How to tell if your Dog has Fleas?

Every dog lover would know that looking after a dog is a huge responsibility and you have to tend to all the needs of your fur kid in order to ensure that it lives a healthy and a long life.

One continuous menace though that gives your dog a very difficult time and becomes a reason for your problems as well are fleas. It is often very difficult to even tell whether your dog has fleas and you need to watch out for signs in order to diagnose and cure the issue. So, here is how to tell if your dog has fleas.

How To Tell If Your Dog Has Fleas 

#1. Insistent Scratching, Licking And Biting 

Fleas are not just troublesome but also painful. These parasites stick to the skin of your beloved pooch and suck its blood out as a source of food. Once fleas get on your pet, they will set up their habitat in the fur of the animal and will become very hard to locate. Some of the locations where the fleas take up home are head, neck, tail, armpits, or groin. If your dog is constantly licking, biting and scratching these places, then that means they are infested with fleas.

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#2. Red Patches Of Skin

Some dogs can be highly allergic to the saliva of the fleas and the allergy is not restricted to the part that is bitten by the flea but can spread to other areas of the body as well. These rashes can appear anywhere on the body and is another sign of fleas.

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#3. Hair Loss

There are other reasons why dogs can suffer from hair loss but one of the main reasons is often flea bite. Dogs at times pull out a chunk of their hair due to continuously rubbing or biting the infected area. Hair loss is also known by its medical term which is alopecia. A proper diagnosis of the pattern and the severity of hair loss is important in order to find out whether the culprit is fleas or something else.

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#4. Paling Of The Gum

Since fleas suck the blood of the animal, it can often result in anemia and can severely affect the health of your pet. This is why anemia is a clear indication that the pet has a flea infestation and needs to be treated immediately. When the gum starts to pale it means that some red blood cells produced by your pet are not enough to make up for the blood loss due to fleas.

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#5. Leftover Dirt

For this, you need to see and thoroughly analyze the body of your pet. In case you notice small black or reddish-brown specks on the body of the pet or even around your home, then that's flea dirt. The flea dirt is nothing but flea feces made up of digested blood. If you want to differentiate between flea dirt and any other dirt that you find on the body of your pet or around the home is to collect it on a white tissue and spray water on it. If the specks turn dark reddish-brown then that is digested blood excreted by the flea.

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What To Do If Your Dog Has Fleas

The first step that you need to do is go to a good veterinarian and get your dog checked. There is a full treatment for the eradication of fleas, and you need to get that done. Also sanitize your home often to make sure that the parasites cannot prevail in the surroundings.

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