THE FACTS: FLEAS and TICKS

FLEAS and TICKS FACTS

Dr Greengood’s mission is to provide “safer solutions to your insect problems”! Our 100% non-toxic to humans and pets products are important because your family’s safety is at risk and can be adversely affected in very dangerous ways. In fact, concluding a seven year study, the Center for Disease Control has said that in some cases you are better off suffering insect bites than to be subjecting yourself and your family to the known consequences of having come into close contact with the toxins used in many common pest control product

Following are some facts on fleas and ticks and on the poisonous and other so-called safe insecticides used to treat them:.

Fleas may be very small insects but they can be highly dangerous to both pets and humans, as they can transmit a number of diseases, some of which can be fatal. In addition to claws on its legs a flea has a spine-like projections on its mouth, legs and back to prevent it from being easily removed. A bacterium (Yersina pestis) spread by fleas and also called the “black plague” or “bubonic plague”, in 14^th century Europe, killed more than 25 million people a quarter of the entire European population at the time*. Imagine every 4^th person died*. Ticks are known to transmit Lyme Disease, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever and many other potential diseases.

Before the discover of antibiotics, in the last century, epidemics have also occurred in Egypt, Africa, China, India and even the U.S. Plague still occurs throughout the world and is typically carried by wild rodents and transmitted to the fleas that bite them. Protecting your pet and yourself from these insects is essential as fleas can transmit the following diseases:

PLAGUE: While it is uncommon for humans to contract the plague today your pet can still become infected. A flea that has bitten an infected wild animal can easily infect a cat or dog and pass along the disease. Plague kills.

TAPEWORMS: Pets can ingest fleas carrying tapeworms and once inside your pet these tapeworms hatch and attach themselves to your pet’s intestines causing weight loss vomiting and irritation.

FLEA ALLERGY DERMATITIS: One bite from a flea can lead to hot spots and extreme itchiness for your pet. These hot spots are infected areas on the skin that can become a much larger wound, as your pet continues to itch and bite at it. Your dog’s tongue continues to spread the bacteria around and can inflame other areas.

CAT’S SCRATCH DISEASE (CSD): This disease does not really negatively impact your cat’s health but can have an extremely dangerous impact on the cat’s owner, or other humans that come into contact with the pet. It is believed that almost 40% of cats carry this disease at some time in their lives. Humans contract it, when infected flea feces on a cat’s claws or fur, is transmitted from pet to owner through a bite, lick or scratch. CSD can cause fever, headaches, and fatigue in humans and can have even more serious consequences for those with a weakened immune system.

HAEMOBARTONELLOSIS: This disease affects cats and targets red blood cells. Symptoms can be mild to severe and can result in anemia causing weight loss and an accelerated heart rate. In some cases infected cats have been observed eating dirt. Without treatment cats can die from this disease.

MURINE TYPHUS: Only a few cases of this disease are reported annually and it seems to occur in rat infested areas. It leads to headaches, body aches, fever, and rashes. It does respond well to antibiotics.

LYME DISEASE: Transmitted by a tick bite. Symptoms include fever, arthritis, cranial nerve palsy, carditis, fatigue and influenza like illness

ROCKY MOUNTAIN SPOTTED FEVER: Also transmitted by a tick bite.  Symptoms include fever, headache, altered mental status, myalgia and rash.

 The most common flea and tick control products are collars, topical solutions and oral tablets. Two of the most widely sold topical solutions contain poisonous chemicals such as imidacloprid, fipronil, permethrin, methroprene and pyriproxyfen.** All of these chemicals have been shown to cause serious health problems in animals.*** The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in 2008, reported more than 44,000 complaints of “adverse reactions”, to these products, including seizures, skin irritations and even death.**** The product labels will warn not to get them on your skin, keep them away from children, yet go right ahead and put them on your pet. Really? The other brands and types of flea control products, such as collars and oral tablets, commonly available, are no less dangerous and the top selling “once a month” tablets****** are basically just “chemotherapy” for your pet.

One of the chemicals noted above Imidacloprid has been proven to present an unacceptably high risk to bees and lead to Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD)*****. Imidacloprid found wide use as an insecticide in the mid 90’s and later research showed that, bees consuming the pesticides suffered an 85% loss in the number of queens their hives produced*****. Similar effects have also been noted in other studies on birds, aquatic life and plant life*****.

There are other “non-toxic” flea and tick control products also available, but some come with their own dangers, as they are considered “non-toxic” only at minimum dosage, but toxic at higher dosages. There are also powders to spread all around the carpeting in your home, but even these come with inhalation warnings and the drawbacks of having to have a foreign substance, such as a powder, in your carpet. Those homes with significant hard surface flooring are really not a practical place to spread a powder.

There is no other product like Dr Greengood’s Flea and Tick Killer:

   It is 100% non-toxic to humans, pets and the environment,

   Has true third party independent laboratory testing certifying its safety and efficacy, by the prestigious  American Academy of Entomological Sciences*******

   Can be used to apply both directly to your pet, killing fleas on contact, and also to treat your pet’s habitat and other areas of your home, to prevent your pet from becoming re-infested with fleas.

 Dr Greengood’s Habitat Flea and Tick Killer is specially formulated to treat those areas around your home, frequented by your pet; it dries quickly and is odorless, colorless and will not stain any treated surface.

 *Illinois Department of Public Health, Flea Prevention & Control

**Peta: Flea Control safe Solutions

***Kathleen Dudley,” Are Spot-On Flea Killers Safe?”, The Whole Dog Journal, Feb. 2002

****Edie Lau, “US EPA Confirms Problems Exist With Spot-On Flea, Tick Treatments,” VIN News Network, 18 March 2010

*****U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, “Pesticides: Health and Safety”, 9 May 2012

*****CA. Department of Health- Dept of Pesticide Regulation, Matthew Fosser PhD

******F. Beugnet et al., Comparative Efficacy on Dogs of a Single Topical Treatment with the Pioneer Fipronil/(S)-Methoprene and an Oral Treatment with Spinosad against Ctenocephalides felis,” Parasite, 18 (2011): 325-31

******Testing Certification, Dr. Jeffrey Brown, The American Academy of Entomological Sciences