*Bond et al. A survey of flea infestations in cats & dogs in the UK during 2005.

Vet Rec 2007 160, 503-506

Unknown to most, only 5% of a flea problem is on your pet, with a shocking 95% in the pet’s environment as eggs, larvae & pupae. To prevent & control flea infestations you need to break the flea life cycle.

How To Break The Flea Life Cycle

The life cycle can be broken by using FRONTLINE Spot On regularly to kill adult fleas on your pet. Treat your cat every five weeks and your dog every two months. All of your cats and dogs should be treated as each pet can act as a host. Also, regularly vacuum your carpets and furnishings and be sure to wash your pet’s bedding above 60ºc. All this will help reduce the number of eggs, larvae and pupae in the environment.

In addition to the above, if there is an active flea infestation, treat your home with an environmental spray containing an insect growth regulator to kill eggs and larvae. Be sure to treat those hard to reach places such as under the furniture as this is where the numbers of larvae will be highest. Your pet can still have continued access to affected are as as this will ensure newly hatched fleas are killed on contact with FRONTLINE Spot On when they jump onto your pet.

And What About Ticks?

It’s not just the flea life cycle, it’s also the life cycle of ticks. The whole tick life cycle can take several years to complete. Ticks lay their eggs in large numbers (1000 to 10,000 from just one tick) before dying. Eggs hatch into larvae which seek a host animal, feed for several days, before dropping off to find shelter in which they moult in nymphal ticks.
The nymphs do the same as the larvae (seek host, feed, drop off) and moult into adult ticks. Adult ticks follow the same habits, with the females then laying eggs to complete the life cycle.

All pretty grim and not much fun for your pet if they are the chosen host. FRONTLINE Spot On kills the three most common species of ticks found in Europe within 48 hours. Once they’re dead they should drop off naturally or can normally be removed with a gentle pull using tweezers. If not, consult your vet.

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For further info please visit www.hugyourpet.co.uk

FRONTLINE Spot On contains fipronil. Always read the label.



Expert Advice: How To Treat Fleas & Ticks is a pet care article from: Pet Library

Dogs are able to see colour, just not to the extent that humans can. They are actually dichromatic which means they can see two primary colours – yellow and blue. Humans are trichromatic in their ability to see three primary colours – yellow, blue, and red. This is partially due to the composition of the eye itself. The eye consists of cells known as rods and cones. The former is responsible for seeing black and white while the latter is all about colour.

photo credit: Sugar Pond

The human eye is made up about 7 times more cone cells than the dog eye. The more cone cells an eye has, the brighter and more pronounced the colours will be. Because of their low cone count, when dogs do see colour, it appears pale and faded. In contrast, dogs have a higher concentration of rod cells which means that they can see much better in lower light situations.

Contrary to what most people believe about dog vision, they can see colours in addition to various shades of grey. As mentioned, dogs are dichromatic which means they have two different colour receptors. These colour receptors peak at yellow-green and blue-violet which means that dogs are green-blind. This is where colour blindness comes in. Colour blindness occurs when any colour deficiency is present. Most colours are muted so red and green may actually appear yellowish and brownish or even shades of grey.

Because of the way the dog’s eye is constructed, an orange ball lying on green grass may all look yellow to the dog. However, this is not to say dogs have inferior vision simply because they do not see colour the same as we. Most dogs have exceptional depth perception because of the position of their eyes. Their perception of movement is also quite strong, especially in the distance, although vision close up is not as good.

As dogs get older, their eyes change, just like ours. In most cases, the eyes of older dogs may appear cloudy which is often due to nuclear degeneration. As the nucleus of the eye’s lens ages it gets harder and denser changing how it refracts light. Despite these physical changes the vision is affected very little.

When puppies are born, their eyelids are closed because their eyes are still forming. The eyelids remain closed for the first two weeks of life. When the eyes open, they typically appear bluish-grey and hazy. By the age of 8 weeks, the puppy’s eyes will have achieved adult coloration but vision is still developing. However, it is at this time that they begin to see the colours they are able to.

