Flea Control

Posts Tagged ‘flea bites’

When we think of fleas, we usually think of the discomfort that they cause our pet dogs and cats. But fleas can also cause humans trouble too.  Just check out this photo of flea bites on a human’s foot.

Flea allergy dermatitis just basically means that you are allergic to the saliva of the flea. It most commonly is seen in dogs and cats, because they are much more likely to have flea infestations than humans.

However, when flea infestations are really bad (or there are no animals to jump onto), fleas will quite happily jump onto a human for a meal.

Now don’t panic – the cat flea cannot complete its life cycle on a human, so you won’t have your own flea infestation. But the bites can certainly be itchy, and they may possibly be infected.

If you notice any bites like these on your feet or anywhere else on your body, it is worth giving your dog or cat a very thorough check over for fleas.

If you find a flea or flea dirt on your pet, then you need to start treatment straight away. As long as there are fleas in the environment they will jump onto you and your pets to have a meal.

Whatever you do, don’t send the pets outside if you find fleas on them! This will only leave you and your family for fleas to feed on, making the problem worse.

Instead, treat your pet and let the fleas come to them (they prefer dogs and cats over humans). Make sure to treat every pet and keep treating every month.

If you do have itchy bites like this on your feet, it is also probably worth a visit to your doctor who may be able to give you something to stop the itching and swelling.

To a flea free pet!

Dr. Simon

 

photo: jebb

Technorati Tags: flea allergy dermatitis, flea bites, flea control, flea treatment

Is your pet itching and scratching a little more than usual? If they are, it might be an early sign of a flea problem, and you need to check it out.

The reason that fleas are such a big problem in dogs and cats is that they are perfectly adapted to their hosts. Their entire life is dedicated to survival. Fleas have many adaptations which allow them to survive in adverse conditions: They lay massive amounts of eggs, their larvae hide under carpet and furniture, they can lay dormant for up to 6 months, and they are very adept at hiding themselves on your pet.

Because fleas are so adept at hiding themselves, it can be hard to detect a flea problem, especially if the numbers of fleas are low. Here are three ways you can tell if your pet has fleas:

1. Look for fleasLooking for fleas on your pet is the most logical place to start when you are trying to check for a flea problem. One of the things that helps to find fleas is that they have favourite hangouts. The area over the base of the tail, around the collar, and over the back legs and belly are the  most common places to find fleas. Make sure you are extra thorough when looking in these areas.

   Using a flea comb will help you to find fleas. These fine-toothed combs are especially designed to catch fleas and will make flea detection a lot easierUnfortunately, fleas are very good at hiding. They are so good that we only find around 5-15% of the fleas on our pets. If your pet only has a few fleas, then there is a chance that you might not find them. So unfortunately, finding no fleas does not mean that there are none on your pet.

2. Look for flea dirt If you can’t find fleas themselves, sometimes your can find other evidence. One of the most common ways to diagnose a flea problem is to look for flea dirt. This is the digested blood excreted by fleas after finishing their blood meal. It looks like little black specks of dirt (hence the name).

   Wondering whether your pet has flea dirt or regular dirt? One of the easiest ways to figure out if the black spots you are seeing is flea dirt is to sprinkle a few specks on a moist paper towel. If it is flea dirt, the paper towel will dissolve the blood and turn red.The other way to check for flea dirt is to give your pet a bath. If they have a lot of flea dirt in their coat, this will stain the water a pale red colour.

3. Flea bites. Another sign of a flea problem is flea bites. These look like tiny red dots, and will most easily be seen on your pet’s belly. Chances are that if there are enough fleas to cause visible flea bites that there will be enough to find by other methods, but some pets are quite sensitive and can react to the bites of only one or two fleas.If you have a really bad problem, fleas might get desperate enough to humans too! Humans are not a typical host of fleas, but if there is an overload of fleas in the environment you will find that a couple will mistake you for a dog or cat and have a nibble.

So, what do you do if you find fleas? Ignore them? Only if you want to be battling a major flea infestation in a few weeks. Every female flea is capable of laying up to 50 eggs per day. 10 fleas on your pet means 500 eggs being laid every day. Fleas can complete their life cycle in as little as 2 weeks. Your house can quickly become overrun with fleas if you aren’t careful.

If you are not using any flea control and  you see any number of fleas, you need to start as soon as possible to reduce the chance of contaminating the environment with flea eggs.

If you are using flea control and you are seeing only a couple of fleas, don’t stress too much. Your pet may have picked up one or two fleas on a walk or from your garden. If you are using a good quality product these will be killed within 24 hours. If you are seeing more than a couple of fleas or your pet doesn’t go outside or walking, then you should talk to your veterinarian about possibly reasons why your flea control product isn’t working as well as it could.

To a flea free pet!

Simon

P.S. If you are looking for somewhere to buy flea control online then try Vet Products Direct

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