Your Dog And Fleas - A Closer Look

If you are a dog owner (I currently have 15), you probably battle fleas problems. Fleas are the most common parasite that will effect your dog. A parasite (external) is any organism that lives off your dogs' resources. The resources they are "borrowing" include your puppies' blood and his fur as a warm and cuddly home.

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    • Diagnosis
    
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    • Treatment
    
    
    
    
  
  In case you've never seen one, a flea is a very small brown. They can easily jump from one animal to another, so if you have more than one dog and one has fleas --they all have fleas. One of the major challenges with fleas is their rapid life cycle. They mature very rapidly from egg to adult, and one adult flea can lay hundreds of eggs a day. If each of these eggs becomes an adult flea and lays hundreds of eggs - Well I think you can see where this is going.
  If your dog has fleas, you will be able to tell by his incessant scratching. Fleas tend to be more prevalent around the ears, tail, and belly. Some dogs, I have one myself, have a severe allergy to flea saliva. This allergy will result in "hot Spots" which are areas of sore, flaking, and bleeding skin. Your dog may scratch so hard and often at these hot spots that they will turn into bald areas.
  Confirmation of a flea infestation in your dog is fairly straightforward. Simply rake your dogs fur back away from the skin. If he has fleas you will see small black spots known as flea dirt. This is actually flea poop. You may also see some of the small brown bugs' scurry across your dogs' skin.
  Naturally, Prevention is the best medicine. Be sure to keep your dog on a Vet prescribed flea prevention program. Once contracted, elimination of the problem is twofold. You must get rid of the fleas on the dog - and in your home. If you don't alleviate the problem in your home, you will never clear your dog of this parasite. The fastest solution is a flea fogger inside and outside. Keep in mind that this is extremely effective, but also highly toxic.
  Popular current wisdom among vets is that is not a good idea to use a flea collar due to 24/7 exposure of your pet to the toxicity of the collar. Also, do not mix products. It may sicken your dog due to overexposure to the toxins.
  A safer alternative is to utilize a topical solution prescribed by your vet (such as Advantage). Don't ignore the house cleaning. Vacuum your carpet at least every few days. One good trick is to put a flea collar in the vacuum bag to kill any fleas or eggs that are sucked up. Also, all animals in the home must be treated at once. All animals in the house, both dogs and cats, will be infested. When your dogs' scratching subsides, your flea problem has been eradicated.
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