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Treating fleas in dogs

Fleas! By laura anderson | Published 04/20/2006 | Pets |

Fleas can cause a variety of health problems. Often problems that begin in puppy-hood continue for the duration of their lives and become an on going battle. Some dogs may be very sensitive to fleas and a few bites may cause tremendous itching and scratching. Other pups may have a lot of fleas and seem largely immune to their bites. Either way they are causing a problem.

A flea feeds on your puppys blood and a common problem is flea anemia, in which the fleas are actually feeding on enough of your puppys blood to cause there to be a deficit. If your puppy is anemic he is sick. His body is not getting enough nutrients and oxygen. He will have pale gums and mucus membranes. He will be much more susceptible to viruses and disease because his immune system is further compromised.

Fleas are the number one cause of allergies of dogs. It can take several years of constant flea infestations for a dog to develop a strong sensitivity to fleas and the rest of their lives will be spent battling the effects. An allergy builds over time. This year he is bitten, develops the sensitivity, and next year the bites compound and become a full blown allergy.

Veterinary dermatology laboratories can do special testing and develop specific immunotherapy serums to treat your dog for his allergies, but this can be costly and time consuming. It is the best way to treat a truly allergic dog however, as the alternative is steroids which cause severe problems of their own.

If you only need to have a cortisone or steroid injection once a season you are probably not doing too much harm but if it takes several to keep him comfortable through the summer then you might want to research other options such as allergy testing and treatment.

Fleas are also the vector for the tapeworm, a segmented flat worm. As a dog curries or chews on his flea ridden skin, he will invariably swallow them and as he does this the flea will find its way to the digestive tract. The flea becomes infected with tapeworm larva through his blood meal when he feeds from an infected animal. The tapeworm larva which lives in the flea will emerge and infect the dogs intestine, become lodged and begin to live off of your dog. You may occasionally see segments in your dogs stool, but if you dont that isnt proof that he is clear of them. You need a fecal analysis for that. The dog can reinfect himself by swallowing the tapeworm segments as they are full of new eggs looking for a host. If you have more than one dog they will pass them around.

Fleas should be controlled in a three tier manner. The dog, the house, and the yard. The dog, and any warm blooded pets, should be bathed (but not dipped, dips are too toxic and dont last long enough). The flea products should not be applied for 24 to 48 hours after the bath to allow the natural oils to come back to the skin surface. The products use the natural oil and dogs movement to cover the body.

The environment needs to be treated inside and out. If you have pets that come in the house at all, the fleas are in your house. They live quite comfortably in carpet and bedding. Fleas are photosensitive, which mean they run from the light. If you are treating the inside of your house yourself, try VetKem products from your veterinarian. Be sure to treat the edges of the room and under couches and beds. They love to hide in dark places. Wash all bedding, remove the pets from the area and treat the carpet.

A flea will live on the dog for a day or two for a blood meal and then jump off to lay eggs and reproduce for the next week or so. This means for every one you see on your friend, there are thousands more in the environment waiting to jump on and feed.

The yard needs to be treated as well, either professionally or by a veterinary recommended yard and kennel spray. Even if the dog doesnt go out much, you have animals who pass through and leave all kinds of things behind. Stray cats, skunks, opossums, squirrels, and raccoons are some of the frequent visitors to most yards. If they go out at all, and they must if they are housebroken, treat the yard.

You cant control the whole neighborhood so you must keep the puppy himself protected as well. Never use fleas collars. They hugely ineffective and can be very toxic. It is a common site to see a puppy covered with fleas except right around the collar. Not very helpful. Collars can become too tight as the pup grows and are toxic to the puppy. Frontline, Advantage, Revolution, and Sentinel are some of the top products available. Some of them require blood tests be done before you start using them if they include a heartworm preventative.

For more information on this subject and many more concerning your puppy visit http://www.puppys-place.com

Article Source: ArticleWorld.net