You really have to destroy heart worm, fleas and other parasites in dogs whenever it becomes apparent that your dog is infected by using the appropriate medication against them. Loads of products are available to protect our dogs from heart worms, fleas and other parasites such as 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 bodies very vigorously. Often the scratching becomes so severe that the skin becomes super-sensitive and dermatitis occurs in the scratched patches of skin.
The consequences of a serious flea infestation is often that the animal can not lie down for long or sleep comfortably because of the constant flea bites. Therefore, 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 bad smell coming from the affected area of your dog’s skin.
You have to observe your pet closely in order prevent a serious outbreak of fleas. However, it is essential to avoid such a serious infestation as they are extremely distressing to your pet. Similarly, the skin of the animal has to be checked often for the presence of ticks and lice. In order to do this properly, you must 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 pet is anaemic, and he is not infested with fleas, you need to check for hookworm. Symptoms of hookworm are anaemia, loose stools and a pot belly. The dog’s owner may recognize these symptoms themselves, however, to be honest, the dog needs to undergo a routine health check at the vet’s involving faecal and hematological examinations.
There are many products available commercially, some of which are useful for solving 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 put directly on the dog’s skin. These drugs can lead to the prevention of these conditions too.
So, the best policy to adopt is to keep a keen watch on your dog. This can very easily be done at bath time and when you are grooming him. You can use an anti-flea and anti-tick shampoo, which will keep these nuisances at bay, if used regularly. Couple this with regular grooming with a lice comb and the use of a flea collar should keep your pet flea, lice, and tick free.