All of the dog care information I have located, demonstrates that fleas survive off your pet’s blood. The gestation period of a flea progresses extremely rapidly from stage one (egg) to stage four (full-grown flea), and that means they are capable of multiplying with staggering acceleration.

An adult flea lays a multitude of eggs per day. Each egg will later become an full-grown flea, which lay a mass amount more eggs of its own. One flea will increase into a major problem very quickly!

HOW TO BE SURE IF YOUR PET HAS FLEAS

The warnings of a flea problem are unmistakable.

A canine with a flea problem will scratch virtually continually, frequently at locations that fleas look to prefer: the ears, the bottom of the tail, the belly, and the stifle (the webbing of fleshy skin between the thigh and the abdomen).

It’s actually the spittle of the flea that causes the irritation, not the bite itself, and some dogs have a genuine allergy to this saliva (as opposed to a standard irritation). Dogs with allergies suffer much more significant negative reactions to a flea infestation, and usually develop “hot spots”.

These hot spots are areas of sore, raw, flaky, bleeding, and damaged skin, formed by the flea saliva and your pet’s own reaction to it. Bald patches will sometimes happen also, from habitual clawing and nonstop irritation.

If you suspect your canine has fleas, you can confirm your misgivings by taking a closer look at her skin: you most likely won’t be able to see the fleas themselves, but you should be able to detect what looks like coffee grounds (a thin sprinkling of pulverized black grains) on her skin. This is flea dirt (poop).

If you groom him with a flea comb (which is like a fine-tooth comb), try wiping it on a napkin: if red spots show up on the napkin, you can feel certain that your canine has fleas (on a white background like a napkin, flea poop appears red: since fleas exist on blood, their poop is colored appropriately).

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