My dog or cat is inside only, how did they get fleas?
Well, we live in Florida, and there are bugs everywhere. You bring fleas in on your feet; they can sneak in however they want. If your dog goes on the patio or they go out to pee in the yard, they're going to be exposed to parasites, so fleas and ticks. So while we would like to think that our inside pets are not at risk, they absolutely are, and you would be surprised at how many little tiny indoor pets, dogs and cats that I see, have pretty bad flea problems.
What are the most prevalent problems that fleas cause?
The most prevalent problems that we see fleas cause is skin irritation. In dogs and cats, that's usually going to present as little red bumps. Sometimes they look like little flea bites, sorry, ant bites on their belly, and a lot of the times it will present right around the tail base, so right on their rump. They'll lose a lot of hair, they'll be super itchy, you'll see redness, irritation, sometimes they're scooting their butts, they are just chewing at themselves constantly, and this creates infection. Then, as the bacteria and yeast overgrow on the pet's skin, they get more itchy, and so it's just a vicious cycle of itch infection, itch infection, and then it will just progress from an area around the tail base to everywhere on the skin. It's really important to target that infection as soon as we see it happen and to kill the fleas as soon as we notice them.
How do you treat these problems?
The way that we treat these problems is one, with flea prevention, so we want to target the problem, and then two, usually with something that's going to help with itch, and then also antibiotics or antifungals depending on what type of skin infection we have.
What other problems can flea infestations cause?
One other problem that we see with flea infestations is tapeworms. Tapeworms are spread by pets ingesting fleas, so a lot of the time, you'll see these little, what we call rice granules in your pet's stool, and those are tapeworms. A lot of the time, the only way you can stop the tapeworms from reinfecting is to kill the source, which will be your fleas. So, using flea prevention is super important for our tapeworm animals.
Do fleas and ticks spread disease?
One other important thing to note about fleas and ticks is that they do spread disease. We see different types of diseases, such as Lyme disease, Ehrlichia, and Anaplasma. There are some blood parasites that cats can get as well, and so we really want to protect against these things.
How can we prevent these diseases?
In order to prevent all of the diseases that we just talked about, the best way to do that is to prevent fleas in general. We recommend using a product year-round to prevent fleas from being on your pets. The most common one that we recommend here is called Bravecto, and it is a 12-week or 3-month product. It is generally oral, but there are topical options as well, and it will prevent fleas and ticks for a total of 4 weeks, which is really awesome. The flea and tick life cycle is 90 days long, and so it takes 90 days to rid the fleas from your environment or your house from like a little egg to an adult, so it's super important to cover that full 90 days, which Bravecto does.
Are there other options available?
There are definitely other monthly options, so we have some options where we have flea, heartworm, and tick all in the same product as well. If your pet is sensitive to specific flea products, we have options for them also, and we would be happy to discuss that with you on a personal basis.
If you still have other questions and you'd like to reach out to us, you can call us directly at (863) 281-4344, or you can email us at [email protected]. But please do reach out, and we'll get back to you as fast as we can. Don't forget to follow us on social media Facebook, Instagram
