Identifying a Flea Problem
March 18, 2010 by Kelley
Filed under Dog Health
Identifying a flea problem can be difficult, what do fleas and their bites look like? Is your dog scratching? Does your porch have fleas, maybe and maybe not? A scratching dog doesn’t always mean they are flea ridden. Your dog could have skin allergies, dry skin, mites, or a fungal infection. If it’s fleas the easiest way to find out is to look. Search your dog’s fur, look for fleas and flea dirt (brownish-red specks of grit). Be diligent it can be difficult to see any signs of fleas on a dog with a thick coat or dark skin. You must search the dog’s skin not just the hair, because this is where the fleas hang out.
Click the above picture for more information about fleas!
If you simply can’t find your dog’s skin because the coat is too thick, then purchase a flea comb. Get a piece of white paper and put it on your floor. Using the flea comb, comb the area where your dog has been scratching. Clean your comb over the paper to see if there are any dead fleas or any other flea evidence present.
Flea dirt often looks like a sprinkling of black pepper on your dog’s skin. If you find something that is suspect, you can use a moist piece of tissue to verify if it’s flea dirt. Flea dirt is actually, flea feces and flea feces contain partially undigested blood. Use the moist tissue to blot at the area. If the tissue comes away with a blood-like color, then your pet probably has fleas.
Infested dogs will scratch and bite ceaselessly seeking relief from these minute monsters. Severely infested dogs may even develop bald patches.
Once fleas make your dog their home, they will quickly infest almost everywhere your dog frequents. This means that if your dog has fleas, then soon your house will too. Then you can expect the rest of your pets and your family to start getting bites.
As you can tell identifying a flea problem is not easy but can be done. Do you have a flea problem? Go to the following two articles for products on how to get rid of them.
