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ADVOCATEFleas & How To Keep Your Pet Free Of This Irritating Parasite Fleas are one of the most common, but most easily controlled parasites that your pet can be a victim to. They have a definate life cycle, most of which is not spent on your pet, thus making it difficult to see them on the coat. It is more common to see the symptoms, flea dirt, scratching, hair loss, and in more severe cases damaged skin which becomes red, inflamed and infected. So-How To tell If Your Pet Has Fleas Fleas jump on your pet to feed by biting and ingesting blood. This is irritating and causes the animal to scratch and bite at their skin, sometimes rubbing against furniture and other items to relieve the irritation. If ignored, the irritation can drive the animal to scratch and bite so much, that they self traumatise their skin. This leads to red sore infected areas which cause severe discomfort and hair loss. Fleas lay their eggs all around the house, where they lay dormant waiting for the right conditions to hatch into larvae. These in turn pupate into fleas, who, are opportunistic feeders, laying low in the environment, usually in the pets bedding, carpets, soft furnishings etc. They jump on and off your pet for a free meal.
This is why it is just as important to treat household areas, with a separate product to kill off the eggs and larvae.
Flea Allergic Dermatitis (FAD) This is an unpleasant skin condition commonly seen in pets who suffer from an extreme reaction to even one flea bite. The fleas saliva, causes an extreme reaction, making the victim very itchy, leading to scratching, biting and self traumatisation of their skin. This in turn leads to hair loss, skin infections and scabs. Once this cycle of itch-scratch is started it is very difficult to break, because the more the animal scratches, the worse the traumatised skin becomes, leading to more scratching and so on. Eventually the skin becomes chronically thickened scabby and in places hairless. It is very important to treat pets way before this point is reached, with regular flea treatment every three months. Otherwise Veterinary intervention is necessary to stop the itching and allow the skin to heal. What You Can Do It is important to treat your pet regularly with aprropriate medications to prevent a serious infestation of fleas. The most efficient preparations are stocked by veterinary clinics as the active ingredients are only available on prescription. (POM) This means that by law, the most efficient products cannot be sold without veterinary supervision. If left untreated fleas can make your pet's life a misery. In the very young, with a heavy infestation, fleas can be so numerous and severe, that puppies and kittens can suffer from flea anaemia, this can lead to severe dehydration, collapse and death.
As shown in the life cycle, fleas lay eggs which go through a larval stage to pupate into adult fleas. The eggs and larvae can remain in the environment for long periods of time, until conditions for emerging as adults is ideal. This means, that even if you cannot see any fleas, they are there, and invisible to the naked eye. As well as treating your pet, it is important to spray the carpets, animal bedding, skirting boards etc., to ensure they eggs and larvae do not become adults that can repeat the whole cycle.
The Solution From Westhorne
Treating The Environment
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