids in particular. Topical treatments can be an issue, in particular. If you have kids, it is better to give your dog an oral flea medication instead. Otherwise, you should crate your dog after applying a topical treatment, until the medication sinks in.