Fleas and other parasites ought to always be given the highest priority by dog owners. Flea bite allergy in dogs is all too common and causes concern to many dog owners every year, especially in the summer, although all year round if your dog lives indoors with central heating. This is because flea bites often produce allergic reactions in the area bitten by the fleas, which is very often on the back just above the tail. In these cases, the affected skin becomes red and bald due to the dog’s continuous scratching of itself.
Heavy flea infestations can cause severe dermatitis in dogs. If the flea bites cause allergic reactions or dermatitis in the dog, it really ought to be taken to the vet, because on many occasions, the dog will be experiencing severe discomfort.
The vet will provide you a salve to soothe the itching and reduce the inflammation and some powder or a spray to kill the fleas. Prevention, however, is better than cure and medicated collars are available to treat and prevent an infestation of external blood-suckers like ticks and fleas.
Apart from fleas, other parasites like ticks and lice plus the internal parasites like hookworms, round worms, whip worms etc. can have an adverse effect on the the well-being of your dog. For instance, if hookworms have infected a dog, that dog will almost surely suffer from anaemia soon. The signs of anaemia become more obvious depending on the advancement of the hookworm infection.
Hookworm larvae can enter directly through the skin into the internal body and cause severe problems inside the infected dog. These dogs may have cuts on their paws and on their skin because of dermatitis. Often, skin rashes occur too in these cases and the affected animal may also have diarrhoea, which is flecked with blood.
Nearly all dogs and definitely all puppies will have round worms at some time, which is why dogs can sometimes be seen rubbing their bottoms along the ground. However, if round worms are present in very large numbers, affected puppies show a pot belly, which is easily noticeable by the dog’s owners themselves. This can result in malnutrition and even death. A dose of piperazine salts is given orally for the cure of this problem. However, broad-spectrum anthelmintics like pyrantel pamoate, fenbendazole etc. will also cure this very common condition.
Many drugs have arrived on the market to treat fleas and other parasites, although nowadays, the medical agent called ivermectin seems to be preferred by many dog owners to clear up fleas and other parasites in dogs. This drug is available for injection or oral use and is now even available for external application too.
If you are having problems getting rid of fleas on your dogs, please follow the ‘fleas’ link, however if you want to read more about dogs or training dogs, please go here: Man’ Best Friend – the Dog. This article, Fleas And Other Parasites is released under a creative commons attribution license.