When the cold and frost of winter and spring begin to leave and summer arrives, you want your pets to be able to enjoy the outdoors just like you. But that can mean exposing them to fleas, ticks, mosquitos, and high temperatures.
In today’s blog from SoMo Farm & Ranch, our Springfield pet supply store offers tips to keep your yard and your pets pest-free and heat-happy.
The Yard
Remove standing water
Standing water is a magnet for mosquitos. The female mosquito prefers to lay her eggs near or on the water where the babies will hatch in just a few days. It’s essential to dump, drain, or blow any standing water in or around your yard to deter mosquitoes from mating. It only takes a tablespoon of water to make the perfect breeding surface for these pesky biters. Mosquitoes can bite your animals, just like you, causing discomfort and even illness.
Rake up and remove leaves
Ticks love cool, dark places. A pile of leaves offers just this kind of space. When your animals run or lay in piles of dead leaves and brush, they become the perfect host to ticks lying in wait. By removing the leaves and burning or taking them to a compost facility, the ticks no longer have a home. This makes your yard an accessible place for your pets to roam and rest.
Trim trees and bushes
Like leaves, trees and bushes are good places for ticks to hide. When your dog or cat walks through them, a tick can easily leave the brush and attach to your pet. Keeping them trimmed can reduce this risk.
Clean your gutters
Gutters filled with leaves, debris, and rainwater become excellent harbors for mosquitoes to mate as well as ticks to live. While these may be far above where your animals roam, newly hatched mosquitoes will fly down, looking for food.
Ticks can be blown out for wind or move to nearby tree branches and work themselves down toward the ground to attach to an animal passing by them. Cleaning your gutters every fall and spring will help guard against this happening.
Spray problem areas
Ticks love to live in dark places. While your vegetable garden may look delicious, ticks will find new homes deep in your lettuce leaves and other more dense, leafy vegetables. Spray them with a pet-safe pesticide to kill ticks and other pests while keeping your crop and pet safe. Be sure to treat your pets with a year-round tick treatment.
The Heat
Like us, dogs and cats can get sick from high heat and sun. Offering them cool, shaded areas allows them to rest out of sun and heat while still enjoying the outdoors. Be sure to keep a dish of fresh water out for them, and keep it cool. You could even add some ice cubes to the water on extremely hot days. Dump and replace the water every day to keep mosquitoes from using it as a mating ground.
If you have a pet house, be sure to clean it often, including washing the bedding, and spray with a pet-safe pesticide so they can relax comfortably without the intrusion of pests.
If you play vigorously with your dogs outside, consider running a hose for them to get wet. Cool water works better to help regulate their temperature.
SoMo Farm & Ranch Wants Your Pets to Stay Healthy!
SoMo Farm & Ranch loves animals, and we want to keep them as happy and healthy as possible. If you need pesticides or shelter for your animals this summer, contact us or call 417-865-0312 today. We have an array of products available to fit your needs, including pet food and supplies, at our store in Springfield, Missouri.