External Dog Parasites And How To Treat
WHAT IS A PARASITE?
A parasite is an organism that lives off the resources your dog has to offer: namely, fresh blood (which most parasites drink) and a warm place to stay (in and on the skin and fur). External parasites are pretty common among dogs.
The common parasites that affect dogs are:
These parasites cause adverse reactions in your dog such as, itching and inflamed skin, a dull coat, and bald spots. In cronic cases, your dog may develop anemia (blood loss) and become generally debilitated (particularly in the very young, very old, or those suffering from another ailment).
External parasites also convey secondary and internal parasites to your dog. Fleas often carry the common tapeworm (which causes constipation and flatulence), and ticks can cause a variety of much more serious problems like Lyme’s disease and paralysis.
LOOKING AT FLEAS
Small, light brown jumping insects, fleas are without doubt the number-one most common external parasite affecting dogs. Although numerous, humans generally can’t see them – they move much too quickly for that!
Fleas feed on your dog’s blood. The life cycle of a flea moves very rapidly from stage one (egg) to stage four (adult flea), which means they’re capable of multiplying with staggering rapidity.
An adult flea lays hundreds of eggs per day. Each egg will then become an adult flea, which lay hundreds more eggs of its own. One flea becomes a major problem very quickly!
DOES YOUR DOG HAVE FLEAS?
The symptoms of a flea infestation are obvious.
A dog with a flea infestation will scratch almost constantly. The areas that fleas seem to favor are : the ears, the base of the tail, the belly, and the stifle (the webbing of soft skin between the thigh and the abdomen).
It isthe saliva of the flea that causes irritation, not the bite itself. Some dogs react allergically to the flea saliva. Dogs with allergies suffer more significant reactions to a flea infestation, and usually develop “hot spots”.
These hot spots are areas of sore, inflamed, flaking, bleeding, and infected skin, caused by the flea saliva and your dog’s own reaction to it. Bald patches will sometimes develop too, from repeated scratching and ongoing inflammation.
To confirm your dog has fleas take a closer look at his skin. Although you probably won’t be able to see the fleas themselves, you should see what looks like ground pepper (a thin sprinkling of fine black grains) on his skin. This is flea excrament.
Use a flea comb when grooming your dog (which is like a fine-tooth comb), try wiping it on a paper towel: if red blotches show up on the towel, you know that your dog has fleas (on a white background like a paper towel, flea poop shows up red: since fleas subsist on blood, their poop is colored accordingly).
FLEA TREATMENT
Fleas only spend a small amount of time actually on your dog, and the rest of their time leaping through your house laying eggs and feeding on human blood. Therefore it is not enough to just treat the dog. You also have to target his bedding, the entire house, all human bedding, and the yard (yes, fleas lay eggs all through the yard, too. Even the cold weather doesn’t kill flea eggs, it just puts them into a state of hibernation. The eggs will hatch as soon as it gets warm enough outside.)
You’ll need a broad-spectrum treatment which kills not only the adult fleas (which are the ones that bite), but also any developing fleas, and the eggs.
PREVENTION IS THE BEST FLEA CURE
You should keep your dog’s flea treatments up to date with a treatment prescribed by the vet. Off-the-shelf treatments aren’t recommended, since different dogs require different strengths depending on their size, age, and activity levels. A particular benefit of prescribed flea treatment is that most are also designed to prevent other parasites (like mites, ticks, and heartworm) affecting your dog.
FOR AN EXISTING FLEA INFESTATION
If your dog already has fleas, you have two options:
- You can ‘bomb’ the house and yard with a flea-pesticide. These come as foggers (which coat each room, and the yard, in a fine mist of pesticide) and sprays (which are applied manually to each surface throughout the house and yard), and although they’re very effective in killing fleas and eggs, there’s one major drawback: they are highly toxic to humans, dogs, and the environment. Depending on your priorities, this is probably the quickest solution to a flea problem (and will effectively wipe out the eggs, too) but if you have anyone in the house with allergies or a health condition – including pets! – you might want to think again.
- A more health-friendly alternative is to target the dog with a topical anti-flea solution prescribed by the vet (like Advantage or Revolution), and to rigorously clean the house on a regular basis until the flea problem has gone. This means vacuuming each room thoroughly each day – put a flea collar in with the vacuum bag to kill any fleas that get sucked up – and wash all human and dog bedding in hot water as often as you can (once every day or every two days is recommended). When the fleas are gone your dog won’t be scratching, and his coat will be clear of flea dirt when you inspect it.
WHAT NOT TO DO ABOUT FLEAS
- Don’t use multiple products on your dog – it’ll make him sick, since you’ll be overloading his system with toxins.
- Don’t forget to treat all the animals in the house at the same time: cat and dog fleas are interchangeable, and if one animal has fleas, they all will have them, even if some are not displaying the symptoms.
- Flea collars are no longer recommended as a safe option for flea prevention because the collars are highly toxic – vets have realized that placing a toxic material directly against your pet’s skin for long periods of time (flea collars have to be worn 24/7 to be effective) is detrimental to your dog’s health.
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON DOG PARASITES AND THEIR TREATMENT...
Fleas are just one of the many, many types of parasites that affect your dog. To find out more about the complete prevention and treatment of all types of parasites (external and internal), as well as a comprehensive guide to all aspects of dog health, take a look at The Ultimate Guide to Dog Health.
This book is an invaluable resource for the responsible dog owner, and will help you to ensure that your dog remains happy and healthy – just the way you want him to be!
Tags: Dog Parasite Flea Tick Mite Lice Treatment Tapeworm Itch Hairloss
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