Fleas

Everyone loves the warmer weather, however along with it comes the perennial problem for dog-lovers, flea infestations!

A dog can pick up a hitch hiking flea anywhere but during the summer months we are likely to take our scallywags out and about more and they have much more opportunity to do what dogs love to do best, rummage around in unmentionable places! Flea eggs, which have been dormant during the colder months hatch in the warmer temperatures and the fleas latch on for a tasty meal. Cats are also culprits for picking them up and generously passing them around.

It stands to reason that preventative measures are essential:  there are a variety of spot on treatments such as Frontline or flea collars to choose from. Make sure you follow your vet’s or the manufacturer’s guidelines carefully to ensure optimum efficiency but also to avoid making your pet ill. There have been incidents where owners have inadvertently poisoned their pets by giving them the dosage intended for a larger animal, or being overzealous with the application.

A dog treated with one of these applications may bring home a random live flea, but it should not be able to survive if the dog has been dosed regularly and correctly, so any infestation will be nipped in the bud.

If you are unlucky and the dog brings home fleas you must act quickly or you will have an ongoing problem to deal with. The flea eggs can drop off and become embedded in your soft furnishings waiting for a likely host to happen by when they hatch. Treating your dog alone will not be sufficient you MUST take the following precautions to avoid re-contamination:

·         Wash your pet’s bedding immediately and either wash, vacuum or replace any soft furnishings & flooring in the house, especially where your pet likes to sit.

·         After vacuuming throw away the dust bag.

·         Thoroughly clean your dog’s grooming utensils after every use, preferably in bleach.

·         If the infestation is really bad you may need to invest in a flea bomb, available from pest control and/or vets or pet shops.

Bathing your dog in flea shampoo will help expedite matters, again ensure you follow instructions to the letter and avoid over dosing! Invest in a flea comb which will enable you to sift thoroughly through your dog’s coat and remove any you find. Note however that these precautions alone are not normally sufficient to eradicate the problem once it is entrenched.

Some dogs are unfortunately allergic or sensitive to flea treatments, or are resistant to them, which makes prevention a bit of a nightmare. However there are a number of natural preventative methods which you can try and there is plenty of information about these to be found on the internet and via other sources.

One final word of advice: fleas are carriers of tape worm eggs, so a flea infested dog is much more vulnerable to worm infestation. It is common sense therefore to make sure you treat a flea ridden dog for worms too.

Oh, and by the way, a flea carrying dog will NOT be welcome in a dog groomer's salon for obvious reasons! Taking your problem to a public salon is NOT the way to tackle this particular situation!