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How To Get Rid Of Ticks On Dogs And Puppies

Ticks may be tiny, but these blood-sucking parasites can cause some major health problems in dogs and puppies. Depending on the tick species and the geographical location, they can gwt diseases such as Lyme disease, Ehrlichia, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, anaplasmosis, tularemia, and babesiosis.

More threateningly for dog and puppies is tick-bite paralysis or tick paralysis in dogs. If your dog is affected by tick paralysis, its hind legs (or lower extremities) will generally be the first to be affected. The paralysis will then gradually spread up towards the dog’s front legs and become fatal when it affects the diaphragm, causing respiratory arrest.

Tick preventative treatments on dogs and puppies

The best way to get rid of ticks on dogs and puppies is to use flea and tick preventatives. This is because they not only kill any ticks (or fleas) your pet is currently hosting, it will prevent them from future infestations as well.

In general, there are three different types of tick treatment options available: oral and topical treatments, or collars. Oral treatments come either as pills, tablets or in the form of flavored or unflavored chewables. Topical treatments are ideal when your pets refuse the chews.

Which method you choose to kill ticks on your dog or puppy will depend largely on the weight and age of your pet. One good thing about tick preventative treatments is that most of them will kill fleas as well.

Bear in mind that the most effective way to fight a tick infestation is to get rid of ticks in the house and yard at the same time.

Getting rid of ticks on puppies younger than 6 weeks of age

Many tick treatments in the market have a minimum age limit of at least 4 weeks and specify your pet must weigh at least 2 pounds.

If your pet is younger than this, you should bring your dog or puppy to the veterinarian or do a visual and tactile inspection on your pet, manually removing any ticks that you see.

Getting rid of ticks on puppies 6 weeks of age or older

If your puppy is over 6 weeks of age and weighs under 5.5 pounds, Revolution for dogs is a very popular and effective topical treatment.

Slightly older pets (7 weeks of age) can use the Seresto collar, which protects your pet from picking up ticks (and fleas) for up to eight months.

Getting rid of ticks on puppies 8 weeks of age or older

Tick treatment options increase for older puppies. NexGard for dogs (and puppies as young as eight weeks and weighing over 4 pounds) is an oral tick treatment that protects them for up to 30 days.

If your puppy doesn’t like chews, topical treatments such as Frontline Plus is ideal. Like NexGard chewables, it will protect your puppy from ticks for 30 days and is designed to be used once a month. Frontline Plus for dogs also kill and repel mosquitoes.

Getting rid of ticks on dogs and puppies 6 months of age or older

Bravecto is a great three-monthly tick treatment product for your dog or puppy over 6 months of age (weighing over 4.4 pounds) and comes in both oral and topical options. Both Bravecto chews and Bravecto topical kill ticks, and provide up to 12 weeks of protection against new infestations.