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Fleas are flightless insects that parasitize rodents, birds, wild mammals, and companion animals. Fleas have been identified as carriers of multiple pathogens and diseases due to their ability to infect a wide range of species. These pathogens could be bacteria like Rickettsia and Bartonella, or parasites like tapeworms.
Table of Contents
Introduction
These insects feed on your pet’s blood and can cause health problems ranging from allergic reactions to serious tick-borne illnesses. While the source of infection in dogs is not as clear as it is in cats, fleas have been linked to bartonella bacterial infections in dogs.
Fleas can infest any pet, including your house cat, indoor rabbit, guinea pig, and so on. Fleas can enter your home by riding on clothing, backpacks, and dogs. Because they affect wildlife, the eggs and larvae can be found almost anywhere.
The diseases and pathogens carried by fleas (vectors) and transmitted to our companion animals are referred to as flea-borne diseases. Fleas usually make their home in your pets’ fur while they are playing outside. When your pets return home, the fleas follow them. Flea bites irritate the skin of cats, dogs, and humans.
While they do not cause life-threatening illnesses, the problems they do cause are frequently cause for concern. Flea bites frequently cause a reaction in pets who are allergic to them. These proglottids are the most common way to identify a tapeworm. They contain tapeworm eggs that can hatch and cause an infestation. A female flea can lay about 2,000 eggs over the course of its life but is incapable of laying eggs until after its first meal.
Common Flea Disease in dogs and cats
Flea allergy Dermatitis
Tapeworms
Anemia
Bartonellosis
Symptoms
Alopecia
Skin pain
Skin cracking
Hyperpigmentation of skin
Intensive Scratching
Treatment
Regular topical flea treatments on your dog can help treat flea allergy dermatitis. Infected dogs and cats can be treated by veterinarians with insect growth regulators, which significantly reduce the larvae’s growth rate and development. If bacterial infection occurs as a result of FAD, your dog may be prescribed antibiotics to reduce any inflammation that may be present. Owners may also be required to completely clean their home by:
Using medicated flea shampoo to bathe their dog
Vacuuming carpeted areas that could be flea larvae or eggs reservoirs
Flea Prevention for dogs and cats are:
Fleas are unlikely to be attracted to a healthy pet, and in the case of ticks, a strong immune response will aid in the fight against any tick-borne pathogens to which your pet has been exposed. The following are some points about flea prevention:
Regularly check for fleas.
Fleas prefer warmer, humid months, but if there is an animal to feed on, they can survive all year.
Bathe and brush your pet on a regular basis. There are numerous products available to protect your dogs and your home from fleas. There are also products that kill fleas if they have already infested your dogs.
