How Environmental Pest Control Keeps Your Pets Safe and Healthy
Maybe you own a Border Collie, or a Siamese kitten, or even a pet alligator (we don’t judge). We know you treat your pets like family, and only want the best for them. Here at Killingsworth we love our pets so much, we even gave our dogs jobs as pest detection specialists. They’re actually really good at what they do, too!
Our sweet pets spend more time in our yards than we do. Whether they’re rolling around in your garden beds, chasing squirrels through the trees, or sunbathing on the lawn, we want an environmentally-friendly and safe environment for them to spend their time. Heavy chemical and pesticide use can harm pets, as well as poison and damage their central nervous system. Plus, all these chemicals are harmful to your home and environment!
So when it comes to pest control, it’s important to make sure your pest treatments are environmentally friendly and safe for your family and pets. Let’s take a closer look at the ways environmental pest control protects your four-legged family members.
How can pests affect my pets?
Pest control not only protects your home against pest damage, but also everything inside of it. Since pets are naturally curious, they’re more likely to engage with an insect or wildlife that may be dangerous to them. Different types of pests can spread disease and cause injury to household pets.
Diseases that can be transmitted from rodents to pets
Rodents like rats and mice can spread diseases to pets like:
Leptospirosis
Leptospirosis is caused by a bacteria that is passed through contact with the urine of an infected animal or contaminated water.
Toxoplasmosis
Toxoplasmosis comes from the Toxoplasma gondii bacteria that is found in warm-blooded animals. This infection is highly contagious to cats and is dispersed through their feces.
Tularemia
Tularemia is also known as Rabbit Fever, and is easily passed on to humans from household pets that have eaten contaminated rodents, or have been bitten by infected ticks or spiders.
Rat Bite Fever
Rat Bite Fever is similar to Rabbit Fever and pets may not show symptoms until three weeks after becoming infected. Pets are usually unaffected by rat bite fever, and instead are carriers of the bacteria which can easily spread to humans.
Roundworms
Roundworms are common intestinal parasites that can be found in several types of rodents, birds, and some insects like earthworms and cockroaches. Roundworms are easily treatable and not serious in adult dogs. However, puppies can experience nutritional deficiency due to the parasite taking the majority of nutrients from the food eaten by the puppy.
The Plague
The Plague is usually passed to pets through contact with infected rodents, rabbits, and fleas. Coyotes and bobcats can also carry the plague, so it’s important your pets don’t come in contact with these predators. Though dogs are fairly tolerant to the disease, humans can easily catch the plague and become ill.
Rabies
The Rabies bacteria is the most known on this list with most states having mandatory laws that domesticated dogs and cats must be vaccinated for prevention. Rabid animals spread the disease through the saliva. Unfortunately, pets with rabies must be put down immediately since diagnosis can’t be confirmed until the pet is euthanized.
Diseases that can be transmitted from insects to pets
As mentioned before, insects like ticks, fleas, and mosquitoes can also spread diseases to household pets including:
Heartworm
Heartworms are transmitted by infected mosquitoes and contracted by both cats and dogs. Heartworms in cats aren’t usually as serious as dogs, since the cat’s body isn’t the ideal host for the parasite. The parasitic worms look similar to spaghetti noodles that fill the heart and significantly reduce blood flow. Pets that contract heartworms will have respiratory issues and struggle to perform strenuous exercise.
Lyme Disease
Lyme Disease can be spread by ticks that have been on the animal’s body long enough to transfer the disease. Lyme disease can go months without visible symptoms, which is why late detection is common. This illness can cause pets to have joint problems, lameness, limping, and lethargy, and more.
Cat Scratch Disease
Cat Scratch Disease is a bacteria that is spread through fleas to cats and causes flu-like symptoms in felines. Surprisingly, treatment is not needed unless the cat shows visible symptoms of being ill. Otherwise, many cats can live with the disease without noticeable side effects.
Without pest control, pests such as rodents, ticks, mosquitoes and fleas can infiltrate your home and threaten the health of your pets. However, when attempting to treat these pests, you may end up causing unintentional harm. Common pesticides can be toxic to pets when not handled professionally and with precautions. Let’s examine the danger common pesticides pose to domesticated pets.
How can pesticides affect my pets?
The overuse of pesticides both indoors and out can have a detrimental affect on your pets. Chemicals on the lawn can get trapped in pets’ fur and can be ingested when cleaning themselves. Inside, chemicals — when not applied correctly — may end up in or near pets’ food, bedding, or toys. If pets are exposed to high amounts of pesticides, they may be poisoned, causing severe illness, difficulty breathing, and seizures, among other symptoms.
The difficulty is, pesticides, in some form, must be used to treat pests. So how can you protect your pets from harmful pests, while also protecting them against harmful pesticides?
The answer: environmental pest control.
The Importance of Environmental Pest Control for Pets
What is the difference between environmental pest control and other types of pest control?
Two of the key differentiators of environmental pest control are its usage and its methods. Many pest control companies spray pesticides indoors and out quarterly simply because “it’s time”. However, it’s not necessary to treat for pests that often! Quarterly treatment usage increases the amount of chemicals and pesticides used, further increasing your pet’s chances of being affected by their toxins. Unfortunately, many companies convince you that this amount of pesticides are necessary to treat your home, which isn’t always the case.
Instead, pest control companies should use strategic methods that include exclusion, sanitization, and monitoring to reduce the amount of pesticides needed to defend your home against pests. In doing so, these companies are able to further protect your furry family members from harmful toxins and overexposure to pesticides.
What makes Killingsworth’s pest control environmentally friendly and safe for pets?
At Killingsworth, we always practice what we preach. We wouldn’t tell you to search for a pest control company that doesn’t overuse pesticides if we didn’t do it ourselves!
We treat for pests annually, which allows us to significantly decrease the amount of pesticides used around your home. Additionally, we only treat for pests if it’s needed! By using methods such as exclusion, sanitization, and monitoring, we’re able to track pest activity, determine which pests to target, and treat those pests specifically. For us, there’s no “one size fits all” approach to pest control; we make sure our efforts are tailored to your home’s pest issues, every time.
We understand the threat pests pose to the health of your beloved pets, which is why we work even harder to protect your pets from the effects of pesticides. In fact, it’s a large part of why we only use essential oils to treat for mosquitoes!
Environmental pest control is what we do — heck, it’s even in our name! So if you’re tired of taking risks with drugstore pesticides, or pest control companies that bug you to spray just because “it’s time”, get in touch with us. We’re happy to show you why environmental pest control matters for your home, your health, and your pets.
Schedule an appointment with our pet control experts today!