Are Dogs Actually Colour Blind? is a pet care article from: Pet Library

As Pet Owners, We Tend To Forget That Dog’s Are Nature’s Animals

Several thousand years ago dogs were initially domesticated for their functional value; hunting helpers, village and stock guards, even body-warmers in bitter cold climates. These basic functions are no longer required by modem civilization and, the dog’s capacity to cooperate within a group for the mutual benefit of its members is stifled – frustrated. Without some meaningful functional nurturing, dogs grow older, mature physically, but behave like puppies emotionally – seeking attention and care, totally frustrated, denied any competent guidance toward filling an acceptable role in the family.

photo credit: Lucy Boynton

On the human side of the equation, as we become increasingly dependent on verbal skills and electronic communications, a pet animal is sometimes our only meaningful daily contact with the animate, natural world. However, without an opportunity to develop nonverbal communications with animals, dog owners tend to use human verbal and physical abilities (vocal commands, scolding, manipulation, force, punishment) to communicate with their pets. Most people mistakenly think dogs must simply be “trained” if they are to learn how to behave properly. When training fails, both owner and dog become frustrated, and problems develop. While formal (deliberate) training is an important element in a satisfying relationship, informal training is at the root of most problem behavior.

Dogs learn from, and react to, the way people behave. Movement, stance and sound communicate with dogs. On the other hand, as dogs struggle to communicate with people through their own movements, postures and sounds, they are too often misinterpreted; or ignored. This only widens the frustrating communications gap for both parties.

It may seem far-fetched to propose that behavior consultants should help dog owners learn how to interpret their pet’s behavior, then use movement, stance and special sounds, in order to communicate effectively, and hence, live together harmoniously. However, it is not unrealistic at all. Once the basics of effective human/canine communications are learned and applied, they play a crucial role in correcting behavior problems humanely and effectively.

It doesn’t occur to most dog owners that shouting at a barking dog is, in fact, joining in the racket – responding with the human version of the same behavior. When their dogs do become silent,  it is because they associate the owner’s tone of voice with disapproval and/or fear of impending pain from punishment. Excitable types, or those with some prior traumatic experience, usually become worse.

In the non-verbal world of dogs, silence means quiet, inaction begets stillness, and movement stimulates action. The fact that this patently obvious facet of non-verbal communication must be written or talked about to gain attention among dog owners further points up the extreme verbal orientation of humans. Spoken language is just noise to dogs. It is a tribute to their adaptability that they actually learn the meaning of certain key sounds, which usually comes about through a combination of the dog’s intelligence and the owner’s almost accidental consistency when referring to certain events or objects.

How Do Dogs Think? is a pet care article from: Pet Library

Homemade dog food is becoming a popular option, although hardly a new one, for many dog owners. Every dog alive today can be traced back to dogs who were raised on homemade natural diets. The dog food industry, in comparison to dogs themselves, is young – maybe 50 to 60 years – although canned meat was sold as dog food at the turn of the twentieth century. Originally, the commercial foods were meant to supplement homemade food.

With few exceptions, commercially made dry food is primarily cereal based with the major portion of the protein coming from grains and a dash of animal protein in the ingredients. An amazing number of dogs have been able to exist and adapt to these diets, which have made the dog into a partial herbivore instead of a carnivore. Canned diets, which usually contain more animal protein with a dash of cereal, are also popular, especially among toy breeds. Some people successfully combine these two.

photo credit: deovolenti

Many dogs cannot thrive on commercially prepared rations. However, they exhibit disease states, often mistaken for allergies, which are deficiency diseases caused by cereal-based foods. Dogs in a natural state would eat meat. Their teeth are formed to tear flesh from the bone, and they would share a carcass with a pack of other dogs.

The carcass would be that of a grass-eating animal – an herbivore. Along with the internal organs dogs would eat the predigested grasses and plants of the carcass. Those grasses and plants would consist of no more than 20 to 25 percent of the dogs’ total diet. They would raid nests from ground-breeding birds and eat the eggs, and they would catch the occasional insect. These dogs might forage on certain weeds and grasses.

In formulating a more natural diet we have stayed within these boundaries – with the exception of the insects. A natural diet follows as closely as possible what the dog would eat if still in the wild state. It takes into account the limitations of the dog’s short digestive tract, strong stomach acid and the enzymes the canine system produces to break down food. It consists of two meats: One is a cereal meal plus supplements, which makes up 25 percent of the total diet, and the other is a raw meat meal plus supplements, which is 75 percent of the total diet.

The advantages of a natural diet are many. Health and longevity are increased, there is resistance to disease and the diet can be tailored to individual needs. This is crucial for some breeds of dogs, especially imported dogs or relatives of imported dogs, who have difficulty in digesting corn, which is in the majority of prepared commercial diets. The diet allows individual ingredients to be substituted.

Natural Feeding For Dogs is a pet care article from: Pet Library

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