Summertime is great for getting to the park, camping, hiking, and doing all the outdoor things the Treasure Valley has to offer with man's best friend. But...doing all the wonderful outside actives is also an open invitation for fleas, ticks, and mites to make their moves on your pet.
So what can you do to prevent these pesky insects from ruining your quality time with your pooch? First, let's look at the differences between fleas, ticks, and mites to see the best way keep them from making a meal out of your dog.
Fleas
Did you know there are more than 2,000 different species of fleas? There are dog fleas, cat fleas, rat fleas, bird fleas, and yes, even human fleas.
Fleas are also masters of jumping tall buildings in a single bound, so to speak. They have a vertical leap of about seven inches. Pretty impressive from a bug that is about 1/6 of an inch at best. Fleas can also jump an estimated 12 inches in length and are shockingly accurate jumpers at shorter distances.
Issues Fleas Cause
Did you know that your pet can be allergic to fleas? Allergies generally appear in the first five years of a pets life. Hypersensitivity to flea bites may cause severe itching at the bite site, which could lead to scratches and hair loss.
Another problem with fleas is they can spread tapeworms. Tapeworms are parasites that are passed to your pet when your pet eats an infected flea. When the tapeworm is passed to a pet, the parasite can grow to be up to 12 inches long. Tapeworms hang out in the small intestine and cause your pet to have an itchy bum and to lose weight.
Finally, when a pet is infested with fleas, it can suffer from flea bite anemia. This is primarily an issue with younger and/or smaller pets. When a flea infestation occurs, a pet's red blood cell count dramatically decreases, thus causing the animal to become anemic. Flea bite anemia can be fatal if left untreated.
Flea Remedies
Thankfully, fleas, tapeworms, and flea anemia are all treatable. But the best course of action is always prevention. There are sprays, shampoos, special collars, and now chews you can give your pet that will help keep fleas at bay. Make sure to talk with your veterinarian about what options are best for your dog, cat, or any other furry friend you have in your home.
Ticks
Ticks are parasitic arthropods that feed on the blood of a host. They are attracted to warm hosts, such as dogs, cats, and yes, humans.
Ticks looking for a warm canine or feline will hide out in tall grasses or plants in wooded areas. Once your pet is chosen, the tick embeds its head into the skin and begins feeding. Ticks will only willingly let go when they are done feeding, which can be a few hours or a few days.
For dogs and cats, ticks often find areas that have little to no hair so they can attach themselves easier. Areas like ears, the upper leg, between toes, and inside skin folds.
Some of the more common ticks in this area of Idaho are:
- Deer ticks
- Brown dog ticks
- American dog ticks
- Lone Star ticks
The Dangers of Ticks
Contrary to popular belief, most ticks do not transmit diseases. However, there is still a small threat of a disease being carried and transmitted by ticks to your pet. Most of these diseases can take several hours to transmit to your pet, so the sooner a tick is located and carefully removed, the better the chances of preventing the disease from being fully transmitted.
The symptoms of most tick-borne diseases include:
- Fever
- Lethargy
- Weakness
- Lameness
- Joint swelling
- Anemia
- Tick paralysis
Symptoms can take just a few days, and up to months. If you notice any of these symptoms in your pet, contact your veterinarian as soon as possible so proper testing and necessary treatments can begin.
Ticks Treatment
Ticks are an issue in Idaho, so when you are done hiking the Boise foothills or camping in the Payette National Forest, make sure you check your dog for ticks.
But as always, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, so talk to your vet about what preventative measures you should be taking. Sprays, chews, and collars are generally the best method for keeping ticks from taking a bite out of your pet.
Mites
Mites are crab-like parasites that live on or inside the skin, pores, and hair follicles of dogs, cats, and other pets. Mature mites are semitransparent to fully transparent bodies and are much, much smaller than ticks. Mites cannot be seen by the naked eye and can only be seen and accurately identified under a microscope.
Types of Mites that Affect Dogs, Cats, & Other Pets
There are four primary species of mites that infest dogs:
- Sarcoptes scabiei (burrowing mites)
- Demodex canis (demodex mites)
- Cheyletiella yasguri (surface mites)
- Otodectes cynosis (ear mites).
The Problems with Mites
Mites are annoying creatures that can't be seen by pet-owners. What owners do see are the effects of mites on their pets. Mites, to some degree, cause skin irritation and inflammation when they burrow into the skin of their host and feed or lay eggs. The skin irritation can become so severe that a pet will scratch, lick, chew, and bite frantically at infested areas.
Ear mites focus their evil efforts on the face, head, neck, and ears of their host. Symptoms include frequent, sometimes violent head-shaking and rubbing their head along the ground, trees, carpet, furniture or other any other object they can find. Dogs with mites can also display a lack of appetite, weight loss, and restlessness.
Demodex mites like to hang out on hair follicles of dogs and cause mild to severe hair loss, patchy red areas, dry skin, skin scaling and/or oily, odorous substances from affected areas. Canines will only develop these symptoms if they have a compromised or weakened immune system.
Surface mites, sometimes called “walking dandruff,” generally do not cause dogs to display discomfort as these mites do not burrow in the skin. These mites live off of eating the dead and dying skin flakes of their host. However, they can cause surface irritation on the backs of dogs when they get out of control.
Does my pet have mites?
Since they can't be seen by the naked eye, the only way to detect mites is by the symptoms: behavior such as frantic itching, hair loss in patches, skin redness, skin sores, crusty or scaling skin. If you believe your pet has mites, talk to your veterinarian right away. They can take a biopsy or skin scraping and see with a microscope if the issue is indeed mites.
Mite Treatment Options
Different mites call for different treatment types. Anything from topical treatments to oral and injectable medications will be prescribed by your vet to take care of the mites. Remember that your veterinarian is the best person to advise you about the appropriate ways to prevent and treat mites on your dog, cat, or other pets.
