- Common Disease Name:
- Fleas
- Medical Term for Disease:
- Fleas
- Species Affected by Disease:
- Dogs and cats
- Age Animal Usually Affected:
- Any
- Commonly Affected Breeds:
- Any
- Sex Usually Affected:
- Both
- Disease Symptoms:
- Excessive itching or chewing, seeing fleas- readily visible small, black rapidly moving bugs, on the dog, flea bite marks or welts on dog or owner, particularly in the summer. Fleas do not fly, but travel from animal to animal or to human or into the environment. Fleas do not burrow into the skin, but can be seen crawling on the animal. Fleas like to hang out on your pet in moist areas such as around the anus and the mouth, particularly under the chin,. You may see specs of black 'flea dirt' which is actually dried blood the flea excreted after a blood meal from your pet.
- Methods of Diagnosis:
- Visualization of adult fleas, flea dirt or flea larva.
- Disease Causes:
- Infestation by adult fleas means you have them in your house and/or yard. The adult flea stays on your pet for most of its approximately 6-week life span, and can produce up to 20 to 30 eggs per day. These tiny eggs fall off the pet into the carpet and small cracks in hardwood floors. The complete flea life cycle, from egg to larva to pupa to adult, normally takes anywhere from 9 to 15 days. The pupa stage can become dormant up to 200 days under the wrong conditions such as cold temperatures or lack of a host(warm blooded animals/people). When the pupa senses vibrations, carbon dioxide from breath, or warmth that tells it an animal host is near, it finishes developing into an adult and emerges from its cocoon. Flea pupae rapidly finishes developing into adults and emerged, looking for your dog, cat or you!
- Treatment:
- To get the flea infestation under control, you need to use a premise treatment with which will immediately kill adult fleas and leave a residual insect growth regulator (IGR) to stop the hatching phase. An oral flea medication such as Capstar can be given to immediately kill the fleas on the dog, but it stays in his system for only 24 hours. Follow it with a topical spot-on flea treatment like Advantage, TopSpot or Frontline. Prethrin sprays will also kill fleas on contact, but will not last over a day.
- Prognosis:
- Excellent with strict flea control
- Complications:
- Blood loss, anemia and death in very young or severely debilitated animals. Fleas can infect your pet with intestinal tapeworms. Flea bite hypersensitivity can develop as well as secondary bacterial infections and acute moist dermatitis or hot spots.
- Prevention:
- Topical treatments such as Frontline, Advantage and TopSpot, daily spray on pyretrhin sprays such as Adam's Flea Mist or Frontline spray, which lasts longer. Flea shampoo and Paramite dip. Oral flea medications such as Capstar and Program. Flea collars have some potential to help repel fleas. Premise treatments are needed as well to kill hatching fleas before they get back onto your pet.
- Medicines Used for Treatment of Disease:
- See Prevention. Also pets sometimes need antibiotics and steroids for severe problems.
- Helpful Products:
- See Prevention. Flea combs are helpful in identifying flea problems.
