How to tell if your dog has fleas
If your dog has fleas, there will be a few telltale signs that your pup is getting bitten. Heres what you should do to check for fleas:
1. Notice if your dog is scratching more often: One of the tell-tale signs that your dog has fleas isnt the flea itself, its your dog. If you notice your dog regularly scratching, biting, or chewing at their skin it could mean hes infected with fleas.
2. Take a close look at your dogs fur: Fleas are dark brown and very tiny, about 0.1 to 0.3 centimeters big, the size of a small crumb, but theyre still able to be seen with the naked eye, says Alison Meindl, DVM, DABVP, assistant professor at the Colorado State University Veterinary Teaching Hospital.
You can spot fleas by parting the hair of the dog and looking for them on their skin. If you find something that resembles a flea but youre not sure, a good indicator is that they will jump, not crawl, around.
Flea combs have very tightly spaced teeth, which are designed to pull fleas away from the hair to better identify them. Your best bet for finding fleas on an infested dog is to comb the hair at the base of your dogs tail, Meindl says.
3. Look for flea dirt: You can identify fleas by the presence of “flea dirt,” says Gary Richter, DVM, veterinary health expert with Rover. This “dirt” is actually digested blood, and it looks like a dark, granular material, he says. If you put a little water on the substance, it will turn red. This is another surefire way to identify fleas.
4. Check for bites: You may also want to be on the lookout for flea bites, which look like small red bumps on your dogs skin, says Richter.
How To Tell If Your Dog Has Fleas
Fleas are most active during the warm months but they are very efficient and can thrive year-round. Fleas can contribute to the onset of secondary skin infections and the transmission of multiple diseases and parasites.
Itching, scratching, and biting the skin are often the first telltale signs that your dog has fleas and warrant further looking into, as would hair loss, scooting, “hot spots,” and a copper- or rust-colored coat.
Other than changes in your dog’s behavior (excessive scratching, licking, and chewing) that may prompt you to check your dog for fleas, the most common signs of fleas are related to the skin.
Your dog may have hair loss or “hair barbering” (when the hair is chewed off leaving stiff or rough ends), changes in its coat color due to chronic licking or chewing, crusts, scales, redness, and “hot spots” (moist, ulcerative, and often inflamed lesions that appear suddenly). Areas near the lower back, tail, inner thighs, and groin are generally the most affected.
Also, when bitten, dogs may be allergic to the flea saliva and may develop a reaction known as Flea Allergy Dermatitis.
Fleas can also transmit diseases caused by the Bartonella bacteria, as well as parasites such as tapeworms, and even diseases that humans can contract such as murine typhus.
Keep in mind that fleas ingest their host’s blood when they bite, which can also lead to anemia (iron deficiency).
What Are the White Ovals on Your Dog?
Small white ovals in your dog’s fur or in the areas your dog frequents are also indicators of a problem. The white ovals are tapeworm or flea eggs. Fleas can pass tapeworms onto your dog as well as lay their own eggs. These eggs are a sign that your dog has fleas.
Fleas In Dogs | Vet Explains
The problem begins with some scratching here and there. Maybe you spot some tiny specks around the house that you mightâve missed before. Maybe that beautiful hair that was so thick is looking a tad thin these days. Before you know it ⦠yep. Itâs confirmed.
More than 2,500 different species of fleas exist throughout the world, yet one is the most common among American dogs and cats. Itâs called Ctenocephalides felis, or the cat flea.
Every pet owner should be aware of the signs of a possible flea infestation. They include:
Your dog (or cat) is scratching. Even if you donât catch fleas red-handed, if you see your pet scratching or biting at its fur, fleas may well be the culprit. Thatâs because not only can fleas cause a sharp pain when they bite, their salivary glands give off a substance thats irritating to many dogs and cats.
You can see them. Adult fleas are about an eighth of an inch long. Theyâre reddish-brown and very thin. Itâs hard to really see what they look like without a microscope (though itâs easier on a light-colored fur), but they do have big back legs. They can jump, by some measurements, upward and outward at least 12 inches in a single leap. And one estimation finds that for every adult flea found on your pet, there are at least 100 immature ones hanging around.
You can see what they leave behind. Itâs called âflea dirt,â and it looks a little like pepper. You can spot it on your petâs skin, or your pet could leave it someplace, like:
The specks are actually bits of dried blood that will turn from black, to brown, and finally back to red if you rehydrate them on a wet paper towel.
You can see other suspicious stuff around your home: Fleas lay eggs on your pet — tiny white ovals — that mostly fall off into the environment around it (your bed, the dog bed, the carpet, that favorite chair), only to hatch a few days later into flea larvae.
You can see larvae, too. Theyre little, squiggly, worm-looking things with brown heads that will feed on all those specks until they wrap themselves up into a cocoon called a pupa. From larva to pupa takes about 3-4 weeks. After that, theyâre fully grown fleas, looking for a ride and a little of your petâs (or your) blood.
If you see tapeworms — internal parasites that are white or pinkish white and look like small pieces of rice that often show up by slipping out of your petâs rectum — thatâs a sign your pet may have been having it out with fleas.
Your dog (or cat) is losing its hair: Itâs not from the fleas themselves, but from all the itching and biting. Fleas often gather at the neck and shoulder blades of your pets. The base of the tail and along the back of the legs is a favorite hangout for them, too. Those are also places animals will bite to get to the fleas. That can take its toll on a petâs coat. With full-blown infestations, fleas are visible in the bare areas of a petâs belly, too.
Their skin looks irritated: If you can get past your petâs fur and look at the skin, fleabites are usually small, raised red dots. Again, look for bites on the back and neck and on the base of the tail. Another problem with fleabites is they can lead to flea allergy dermatitis, also known as fleabite hypersensitivity. If your pet has this, their skin can become itchy, red, and scaly. It can lead to secondary skin infections, too.
Their gums are pale: With a large infestation of fleas, some pets (especially smaller kittens or pups) could be in danger of anemia, or a loss of red blood cells. Fleas can take in up to 15 times their body weight in blood. Pale gums often signal anemia.
Fleas are, in the strictest sense of the word, pests. But they can be way more than that. They can transmit disease (to humans, too) and cause life-threatening problems for your pet. If you see any signs of fleas, ask your veterinarian what to do.