Monthly Advice

FLEAS AND YOUR PET

 Not many people realize that large numbers of fleas on animals, especially young ones, can be detrimental to their health. They can develop allergies to the saliva from the flea bite, which will lead to dermatitis and be extremely itchy, causing the cat to self mutilate. Young kittens and puppies can quickly become anaemic because the fleas are draining their blood.  In severe cases this can lead to death.  For this reason it is extremely important to treat your animal regularly for fleas even if you don't see them on the animal.  If your pet is allergic to fleas all it takes is one bite. To see if your pet has fleas you can search their fur for them but fleas do move fast and is sometimes not easy to spot them. The easiest way is to look for flea dirt which is basically flea droppings.  Run a comb through the coat and let anything that comes out fall onto a  piece of white paper.  Wet the paper with a little water. If there is flea dirt, which looks like black specks, it will look like blood when it is moistened.

If your pet has a heavy flea burden you may also need to treat your pet's bedding and your house for fleas as well as the animal. Adult fleas lay eggs which fall off everywhere the animal goes especially on their bedding and carpets. The eggs hatch into larvae then pupate and eventually become adults and reinfest your pet. They are not picky about whose blood they feed on and it may well be yours!  In the long run it is best to do preventative treatment meaning don't wait until you see fleas on your animal.

If you treat your animal regularly with a good quality flea treatment it will kill adult fleas as they arrive on your animal which prevents them breeding and reduces, and hopefully eliminates, developing larvae in your house.

PLEASE CONSULT YOUR LOCAL VET CLINIC REGARDING SUITABLE FLEA TREATMENTS.