Dog fleas

A dog is a friend of man. Nobody argues with this statement for a long time. But a friend should always be healthy, so there is a need to constantly do prophylaxis to your favorites because of the appearance of flea on the body of the animal. In order to properly and effectively fight these parasites, you need to clearly understand what dog fleas are.

Varieties of fleas

All jumping, running, blood-sucking parasites on the dog's body do not always belong to the species of canine fleas Ctenocephalidescanis. They can be joined as humanso and feline, rat and other species of insects that are happy to feed on the blood of our pets. It is believed that in dogs these bloodsuckers are the most common type of parasite. It is difficult to distinguish all bloodsucking from each other without the help of a microscope, so dog owners often call them simply fleas.

Appearance

Fleas turned out to be universal and viable insects. They do not have wings, which gives them the ability to easily move around in wool, feed on blood, both of the main owners and other warm-blooded animals with a similar blood composition. They can attack a person if they do not find another object in time for their attention.

It looks like a dog flea, like most of the relatives: the size of the insect is 2-3 mm in length, a shiny flat oblong body of dark brown color. The only thing with whom they have some similarities in appearance is lice and beetle eaters.

Lice are also very small, painted white, fleas are different from them darker color and the fact that they are on the skin of the animal, and not on its coat. On this basis, they are easy to distinguish from whipworms. But not one of these parasites, except fleas, jumps.

Interesting!

In appearance, dog and cat fleas can be distinguished only with the help of precision instruments. The head of the canine parasite looks more rounded and blunt, with eight setae on the hind legs, and not six, like the cat's. Due to the fact that the prevalence of these insects is almost the same, cat fleas can often be found on dogs, and dog fleas easily jump on cats.

In the photo of a dog flea, taken under a microscope, strongly elongated hind legs are clearly visible, which help them jump 100-150 times farther than the size of their own body.

Developmental stages

The female parasite, saturated with blood, does not remain on its victim. She jumps off the dog and lays eggs, from which later larvae appear outside the body of the animal. Sometimes, if the dog is very infected, parasite eggs can be found in the coat, but this only means that they simply did not have time to slip off the pet. An egg is less than one millimeter in length, so you can only detect it if there is a huge number of them.

The larva of a dog flea resembles a small caterpillar of small size up to 5 mm and looks like a maggot fly. Larvae feed on various organic waste, eat even rotting grass. And only in the nests of birds and other warm-blooded animals they have the opportunity to feast on the excrement of adult individuals, full of blood, which did not have time to digest. After the larvae shed three times and pupate, they are ready to wait for their new host for 30 days.

Way of life

Dog fleas do not live long on the body of their prey. They only eat on dogs, but prefer to live in dark places that are convenient for attacking their breadwinner: under stones, in a carpet, in furniture upholstery, floor crevices, in grass and on dog bedding. There are eggs and larvae mature. Such shelters should be inspected first of all, if there are suspicions that the dog has fleas. Very often they populate booths and resting places for tetrapods.

Flea breeding going very fast. The female once every few days pushes a huge number of eggs out of her body under high pressure and thus increases the area on which her offspring will develop. If this happens on the dog, then the bulk of the eggs will fall to the floor. Therefore, parasites can be found all along the path that an infected dog has run through.

Interesting!

If the flea (taking into account the three-week stage of the larva) is in almost ideal conditions, then it can live for about two years. But in a normal environment, the life of the parasite is reduced to several weeks. An adult can lay about 500 eggs in his life.

Every dog ​​owner knows where can fleas come from? at his pet:

• after a walk in the forest (many fleas live in burrows of forest inhabitants);
• from other dogs found on the street (as well as from a rat or cat);
• from a man who brought parasites on his clothes;
• from staying in a room infected with blood-sucking insects.

On a note!

Often dogs grab fleas living on carrion. All parasites that have long been waiting for a new owner after the death of the previous one will gladly change their habitat.

An interesting fact is that insects are sensitive to the amount of cortisol and corticosteroids in the body of a pregnant dog. They are able to instinctively determine the period when puppies should appear in order to calmly move to a more secure source of food for themselves. Parasites can go without food for a long time, hibernating, but they will not reproduce in this state.

Dog Flea Signs

If your pet has become restless, sometimes even aggressive, constantly itching and biting itself, pink spots appeared on the skin, you need to carefully examine it. The eggs of the parasites can be detected on the hair, and adults can settle behind the ears and abdomen of the animal. You can find them in another way: lower the dog into the water. Fleas instantly start to jump on the pet’s head and objects nearby.

You need to get rid of insects immediately, as they can to harm not only to animals, but also to humans, causing worms and many other dangerous diseases. This type of flea carries:

• eggs of cucumber tapeworm, which can reach a length of up to 50 centimeters;
• plague, anthrax, typhoid, brucellosis, encephalitis, salmonellosis - all these diseases are very dangerous for humans;
• in dogs with sensitive skin and small puppies, an allergic reaction to flea bites may occur, leading to various dermatitis and anemia.

Means of prevention and treatment

Exist many waysallowing to get rid of insects in dogs. The processing of animals can be carried out using:

• Special spray, which is used mainly for adult and healthy dogs, it gives a good and quick result. Leopard and Front line - some of the best sprays.
• Drops at the withers for dogspoorly responding to aerosols. In veterinary pharmacies, they are presented in the assortment: Practitioner, Front line, Bars Forte, Barrier, Advantix, Dana Ultra Neo, Blokhnet, Lawyer, Celandine.
• Shampoos - This is the most gentle way, because you can bathe small puppies and animals that are sensitive to other means. The most popular detergents are Leopard and Lugovoi.
• Collars for fleas and ticks as an effective prophylactic such as Celandine.
<>Folk remedies, such as wormwood decoctions, tansy, lavender.

When choosing a means of preventing and treating dogs for fleas, you need to take into account the characteristics of each animal. Ideally, the treatment of the animal should be carried out using means recommended by an experienced veterinarian. Now you know how dog fleas look and how to deal with them.