Fleas are a common pest that most pet owners will have to endure at some time in their pets’ lives. This is because fleas are small, fast, and spread very quickly. It’s easy for adult fleas to jump from one host animal to another. If not appropriately treated, fleas could lead to more health problems for your dog’s skin and fur.
Spotting fleas can be difficult for the naked eye to see. The best way to tell if your dog has fleas is by noticing constant itching, scratching, or chewing themselves. Once you take a closer look at your dog’s fur, you might notice these live fleas crawling or jumping around inflicting bites.
Fleas on your dog can grow into a serious issue very quickly. In this article, we will discuss how dogs can contract fleas, flea treatment methods, and what you should do as a pet parent to avoid a flea problem.
How Can a Puppy Get Fleas?
Let’s talk about how a puppy can get fleas in the first place. Puppies can become infested with fleas through contact with other animals or simply fleas in their home environment, such as a backyard. Fleas can spread throughout your home and yard every time your dog scratches, shakes, or makes any movement.
Fleas are external parasites that rely on the blood of a host animal to stay alive. They jump from host to host and nestle within your pet’s fur and lay eggs to continue their life cycle. This infestation happens so quickly that a flea infestation can go unnoticed for weeks – by this time it is too late.
Understanding the Flea Life Cycle
To truly understand how your puppy can contract fleas, let’s dive deeper into the life cycle of a flea. Knowing this information will help you properly treat your pet’s skin and prevent a heavy flea infestation. There are four life stages of the flea life cycle: Egg, Larva, Pupa, and Adult.
Adults live on your pet’s skin and lay eggs to further the infestation. One female flea can lay up to 2,000 eggs. The flea eggs hatch into larvae that can move on the host and feed on blood and flea dirt (digested blood from the adult fleas).
As the fleas grow into the pupa stage, they form cocoons. They can wait inside their cocoons anywhere from a few days to a year until a new warm-bodied host appears for them to live on. These cocoons can be found in warm cozy spaces such as fabric on your couch, carpets, dog’s bedding, etc. The juvenile fleas hatch from their cocoons, become adults, and hope to continue the flea life cycle once more.
Signs Your Puppy Could Have Fleas
Now that we have covered how your puppy can be infected and the life cycles of the most common external parasite, fleas. Let’s talk about the signs of fleas in dogs. Keeping an eye out for these signs will allow for prompt treatment and prevention moving forward.
Excessive Scratching
Scratching is one of the most common signs of fleas and is usually one of the first things a pet owner will notice. This scratching and itching may seem relentless. This is because flea bites are very uncomfortable for your pup. If you see this behavior, it’s a good idea to do a visual check of your furry friend’s fur and skin.
Intensive Grooming and Hair Loss
It’s normal behavior for your dog to groom themselves. It’s part of their hygiene routine! But, when this becomes intensive and incessant to the point of hair loss in certain areas of the skin, you should be concerned. This is your dog’s way of attempting to clean the fleas off of them.
Hot Spots
Some dogs can have an allergic reaction to flea saliva. This causes the area that has been bitten by a flea to become red and irritated. These inflamed spots are called “hot spots.” These most commonly occur on their neck, flanks, or around the base of their tail. If your dog itches at these spots, it can start to ooze and cause a condition called flea allergy dermatitis.
Muscle Loss, Pale Gums, or Lethargy
In severe cases, signs of a flea infestation could be muscle loss, extreme lethargy, or pale gums on your pup. These are all signs of anemia, which occurs when an animal experiences blood loss in mass amounts.
Pepper-Like Specs
Another sign of dog fleas is finding small black specks on your pet’s bedding and fur. This is called “flea dirt,” and is actually just flea poop. Gross! An effective way to tell if these black droppings are actually adult flea feces is to gather a few droppings on any white towel or white paper towel, wet it, and see if they turn red. Red means they are in fact actual flea droppings because it is composed of digested blood.
Black/Reddish-Brown Insects on Your Dog’s Fur
Spotting actual fleas on your dog’s fur are probably the most serious indication of severe infestations. You might find these black or reddish-brown insects on your dog’s fur on your pet’s comb during grooming or even while you are petting your dog. If you are using a fine-toothed flea comb, you may even be able to spot the flea eggs, which look like small white ovals.
How Fleas Affect Your Dog’s Health
A single flea bite can cause your dog irritation and discomfort. On top of itching, red pimples, and hair loss, your dog can develop a serious disease such as anemia or tapeworms if these insect bites are not treated immediately.
How to Treat and Prevent Your Puppy’s Fleas
The best way to avoid a flea problem is with flea prevention. A flea infestation on your pet and in your home can be a difficult task to overcome. Getting rid of existing fleas requires deep cleaning with heavy chemicals on all of your soft surfaces.
This is why preventing fleas from getting into the home in the first place is the best method. The good news is that this can easily be done with flea collars, oral medications, and topical liquids like flea shampoos. To figure out which are going to be the most effective treatments for your dog’s specific case is to get veterinary advice. Different species of fleas and stages of life may require a combination of these treatments.
Summary
To summarize, fleas are a pest that pet parents commonly have to deal with when it comes to dogs at any age. They are easily spread from animal to animal or within your pet’s environment. A flea has a life cycle that consists of adults laying eggs on your dog’s skin to produce more fleas and further the infestation.
If you notice excessive scratching, red dots on your dog’s skin, or black flecks in their fur or bedding, there is a good chance your puppy has fleas. A flea infestation in the home is exceptionally hard to get rid of, but luckily it is easy to prevent. Methods such as flea collars, pills, and ointments can be used regularly to ensure your puppy does not contract these parasites.
We hope this article has been helpful in learning more information about flea infestations, treatments and prevention for your beloved pet!
Check out our post: I WANT A YORKIE PUPPY NOW! WHAT’S THE COST?
Pingback: I WANT A YORKIE PUPPY NOW! WHAT’S THE PRICE? -