Train the Dog Blog

Getting rid of fleas is a burden of pet ownership. Unless you are extraordinarily careful and extraordinarily lucky, all pet owners will be faced with some degree of flea issues. Flea infestations can be minor or can quickly develop into something major. The treatment of the problem differs depending upon on quickly you catch the problem.

The best way to deal with dog fleas is to prevent dog fleas. However, even with the best of intentions and discipline, our pets will at some time come into contact with fleas. The most effective way to deal with fleas is to take a multi-pronged approach. First, you must get rid of the fleas on your pet, Secondly, you must rid the immediate environment of fleas to prevent immediate re-infestation. Lastly, you must re-double your efforts towards flea prevention.

Thankfully, ridding your pet of fleas has gotten easier. There are now readily available products that can be applied to your pet’s coat. These products, including Frontline and Advantage, can rid your pet of fleas within 2-3 days. You simply apply a small amount of the solution to the back base of the animal’s neck. With natural scratching and licking your animal will spread this solution around their entire body. The solutions are non-toxic and very effective.

There are also ways to get rid of fleas naturally. More common methods include rubbing olive oil on to your pet’s skin. Working from the head to the tail, the olive oil drowns the fleas. Of course, this method can prove to be expensive for larger animals. A similar method uses baby powder or talcum powder.

Pay close attention to the areas in your house in which your pet sleeps or passes his day. These areas will, most definitely, have fleas. Vacuum every surface your pet may have come into contact with. If feasible try to steam clean your furniture and carpets using the hottest water possible. Make sure you wash all of the bedding, throw blankets, pillow covers etc. Once you have vacuumed, make sure you seal the vacuum bag and take it out of your house.

Once your pet and home are free of fleas you can take some steps to prevent future infestations. There are a number of ways to avoid future infestations. Some people add small amounts of garlic to their pet food. Other people like to douse a bandanna in citronella oil and tie it around the animal’s neck. There are also commercially available flea prevention medications that your pets can ingest once every few months. For more information on getting rid of fleas or flea prevention speak to your vet.

Keep reading on my-dog-has-fleas.com to find out more about getting rid of fleas.

categories: dog fleas,fleas,dog health,pet health,dogs,pets

Fleas and other parasites have always to be awarded the highest priority by dog owners. The all too common occurrences of flea bite allergy in the case of dogs causes worry to many dog owners every year. This is because flea bites can induce allergic reactions in the area bitten by the fleas. In these cases, the affected area becomes hairless due to the dog scratching itself vigorously.

Heavy flea infestations can cause severe dermatitis in dogs, because the dog will scratch and scratch the area until he bleeds and can also introduce infection. If the flea bites produce an allergic reaction or even dermatitis in your dog, he/she really ought to be taken to the veterinary doctor as soon as possible, because usually, the dog will be suffering severe discomfort by this time.

The vet will sell you a salve to ease the itching and reduce the inflammation and some powder or a spray to kill the fleas. Prevention is better than cure and medicated collars are available to treat and prevent an infestation of external parasites 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 health 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 will enter directly through the skin and cause severe problems inside the infected dog. Such dogs may show lesions on the paws and on the skin due to dermatitis. Frequently, skin rashes result in such cases and the affected animal may also pass runny stools, which are tinged red 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 given to treat 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 treat 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 dog, please follow the previous link or if you just want to read more about dogs or training dogs, please go here: Man’ Best Friend – the Dog Get a totally unique version of this article from our article submission service

categories: fleas,parasites,dogs,pets,home,family,animals,insects,blood,skin care,medicine,outdoors,other