Does Your Dog Has Fleas and Ticks? Here are the signs

Fleas and ticks are a common part of a pet’s life. They are bound to happen to your pet during his lifetime. Thus, it is important for pet parents to have complete knowledge of these parasites and how they should recognize if their pet is suffering from the infestation. Well, it is imperative to use flea and tick preventatives year-round to avoid the infestation and checking the dog on a regular basis so that your dog stays healthy and parasite free. Here are some signs that you must notice to track if your pet has flea and tick infestation.

How To Recognize Fleas and Ticks On Your Dog 

Signs Your Dog Has Fleas

• Itching and scratching are the first signs that your dog has fleas. When a flea bites, it causes stinging sensation and the flea saliva also causes allergic response which in turn leads it itching and scratching in pets. Thus, if your dog is itching a lot lately, he might have fleas.
• Your dog has red bumps on his skin. These can only be felt if you move your hand over his coat carefully.
• Fleas usually prefer to hide in between the fur near the abdomen, behind the ear and tail. Thus to spot fleas, you will have to part your pet’s fur and check more meticulously because fleas tend to move away when they feel your fingers. Since they can also fly, they are more likely to escape easily.
• Combing your dog’s fur is the best way to spot any fleas inside the pet’s coat. Also, if you find small-black specks on the comb or on the floor, it is likely that your dog has fleas because these black specks are nothing but flea fecal matter which is also known as flea dirt.
• Dogs that have flea infestation also leave this flea dirt on their beddings or belongings which is easy to spot.
• Hair loss is another evidence of fleas in pets. Dogs that have fleas chew the itchy area a lot which cause excessive hair loss in the areas where flea had bitten. This results in appearance of scattered bald patches all over the pet’s body.
• Besides that, fleas are blood sucking monsters. So, if the infestation stays for long, dogs develop anemia due to deficiency of appropriate amount of red blood cells. And the disease manifests itself in the form of pale gums in dogs.

Signs Your Dog Has Ticks

• If there are bumps on your dog while you move your hand around your pet’s body, it is a sign that your pet has ticks. This happens because ticks dig their mouth parts inside the skin of the pet and latch themselves firmly to suck blood.
• Ticks also leave scabs on dog’s skin because they embed their body inside and bite, as already mentioned. This leaves the place scarred when the tick moves away from that place.
• Ticks hide in warm and damp places. Thus, they crawl and hide in places like ears, near and under the front legs and the groin region. So, if your dog is shaking his head a lot lately, it is probably because tick is present in his ear canal. He may also experience wobbly walk or uneasiness in the hind region in case the tick is stuck there. Dogs also chew their paws due to itching caused by ticks.
• You dog is sick and has fever. Fever, loss of appetite, weakness, panting can all be evidences of ticks.

In case you see any of the aforementioned signs in your dog, it is evident that he is infested with fleas and ticks. The intensity of the infestation will, however, depend on the intensity of the parasites’ population. More the number of symptoms, heavier is the infestation. So, better if flea and tick preventatives are taken in advance and the dog is immediately treated if the parasites exist.