Fleas can affect not only the life of the pet but the life of the owner as well. A dog infested with fleas commonly develop secondary skin infections because dogs that have these bloodsuckers are overwhelmed by severe itching resulting from flea bites. Fleas have to be exterminated as apart from the discomfort these tiny parasites cause the dog, fleas can also transmit tapeworms to humans.
A dog infested with fleas would scratch incessantly, would have skin inflammation and noticed to suffer from hair loss conditions. A dog infested with fleas will have flea dirt on its skin. Flea dirts are digested blood that announce the presence of these bloodsuckers and should prompt a dog owner to start a flea eradication program. Although a flea infestation is not considered to be an emergency situation, many dogs that suffered from severe infestation have died because of anemia.
It is necessary to remove the fleas from the pet and from the environment to totally eradicate these bloodsuckers. Remember, these annoying insects can jump from the infested pet, lurk in the carpet or in dark places and jump on to the next host that can be another pet or human. The eradication must be started with bathing the pet with flea shampoo. After bathing the dog, use a fine tooth comb to remove the fleas that were not drowned in the flea bath. Flea baths and shampoos will be able to kill only adult fleas and leave the eggs to hatch thus to totally eradicate these tiny bloodsuckers it is important to repeat the process.
Removing fleas from the environment must be included in the flea eradication plan. Vacuum all the rooms giving particular attention to the carpet and carefully discard the vacuum bag that may contain fleas. To make sure that the vacuumed fleas will be killed, a strip of flea collar can be placed inside the vacuum bag. The dog’s beddings and crate must be washed with soap and hot water. Vacuuming and washing though would not remove all the fleas. Anti-flea sprays and insecticides must be used on all the rooms especially in places where the dog hangs out. To totally remove the fleas, the yard must be sprayed with insecticides as well.
Anti flea chemicals are readily available for owners wanting to make the pet flea-free. However, dog owners are cautioned against over usage of these chemicals as the pet can get sick if exposed to these chemicals repeatedly.
At Sarah’s Dogs you can find out more about what to do if your dog has fleas as well as first aid for dogs.
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