Fleas, Ticks And Worms

Fleas and other parasites should always be awarded the highest priority by dog owners. Flea bite allergy in dogs is all too common and causes worry 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 area 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 an allergic reaction or even dermatitis in your dog, he/she really ought to be taken to the veterinary doctor, because mostly, the dog will be suffering severe discomfort by now.

The vet will provide a salve to ease the itching and powder or a spray to kill the fleas. Therefore, prevention is better and medicated collars are available to treat and prevent an infestation of external parasites like ticks and fleas.

Besides fleas, other parasites like ticks and lice in addition to the internal parasites like hook worms, round worms, whip worms etc. can affect the health of your dog. For example, if hookworm infects a dog, that dog will usually suffer from anaemia. The signs of anaemia become more prominent depending on the degree of infection by the hookworm.

Hookworm larvae can pass directly through the skin into the internal body and cause severe problems inside the affected dog. These dogs may have cuts on their paws and on their skin because of dermatitis. Often, skin rashes result too in these cases and the infected animal may also have diarrhoea, which is flecked with blood.

Most dogs and all puppies get round worms, which is why dogs can sometimes be seen rubbing their bottoms along the floor. 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. A dose of piperazine salts is given orally for the cure of this condition. However, broad-spectrum anthelmintics like pyrantel pamoate, fenbendazole etc. are also used to treat this very common condition.

There are many drugs on the market to treat fleas and other parasites these days, although medications containing the drug ‘ivermectin’ seem to be preferred by many dog owners to treat fleas and other parasites in dogs. This drug is available for injection or oral use but is now even available for external application too.

If you are having problems getting rid of fleas on your dog, please follow the ‘fleas’ link or if you want to read more about dogs or training dogs, please go here: Man’ Best Friend – the Dog