What are fleas and ticks?
Fleas:
Fleas are small brown sucking insects. They have three pairs of legs, two of which are adapted for large jumps. As already mentioned, they feed on the blood of animals, especially dogs and cats.
If a dog scratches more than usual, it might probably be infested with fleas; but if it does not scratch, it doesn’t mean that it does not have fleas. Fleas may cause itching is because of their anesthetic saliva which may cause allergic reactions in many canines. Apart from loss of blood and skin irritations to dogs, fleas might cause anemias, infections, and, what’s more dangerous, they might transmit various diseases.
One of the main diseases transmitted by these parasites is the tapeworm Dipylidium caninum, or commonly called “tapeworm city” or “tapeworm”, which lives in the intestines of animals and feeds on everything they eat “robbing” their nutrients they eat.
There are plenty of drugs, necklaces and products to treat our dogs against fleas. The most important is to choose a treatment that avoids infection and removes fleas as well as eggs or larvae. It is also recommended to use a spray to disinfect the environment of our dog.
Ticks:
Ticks are small parasites of the family of spiders. They feed on the blood of the animal or person to which they adhere. Physically they are like a small gray or brown bag with eight legs. The more blood they suck, the bigger they become; they may increase tenfold its size.
Dogs might become infested with ticks anywhere, especially in parks or places with vegetation. Not only might these parasites cause skin irritation, but also might carry serious diseases.
One of the most common tick-borne disease is Lyme disease, which is characterized by changes in the skin, inflammation of the joints, fever, muscle aches, among others.
It is very important to keep our dogs tick-free and to avoid their infestation to the best of our possibilities Examining our animals regularly is advisable, especially if you’ve been to places with tall grass or bushes.
There are variety of necklaces and products that achieve to repel these pests with a high rate of effectiveness. Before purchasing any product against ticks, we must ensure to also remove their eggs or larvae (one adult tick might lay between 2,000 and 8,000 eggs over its lifetime).
Also, if we find a tick attached to the skin of our dog, we can remove it ourselves without resorting to a veterinarian. There are special pliers to it, but with our fingers we can also remove it. First of all, we must put on a glove, latex preferably, to prevent it from sticking to us. With just two fingers catch them as close as possible to the area for which it is stuck to the skin of the animal, and in a rotating motion you must pull gently. Once done, you must disinfect the area with iodine. Do not use alcohol or oil to remove a tick, as this may cause the tick to empty the contents of his stomach on infected dog skin.
A good pipette is one of the best ways to keep infections outside your dog.
