A good walk in the garden or at the park with your dog can be enough for the dog or cat to open the door of our home to fleas: the environment plays a fundamental role in the life cycle of this insect. When we talk about fleas in dogs, we refer to a small and annoying parasite that cause itching to our four-legged friend, it makes constantly bites itself while becoming relentless, it can cause alopecia and also transmit other serious illnesses. It is fundamental to protect our four-legged friend properly all year long, since they can survive at all temperatures.
Fleas on the dog, how to detect them
If we notice that our four-legged friend has fleas, it probably means that they are also at our home with eggs, larvae, pupae. According to fleas’ life cycle, those on the dog are only the 1% of adult fleas on the animal, 8% are pupae, 34% larvae and 57% eggs. This means that eggs are already deposited in the domestic environment on carpets, sofas, pillows and doghouse.
Adult fleas are small, 2-4mm long and dark brown, they can jump up to 30cm. when we find them on the body of our dog their color range from brown to yellowish, they are almost the size of a rice grain. If we manage to see it running on the animal fur we can take it with a tweezer, put it in a glass and throw it out in the toilet or at least put it in water so it cannot jump. If we notice some black spots on the dog’s fur, then they are probably their feces. At this point it is necessary to remove them with a warm bath and an antiparasitic shampoo by brushing them all the affected areas. Then you can use a finely-toothed comb on the fur, remove the fleas and then throw them out, then properly dry your four-legged friend. After some days you can use the antiparasitic (usually it lasts a month), the vial or the spot-on. You can either choose some pills or an antiparasitic collar that gradually release toxic substances for fleas and ticks.