Tick season is still going strong and will be until temperatures drop below 40 degrees. It is essential to protect not only yourself and your family but your pets as well. Not only do you want to keep your precious pet safe and prevent them from contracting Lyme disease or other tick-borne diseases, but your pets can also unknowingly introduce ticks into your home. Even worse, mosquitos can transmit the parasite, leading to heartworms, a preventable yet potentially deadly disease. So how do you protect yourself and your dog or cat?
- Monthly Preventative Medication
- Check Them Every Time
If your dog is anything like ours, she runs to reclaim her favorite spot when she comes in. Before they come inside, though, you should check them for ticks. Pay particular attention to their ears, paws, mouths, heads, and tails. Dogs like to stick their whole heads into bushes and plants as they sniff around. Unfortunately, ticks love to hide there as well.
- Don’t Allow Them Off the Path
Long Island has many beautiful state parks which offer hundreds of miles of trails to walk and hike with your dog. While it’s good exercise and a great way to bond with your furry family member, letting them off-leash allows them to dig around in piles of leaves, stick their noses and heads into bushes and plants, and wander through tall grasses, all places where ticks actively hatch. Unless you want to spend hours combing through your dog’s fur to check for and remove ticks, you should avoid letting him run free in the woods.
- Bedding, Furniture, and Toy Checks
Bedding, furniture, and carpets make great hiding places for ticks. Every few weeks, check their bedding (and yours) for ticks. Vacuum regularly to get up any eggs that might be on the carpet. Check couch and chair cushions for ticks and their eggs. Also, give the pup’s toys a quick check once in a while, especially if they like stuffed toys and rope toys or like to bring their toys outside. As an extra preventative step, have separate indoor and outdoor toys for your fur baby.
- Preventative Yard Spray
One way you can protect your pets, yourself, and the rest of your family would be to have your yard sprayed. Preventative yard spraying would help protect your family, pets, and visitors from ticks and mosquitos to ensure worry-free time spent outdoors. As the weather begins to cool off, time outside will become more limited, so make sure you get the most of it.
Trust East End Tick & Mosquito Control® to Safeguard Your Family
The licensed pest control professionals at East End Tick & Mosquito Control® will help make your property as safe as possible for your pets and your family with our proven extermination methods. Our yard sprays will eliminate ticks and mosquitos where they breed, and by setting up a monthly maintenance plan, we can ensure a pest-free backyard. Nobody wants to spend hours removing ticks from their pets or getting bit by mosquitos while trying to enjoy the waning days of summer. Call us at (631) 287-9700 to get a free estimate for yard treatments or schedule your first tick spray. We look forward to hearing from you.
