Fleas are a real plague every year for thousands of homes. Treating your dog is essential at the moment, especially since winters are not cold enough to wipe out flea nests. Here are some tips to treat your dog against fleas and in a natural way.
Risks
For dogs getting invaded fleas is not very pleasant. This scratches them in an unpleasant way, but especially this small parasite can lead to serious pathologies such as dermatitis or tapeworm. These are two diseases that can cause your dog to suffer. Indeed:
- Dermatitis: It is an allergy caused by the saliva that the flea injects under the dog’s skin when it bites and feeds. This allergy results in intense itching, particularly in the dorsolombary region and triggering irritation, skin lesions and hair loss. A single sting may be enough to trigger an allergy. The dog can scratch with blood or even lose much of its coat, to which can be added infections. The dog that scratches damages its skin, it is then a fault in which the mushrooms sink.
- Tapeworm: It is a parasitic worm in the digestive tract. This worm can cause various disorders such as weight loss, diarrhea, appetite disorders, rashes, fatigue, etc. Fleas are very frequently carriers of the eggs of this parasite. By licking, the animal can ingest these eggs and thus develop a tapeworm inside the body that must be removed with deworming.
Fleas are therefore not without consequences for our friends dogs and can quickly become extremely painful.
How does a dog catch fleas
Contrary to popular belief, fleas are very rarely transmitted from one animal to another. Indeed, fleas are unable to make a big leap. This means that in order for them to arrive on a dog, the dog must be in close contact with another infested dog or animal. Only the adult flea can live on your dog. This means that the ones that invade your dog, are still pre-adults and that they lived in the environment. They like warm seasons, but unfortunately can thrive outdoors if the winter is mild.
How to eliminate fleas
One should be alert to flea infestation throughout the year. Fleas adapt very easily, so it is sometimes difficult to get rid of them. You might as well be careful.
But if your dog is already contaminated with this parasite, it will be more complicated to eliminate them. There are several chemical aids to get there. These aids can be found in different forms in the vet and sometimes in pet shops. In particular, you can find an anti-chip in the form of:
- flea collar
- pipettes
- sprays
- powder
- chemical tablets
Currently, you can also find ultra-sound systems, to scare away fleas. You will need to find a product suitable for your dog. If you have several animals at home, you will need to treat them as well. But you won’t have to stop there.
However, the difficulty with these parasites is that only 5% are found on your pet and more than 90% of the colony is installed in your dog’s environment, i.e. your home, at the egg or larvae stage. All rooms in your home, as well as all objects, will have to be treated. All fabric materials such as bedding, carpets, carpeting, your clothes, the sofa will have to pass. The treatment will have to be repeated several times in the month to be sure that all the larvae are dead. Don’t forget to empty and treat your vacuum cleaner, as larvae can hang on and grow with ease. It is best to use an aerosol that will automatically diffuse the pest control product. That is, aerosol that diffuses automatically, specially designed for this purpose and can be easily found in the trade or on the merchant sites of animal products.
Many treatments exist, but they are not environmentally friendly. Some chemical treatments are even controversial because they would be dangerous to the health of our pets. So why not turn to more natural products?