How to deal with the pet's flea infestation

By Jerry Welsh


Fleas can affect not only the life of the pet but the life of the owner as well. A dog that is infested with fleas will be beleaguered by the severe itching that is caused by the flea bites and as a result, the excessive scratching can result to secondary skin infections. Measures necessary to eradicate a flea infestation have to be applied as apart from the discomfort the tiny parasites bring to dogs, fleas can also transmit a number of canine diseases to humans.

A dog infested with fleas would scratch incessantly, would have skin inflammation and noticed to suffer from hair loss conditions. Flea dirt scattered on the dog's skin surface is another symptom. As soon as flea dirt on the dog's skin are noticed, the dog owner should start with the plan to eradicate these external parasites. Although a flea infestation is not considered to be an emergency situation, many dogs that suffered from severe infestation have died because of anemia.

The flea has to be eradicated not only from the pet but also from the environment. These pesky tiny insects are great jumpers thus they can easily jump from one host to another and spread the infestation easily. The eradication must be started with bathing the pet with flea shampoo. This should be followed by a fine toothed comb on the dog's fur to remove the remaining fleas. Flea baths and shampoos will be able to kill only adult fleas and leave the eggs to hatch thus to totally eradicate these tiny bloodsuckers it is important to repeat the process.

Next in line is eradicating the fleas in the environment. Thoroughly vacuum the carpet and all the rooms and make sure to carefully discard the vacuum bag afterwards. Adding a strip of flea collar inside the vacuum bag will ensure that the vacuumed fleas will be killed. Use hot soapy water to wash the dog's toys, crate and beddings. Vacuuming and washing though would not remove all the fleas. Sprays and insecticides are needed to bomb all the rooms giving particular attention to the places where the dog usually hangs out. To totally remove the fleas, the yard must be sprayed with insecticides as well.

Anti flea chemicals are readily available for owners wanting to make the pet flea-free. However, dog owners are cautioned against over usage of these chemicals as the pet can get sick if exposed to these chemicals repeatedly.




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