Summer is a time to enjoy soaking up the sun with your family, two and four-legged. The warmer weather is when our pets are busy exploring the great outdoors and when some parasites become especially active.
You don’t have to take your pet hiking, camping or even through the woods to expose them to fleas. Anywhere animals come into contact with each other – boarding facilities, pet daycare, the park or in your backyard – you can find fleas. They jump on pets and then take a free ride inside where they quickly make your carpet and furniture home.
Fleas are tiny brown parasites, about twice the size of the head of a pin, that can create big problems for your pet. Fleas are the worldwide number one cause of allergic dermatitis in dogs and cats. Symptoms of flea allergy dermatitis (FAD) include scratching, chewing, licking, inflamed skin and hair loss. Severe cases may lead to broken skin called hotspots, and granulomas – raised, edematous, oozing lesions that can cause permanent scarring. The food source for fleas is your pet’s blood, so a severe infestation can cause anemia or even death. Indoor or outdoor, dog or cat, all mammals are susceptible to flea infestations.
Fleas will make your pet scratch incessantly, creating raw spots on their skin that can become infected. Even if you don’t see them on your pet, they may be there. It can be easy to be misled into thinking that your pet’s scratching or licking is just part of its normal grooming.
Look for adult fleas behind your pet’s ears, around its head and neck, at the base of its tail, and in its “armpits” and “legpits” for fleas scurrying around beneath the hair coat. Also, check your pet for “flea dirt“, or what looks like black sand on your pet’s skin. A good trick for differentiating flea dirt, which is actually flea droppings, from dirt is to add a drop or two of water. Flea droppings contain partially digested blood, and will produce a red or rusty color when wet. The flea dirt that falls off of your pet becomes the food that feeds the flea larvae that are developing in your pet’s bedding or environment, like your carpets and furniture.
Even if you don’t find fleas or flea dirt, keep in mind that these pests may still be present. Cats are very good at grooming fleas off of themselves. This poses a new set of problems for cats and their owners because fleas are carriers of intestinal parasites called tapeworms. For a cat that ingests a tapeworm-carrying flea, the tapeworm will grow in the intestine, potentially causing change in appetite, coughing, bloody diarrhea, weight loss, a rough-dry coat, or just an overall poor appearance.
There are many products available for flea control. The newest, safest, and most effective are available from your veterinarian and are covered by the PurinaCare® plus Preventive Care plan. These products are also very convenient, requiring treatment only once a month. You may still notice a few fleas occasionally. Sprays for the home and garden can minimize this problem. But, be careful – only use products that are designed for your pet. Don’t use dog products on cats or vice-versa; many pets become seriously ill and even die from improper use of flea control products.