Fleas - the vampires of the butterfly family.
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These blood suckers have been in almost plaque proportions this year.
The humidity has been prime for their breeding and our pets are their favourite food. But how are they like butterflies? I'll get to that in a minute.
Fleas, ugh. Just the thought of them makes most people itch. Did you know that a dog with fleas, will only scratch if they are allergic to the flea? It's true.
The saliva of the flea is what causes the allergy so when it bites the dog (or cat), it causes a reaction. A dog that is allergic will only need one single flea to send it stir crazy.
Those pets that are allergic can literally rip their skin to shreds the itch can be so bad.
Meanwhile, a dog that does not have a flea bite allergy can be covered in fleas and not be bothered at all.
If an animal has enough fleas feeding off of them, these nasty insects can drink enough blood to cause anaemia. Here at the Leeton Vet, we have had to give a dog a blood transfusion in the past due to blood loss from fleas. Yes, they can get that bad.
Apart from blood loss and allergies, fleas also carry tapeworm that can be transmitted to your pets. When your pet bites itself to get rid of the flea, it swallows the flea and ingests those tapeworm eggs.
Delightful, huh?
IN OTHER NEWS:
So, why did I liken fleas to butterflies? Well, just like a butterfly, fleas have four life stages. After hatching from an egg, they wiggle around as larva, before spinning their pupae cocoon and finally, hatching as an adult flea.
Adult fleas make up only about 5 per cent of the flea population.
The other 95 per cent that you can not see are eggs, larva and pupae. The eggs and pupae can even lay around dormant for many years until the conditions are right for hatching.
So, if you are using flea prevention and you don't think it is working, remember, it's possibly just new hatchings coming out.
Getting rid of fleas does take time.
So what to do to keep your pets safe? There are many products on the market to kill fleas and to have true protection, they should be on prevention all year round. Flea shampoos are great at drowning adult fleas, but do not work long-term.
Oal and spot on treatments are the most effective preventions but even then, some are more effective than others. If you're not sure which is best for your pet, just ask your friendly team for advice.
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