Fleas On Dogs
Does your dog have fleas? Mine certainly does not but for many unfortunate dogs and their owners, they are not as lucky. Take for example, my parent’s pet Shih Tzu Harry. This little guy is very unfortunate indeed as he was recently the victim of flea monsters and like any victims of the dreaded flea monsters little Harald was not a happy camper! Fleas on dogs suck, and my parents can attest to this fact as they have had to deal with them on a few occasions where little Har is concerned, which raises the question: how the heck is he catching them?
So what exactly are fleas? Fleas are little bastards, uh critters, that make life a living hell for unfortunate canine victims and their owners! According to wikipedia, fleas are insects of the order Siphonaptera, but let me tell you, dog owners could care less about what they are they just want rid of them in quick fashion! In the recent case of Harry’s flea infestation, my mom believes he contracted the little son’s a bitches while chillin at PetsMart doggie day care, which could actually be where he got them, unless he stumbled across a flea village while digging in his backyard.
Want some facts on fleas? Wanna know just how much of a pain they can be to get rid of? Well let me tell you, speaking of getting rid, my mom can attest to the fact that getting rid of them is no easy task. You see once fleas infest your pet, they also take it upon themselves to move right into your home, have babies and take over your entire universe! Did I mention that fleas are rude son’s a bitches? I think I did but it is worth repeating! Once you have a flea infestation on your hands, you better glove up because you have a lot of work to do. Fleas can bite, and they do not just stick to pets! They will also nibble on human flesh to get to that oh so precious blood within, just another fact that makes them so vial! Inside the home of a pet that has fleas, there could be up to five percent of the total flea infestation on the actual pet, and an abundance of flea larvae, flea cocoons and actual eggs chillin out in your carpets. Female fleas, yeah there are male and female fleas believe it or not have the ability to lay up to 2,000 eggs during their life time, which means if flea infestations are not dealt with in a timely fashion, burning down your home maybe the only way to get rid!
Luckily for my parents, burning down their home was not something they had to resort too, thank God for that as I need somewhere to stay when I go down that way, LOL! Seriously because this is not the first time that Harry has been infested, my parents have a system down pat that works and works pretty well. Introducing the flea bomb! The flea bomb works pretty well, as it kills adult fleas, flea larvae and flea cocoons that are fabric and carpet dwelling. Once you’ve bombed your house, you need to vacuum and do a good job of it, to insure that you remove all of the flea gunk from your home.
The next step is to remove all the fleas from your pet, and in this case, the clippers come out for Harry! As Harry is a breed of dog that has long hair, shaving him is a pretty smart way of removing the camouflage for fleas, thus making them easy to spot. A good flea bath comes next for Harry, which is interesting to say the least because the little guy is not a fan of the bathtub! Once Harry is thoroughly bathed, all the fleas are dead and can be brushed out with a flea comb!
The final step in keeping your pet flea free is simple prevention. This is the easy part and simply means putting your pet on some form of flea preventative! This is where I’m pretty sure my parents slipped up and hopefully they have learned their lesson this go around. There are many different flea preventatives on the market, with the more popular one’s being Advantage and K9 Advantix. Ben Franklin had it right when he said “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” and for my parents and millions of other dog owners, heeding this advice could save a lot of hassle indeed!
Nice!