Parasites on Dogs

By Owen Jones

You really need to destroy heart worm, fleas and other parasites in dogs whenever it becomes apparent that your dog is infected by using the relevant treatment on them. Loads of products are available to protect our dogs from heart worms, fleas and other parasites like hook worms, whip worms, round worms, lice, ticks etc.

Of the heart worms, fleas and other parasites, fleas can produce a hyper sensitive reaction in the infected animal. Animals infected with fleas scratch their skin very vigorously. Frequently the scratching becomes so severe that the skin becomes super-sensitive and dermatitis occurs in the scratched areas.

The consequences of a serious flea infestation is often that your dog can not lie down for long or sleep properly due to the constant flea bites. So, your dog appears to have some severe skin disease. If the the animal is not properly attended to for these flea bites, there could be a secondary bacterial attack in these sites and there may even be a rotten smell coming from the affected area of your dog's skin.

You have to inspect your pet closely in order prevent a serious outbreak of fleas. However, it is essential to avoid such a serious outbreak as they are extremely upsetting to your dog. Similarly, the skin of the animal needs to be checked regularly for the presence of ticks and lice. In order to do this effectively, you need to inspect the dog's skin by separating the dog's hairs. The easiest way to achieve this is by slowly back-combing or ruffling the animal's hair.

Usually, if your dog is anaemic, and he is not infested with fleas, you need to rule out hookworm. Symptoms of hookworm are anaemia, loose stools and a pot belly. The dog's owner may notice these symptoms themselves, however, to be honest, the dog needs to undergo a routine health examination at the vet's involving faecal and hematological tests.

There are many commercial products on the market. Some of which are useful for dealing with all these conditions by a single dose. Drugs like ivermectin are highly effective and are available in injection, oral and solution forms. The latter should be applied directly to the skin. These drugs can lead to the prevention of the above conditions too.

Therefore, the best strategy to follow is to keep a keen eye on your dog. This could easily be carried out at bath time or / and when you are grooming him. You can use an anti-flea and anti-tick shampoo, which will keep these pests under control, if used regularly. Couple this with a regular grooming with a lice comb and a flea collar should keep your pet lice, tick and flea free.

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