The most common external parasites in dogs are fleas, ticks and mites.
Fleas
Fleas jump from one dog to another, or from human to dog and vice versa, and attach themselves to the coat of your dog. The fleas bite into his skin to get to his blood and those bites itch. Your dog starts scratching and biting, creating wounds through which bacteria enter the bloodstream and cause infections. If your dog eats fleas when biting, there is also a very good chance that he will also get a tapeworm. The cycle of this worm is through the flea.
You can protect your dog against fleas by treating him preventively with an anti-flea medicine. Well-groomed animals can also get fleas. Therefore, regularly check his coat for fleas.
Sign
Draw life everywhere in nature. A tick clings to the skin of your dog. With his strongly developed jaws he makes a hole through the skin and feeds on blood. The sucked-up blood causes the tick to swell. If the tick is completely absorbed, it will automatically release.
A tick bite is painless, but dangerous. The tick can be a carrier of diseases that can get into the bloodstream of the dog through its bite. The disease that is most commonly transmitted via ticks is Lyme disease. In case of infection, a red circle occurs around the tick bite. That is difficult to see with a dog. Infected animals also have fever, swollen lymph nodes, lethargy, kidney problems, behavioral changes and epilepsy. Lyme disease can be treated with antibiotics, and can be completely cured if treated at an early stage.
You can protect your dog against ticks with an anti-tick agent. Check his coat regularly on ticks, especially if your dog has walked in high grass or in the forest. If your dog has a tick, you can easily remove it with a tick handle.
Skin mites
Dermal mites are small parasites, you can not see them with the naked eye. Some mites are normal skin residents that cause no problems in low numbers, other mites can be harmful and cause itching and skin irritation.
Your dog can become infected by different types of mites. Earmuffs creep into the ears and cause itching. Scab mites dig down corridors in the skin and cause severe itching. Fleece mites are in the coat and affect it, sometimes with hair loss and itching. Demodex mites nestle in the skin and in some cases cause itching and bald spots.
For prevention, different products are available in practice: collars, pipettes and also very effective tablets against fleas. For an appointment or additional information regarding our services, you can always contact us