Protect your pets from ticks #NoBiteIsRight

Make sure the whole family can enjoy the outdoors this summer, protect your pets from ticks.

Ever since I was a child I’ve loved the outdoors so I was barely inside the house if it wasn’t raining. Usually when I went out my dog Rusty came along with me to enjoy the fresh air.  Of course, back when I was a child video game consoles and handheld systems weren’t all consumers. We also didn’t have tablets, smart phones or laptops to keep us anchored to our seats throughout the day. We’d get home from school, hurry through our homework and after letting our parents know our plans, would disappear outside with our friends until curfew. We’d wander around our neighbourhoods, play in the woods and just be content being outdoors. We weren’t worried about being inside all the time like kids today, we spent every available minute outside; more often than not our parents had to force us to come in when it started getting dark.

This post is sponsored by No Bite is Right™ and the BlogPaws® Pet Influencer NetworkTM. I am being compensated to help create awareness about Summer Safety and Protecting Pets against fleas and ticks but we only share information we feel is relevant to our readers. The blogger is responsible for the contents and not the sponsors mentioned above.

Our sweet dog Luna

As much as I used to love the outdoors and still do, there’s one big part of spending time outdoors that I’m not a fan of. I can deal with most of the wildlife creatures I’ve encountered over the years and normally bugs don’t even bother me, it is the outdoors after all, but when it comes to ticks you can count me out! Over the years I’ve learned to take certain precautions against ticks for myself and my family however since our family pets do spend a fair bit of time outdoors with us it almost goes without saying that we’ve had to check them for ticks. We learned over the years that prevention was our best option so that our pets and our whole family could be safe from ticks.

Our dog Little Zeus aka LZ

Eliminating ticks has always been important to my family. As surprising as it may be a lot of people don’t always think about the lasting effects that a tick bite can cause. The truth is that these icky little critters can cause a multitude of different disease. These days, according to Canadian researchers, tick populations have grown over 10 times over the past two decades within Canada alone. Researchers have also estimated that if you were to draw a line marking tick territory across Canada, that the line actually moves 45 km further north each year. This is why the No Bite is Right™ Campaign is making its way across Canada to help bring awareness to the problem. The campaign itself is focusing on the importance of flea and tick prevention for your pets and especially the mass number of ticks that are moving north as the climate begins to change from cold to warm.

Our funny cat Oliver

With this tick army on the rise, it’s never been more important to talk to your vet about flea and tick prevention and to ask what products will be most effective in preventing future bites. When you go in for your appointment your vet will be more than happy to share this information with you and will also explain the different between the different types of medication that is available for your pet. Systemic and Non-systemic are the two medications that you’ll learn about during your visit. Systemic medications are to be taken orally (chewable form) and require the tick/flea to actually bite your pet in order to activate and Non-systemic (applied to the skin) do not require the insect to bite in order to start working. Non-systemic medications are otherwise known as contact killers.

Say hello to Crusoe the celebrity Daschund encouraging pet owners to make sure their pets are protected from ticks. 

Photo Credit: No Bite is Right Campaign Crusoe the Celebrity Daschund

It’s important to be careful which of these options you decide to go with because both work very differently from each other. With Systemic medications the medicine has to pass through the bloodstream, therefore the tick/flea has to actually feed on your pets blood long enough to ingest enough of the medicine to actually kill it. This can open your pet up to certain diseases. If you were to go with the Non-systemic medications or contact kill, the pest only has to come in contact with the medication and it’ll die, eliminating the possibility of disease.

Photo Credit: No Bite is Right Campaign Crusoe the Celebrity Daschund

After your vet has explained the different types of medications and their pros/cons to you they might also wish to talk to you about the facts surrounding these pesky pests. Many of the facts might be things that you’ve never heard or even facts that you’re already familiar with but re-familiarizing yourself with these important facts never hurts. Especially not when the health of your family pet is on the line. What most people don’t know about fleas and ticks is that there are different kinds and that the effects your pet may experience depends entirely on the kind that bites them. Different pests can spread different disease to your pet and cause serious illnesses. Some valuable facts to familiarize yourself with include:

• Lyme disease is one of the most well-known diseases transmitted by ticks.
• According to a recent survey of Canadian pet owners, their #1 concern is avoiding the bite.
• The same survey found that 7 in 10 want protection that reduces the chance of bites.
• 79% worry about disease transmission through the bite of ticks/ticks.

Photo Credit: No Bite is Right Campaign Crusoe the Celebrity Daschund

Follow Crusoe the Celebrity Dachshund on the campaign!
• Facebook: facebook.com/crusoedachshund/
• Twitter: @Celeb_Dachshund
• Instagram: crusoe_dachshund
• Website: www.celebritydachshund.com/events/no-bite-is-right-2016-tour/
Ticks

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Bayer, Inc. The opinions and text are all mine.