Facts About Dog Fleas And Ticks

It’s the same sad song each year: “My dog has fleas and they are out of control”!

Every time warm weather approaches, veterinarians across the country will once again be overflowed with complaints and questions from worried dog and cat owners who are waging the recurrent battle against external parasites, particularly fleas and ticks.

The problem of parasites and the complications they cause is an extensive and serious one, but one that has been faced by nearly every pet owner at one time or another. In an effort to spare your pet a great deal of suffering this coming summer, we would like to answer two questions that are most commonly asked by pet owners about those annoying parasites; fleas and ticks.

What Exactly Are Fleas & Ticks?

Fleas are tiny insects that, as adults, must suck blood from another creature to sustain their own lives. Fleas are wingless, six-legged parasites, capable of jumping with surprising speed and may infest your pet alone by the thousands. The flea is a dark, reddish-brown color, similar to dried blood and is a common external parasite found in most parts of the United States.

The tick, a friend in misery to the flea, is generally dark in color, several times larger than the flea, and when on your pet does not move about but rather attaches itself to your pet’s skin and remains at that spot until it has satisfied its hunger for blood.

The female tick, engorged with blood, may look like a large, grayish-white, puffy pea-sized object which, on closer inspection, is attached by its tiny mouth to the animal’s skin. Often in close proximity to the underbelly of the female lies another smaller tick, a male waiting to complete the breeding cycle.

How Will I Know If My Pet Has Fleas Or Ticks?

The most common reaction of an animal infested with external parasites is an insatiable desire to scratch or chew at his skin. Frequent periodic checks of your pet’s skin and coat are advisable, especially during warm spring and summer months when the parasite problem reaches its peak performance. Fleas are frequently spotted leaping from place to place across the animal’s body.

If no fleas are readily apparent, part the animal’s fur close to the skin and check for flea excrement, which are specks of black, pepper-like dirt that, when wet, regain the color of the blood ingested by the flea. This discovery is a very good guarantee that fleas are present in your pet. On long-haired animals, checking the lower abdomen, genitals, and other areas of sparser hair growth will sometimes give clues when all else fails.

Ticks are more easily identified since they are easily seen by the naked eye. If long hair is in the way, a thorough stroking of the animal’s skin from head to toe will usually reveal the whereabouts of ticks by the feel of their tiny, hard-shelled bodies close to the skin.

Engorged female ticks are generally quite obvious because of their greatly enlarged size and distinctive appearance. Ticks frequently go unnoticed when lodged in ears, around the anus, on the tail, and in between paw pads, so be sure not to neglect those areas.

Do Different Parasites Prefer Certain Host Animals?

Yes, there are fleas that prefer cats and those that would rather have their meal on dogs. However, while some fleas do exhibit certain preferences, they are not usually host-specific. That is, in the absence of the preferred host, the flea will attack a less desirable host such as birds, rats, and even humans.

Ticks are more commonly associated with dogs but in areas of extremely heavy infestation, cats can be infested also. Ticks too, are not reluctant to dining out of humans when other hosts are not readily available or are already in great demand by other parasites.

Where Can My Pet Pick Up These Parasites?

There are several common ways for your pet to become infested with fleas and ticks. Animals living in wooded areas, or walked-in fields of tall grass, or near shrubbery, are likely targets for parasites lying, waiting to leap on the appropriate host.

Frequently, a new pet brought into the household introduces the parasite problem to other animals in that home. A visit to a grooming parlor, medical center, boarding kennel, dog or cat show, or even a simple visit to a neighbor’s home can spread infestation from animal to animal if rigid preventive hygiene is not practiced.

Furniture, bedding, rugs, walls and floors can retain parasite eggs for a long period of time and produce young fleas and ticks to attack pets newly arrived on the premises.

Why Are Fleas & Ticks Such A Complex Problem?

In addition to the purely mechanical irritation produced when a flea jumps from place to place along your dog’s body, and the tiny sting when he stops to take a meal, the mouth-parts of the flea contain saliva to which some unfortunate animals are highly allergic.

Such dogs and cats are in constant misery, biting and scratching incessantly, losing hair down their spines and rear legs, creating secondary bacterial infections from self-trauma, breaking the skin while biting or scratching themselves and allowing bacteria to enter, and occasionally losing enough blood to create a severe anemia.

To make the situation even worse, the flea is the intermediate host for the tapeworm which can infest your pet after he swallows even a single flea. The flea might also be a suitable host for the heartworm.

The tick can create skin problems of his own as the irritation he causes may be the initial stimulus in the creation of the moist dermatitis or hot spot. In addition, certain types of ticks (Dermacentor Andersoni) can actually cause paralysis and spread the terrible disease, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, that affects hundreds of people every year.

If I Live In The City Or In Colder Areas, Will My Pets Be Free Of These Parasites?

Unfortunately, no. There are fleas and ticks that have adapted themselves to living in cold climates as well as in urban environments. In fact, most of the city parasites are the most difficult to get rid of, since they, like the common housefly or cockroach, have become quite resistant to chemicals used by exterminators.