Flea Control

Posts Tagged ‘flea problem’

Baby kittens are at a high risk of becoming ill when they have a flea burden

Everyone knows that flea infestations can be bothersome and irritating for your pet, but most people don’t realise that a heavy flea burden can actually be lethal in some circumstances. If you have a young puppy, kitten, or older pet, then they could be at risk of much worse than a few itchy bites.

Fleas, like mosquitoes, are blood parasites. Individually they only drink a small amount – average of 13.6 microliters (+/- 2.7 microliters) of blood per day. That doesn’t sound like much, but 100 fleas will drink 1.36ml of blood per day. In adults, this amount is a mere drop in the ocean, but for a 500g kitten with only 35ml of blood in total, that is a lot (3.8% of their total blood volume per day).  When you are losing that amount of blood, it doesn’t take long to get very sick.

Young puppies and kittens are at the highest risk for flea anaemia. Outdoor puppies and kittens are especially at risk, because they are more likely to come in contact with fleas and develop an infestation. They are also trying to grow, and before 16 weeks of age their bodies are not very good at producing new blood to replace what has been lost.

Older patients  (mostly small dogs and cats) can also be at risk, because they are often less able to groom themselves to get rid of fleas. Also, they are more likely to have chronic disease, which can decrease the ability of the body to produce new blood.

Signs of anaemia to look for include pale gums (normal is pink, with anaemia they can be white), listlessness, and in severe cases your pet may have cold extremities and a rapid heart beat. If your pet has any of these signs then they need to be taken to a veterinarian straight away, where they may need emergency treatment such as a blood transfusion.

If you notice large amounts of flea dirt on your pet, then you need to start flea treatment as soon as possible. Frontline spray is a good option for young pets, as it is licensed for use in puppies and kittens 2 days of age and older. For animals weighing over 1kg, Capstar also makes a good choice, as it provides fast-acting knockdown of all fleas on your pet within 6 hours.

If you have any concerns about your pet, then don’t hesitate to contact your local veterinarian. They will be able to advise you on your pet’s individual case.

To a flea free pet!

Dr. Simon

Photo: clevergrrl

Technorati Tags: anaemia, flea control, flea problem, kittens, puppies

Does your pet's fur look like this? Time to start flea treatment!

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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The moist sandy ground under this house would be a perfect habitat for flea eggs and larvae.

If your pet seems to keep getting fleas despite regular flea control, there is a good chance that you have a problem with fleas in your environment. If you have a heavy flea burden in and around your house, you will be fighting a losing battle. Anywhere that your pet has been, fleas will be! Here are a few strategies that will help you in your battle against fleas:

Technorati Tags: environmental flea control, flea control, flea problem, flea treatment

Sometimes flea infestations can be much worse than a simple itch. Flea Allergy Dermatitis (FAD) is an allergic skin disease that is caused by fleas. It is the most common pruritic (itchy) skin disease in the dog. Apart from being intensely uncomfortable, FAD can lead to severe complications such as deep skin infections, hair loss and scarring.

What is the cause?

FAD is caused by an allergy to the saliva of the cat flea, Ctenocephalides felis. Unfortunately for us Aussies, this happens to be the most commonly encountered flea in Australia. This is also the case in the warmer parts of America. Long coated breeds seem to be the most commonly affected. FAD is mostly seen in young adult dogs, but it can also develop in older dogs, often causing much more severe disease.

Signs of FAD

The most obvious sign of FAD is severe itchiness, leading to self trauma. This itchiness is independent of the number of fleas on your dog. This means that your dog will be just as itchy from five fleas as from fifty. In comparison, dogs without flea allergy dermatitis will show signs of itchiness directly in proportion to the number of fleas that they are carrying.

Dogs with FAD have a common pattern of redness, papules, hair loss and crusting over the base of the tail. This will eventually spread to the top of the back, perineum, thighs and abdomen if left unchecked. After a while, dogs with FAD may develop bacterial or yeast infections in these areas due to the trauma.

But my dog doesn’t have fleas!

This is probably the biggest misunderstanding about Flea Allergy Dermatitis. Logically, you would think that if your dog has flea allergies, you should be able to find fleas, right? Wrong!

Strangely enough, finding fleas on a dog with flea allergy dermatitis is often quite difficult. These guys are extra itchy, so they tend to groom themselves more often than unaffected dogs, meaning they are more effective at removing fleas themselves. Not to mention that fleas are hard to find anyway, with only 5-15% of fleas on the animal able to be found at the best of times. So don’t make the mistake of thinking that your dog doesn’t have fleas just because you can’t find any!

What can I do about it?

If you think your dog might have this disease, you really need to visit a vet. Flea allergy dermatitis is a big deal, and delaying treatment often means that the problem gets worse and worse, and more expensive to fix. Not to mention the serious discomfort your pet will feel being itchy all the time.

Your local veterinarian will be able to examine your animal and prescribe the right medication. This will generally involve a strict flea control program, anti-inflammatory medication and possible antibiotics, antifungals or shampoos, depending on the type and severity of disease.

Prevention

Flea Allergy Dermatitis is nasty business, and is a problem best avoided rather than treated. The only way to ensure your dog will not get FAD again is to maintain a strict regimen of flea control all year round. Even one bite could possibly cause a relapse of disease, so you have to be especially vigilant.

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