Can you see fleas?
Wednesday, April 21st, 2010 at
3:28 am
My dog is a 4mos golden. He is very itchy. Made a vet appt for allergy testing but its 1 1/2 away. When I brushed his hair this morning I looked for bugs, but saw nothing. Would I be able to see fleas if he had them or do they bury themselves in the skin and arent visible? Thanks in advance for the advice!
Tagged with: Fleas
Filed under: Flea Allergies In Dogs
Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!
You can see them. They are mostly found under his arms and near the face.
you’d see them. maybe he has a skin problem
You can definitely see fleas. Their eggs are noticable too. It might just be a skin condition, like the skin is irritated, or he has an infection.. Ask you vet about checking it out.
You would be able to see them. Your dog may be having an allergy to his food. You should talk to your vet about switching to a food with no wheat and no corn. Wheat is one of the highest causes of food allergies in dogs and the leading cause of skin disorders as well.
Good luck!
Yes you can see them but they don’t live on the dog only jump on for a meal. I would be worried about mange. Talk with you vet on that, but allergies are very possible as well.
Fleas are visible to the naked eye but hard to catch. Try using a flea comb (with fine bristles) to comb through your dogs coat. You might cacth on the little buggers (they are black and oval shaped) but they jump fast. They will also leave behind “flea dirt” which are little teeny curls of black stuff that will turn reddish when you wet it with a cotton ball.
Best of luck,
Fleas do not voluntarily abandon their host, and they are VERY good at concealing themselves on the body. You may not ever see one on your pet. What you want to look for is flea feces, which will fall off in abundance if there are fleas present. Put her on a light colored surface, and rough up her fur vigorously. If you see tiny black flecks on the surface, pick a few up with a damp Kleenex. If it is flea poop, it will dissolve into a streak of red (digested blood).
At 4 months, most allergies are not fully presented in the patient, so if you’re investing the couple hundred bucks into an allergy panel, you may be wasting your money.
First approach the most common causes of severe itch and dermatitis in dogs – fleas (duh), foods, and environmental causes.
A puppy her age may also have a weak or underdeveloped immune system, causing her to develop staph infections of the skin. These themselves are very itchy, and are not necessarily caused by an allergy causing her to itch, they can appear spontaneously on a young patient who has not yet fully developed their immune defense against these bacteria that are present on every living surface.
it just depends on how many there are. they do not burry themselves in the skin, but some dogs are more sensitive to fleas than others and just a couple bites can make them itchy all over. one good place to look is around her rear. gross I know, but they like to hang out there. also, look for little peices of what look like dirt. if you find any, put it on a tissue and dab with some water. if it turns red, this is flea poop and means that she’s got them. good luck!
yes you can see them look by the ears, back ,and around the neck area
You can definitely see fleas. They are very quick though and they can jump. The easiest way to see fleas on your pet is to give him a bath. Start low and work your way up, if there are fleas, they will move toward higher ground(such as the head). Just FYI they are black so if you have a dark skinned/haired dog they are harder to see.
You should be able to see fleas, just little black specks that move aroudn, you wanna look at his belly and at the base of his legs would be easiest to see. Good luck hope he’s okay
yes fleas are visable they can be seen maybe he just has irritable skin
Yes, you can definitely see fleas, although they are tiny little boogers. They kind of look like really little ticks. They almost seem to swim around in the fur, and are very hard to catch. They like to hide in between dogs’ toes and in their ears. Those are good places to check if you aren’t sure if he has fleas or not. Also, you can buy a cheap flea comb for a couple bucks at a pet store and comb your puppy down. The bristles are really close together and trap debris and fleas in the comb. Good luck, and if he has them, they aren’t that hard to get rid of!
Yes you can see them. you can also check for the flea poo. It is black/red. clumps in the hair.
If you dont see any he probably does have an allergy or dry skin. Do you bath him regularly? Try and oatmeal wash… their is an oatmeal shampoo that you can get. it will sooth his skin if that doesnt work that it is an allergy and that could be anything from the food, to something in your house.
good luck
Like everyone else said, yes you can see feas. Even if you don’t see the feas themselves you will see the “fea dirt”, little black specs on your dogs skin. Usually you will notice the dirt while you’re brushing your golden (which is constantly b/c of their shedding!). For future reference, I have a golden and the BEST flea medicine is Frontline Plus. Anyways…
Goldens are prone to allergies. Mine had eye irritations until I switched to the “Nutro” brand of all-natural dog food at PetsMart (he was on Puppy Chow/ Dog Chow before that). That may be causing his skin irritation. Are you washing him too often? Goldens should not get too many baths for it will irritate their skin.
Your dog is still young. Trust me, all the shedding/fleas/sensitive skin is worth it- retrievers are the BEST!
Yes, you can definitely see them. They are little bitty and mostly black colored. I have black dogs, so it’s a little harder to see them. What I usually do is just take my first two fingers and rub the hair the opposite way it grows. This makes it a little easier to see their skin and the fleas. The fleas are usually pretty shiny also. And sometimes they aren’t in just a couple of places, they like dark, warm areas….like maybe around their thigh area,….if you know what I mean. LOL. But anyway, I would try that and if you don’t see any fleas, you might look for some dry skin. I’ve seen some dogs have skin problems, but you can’t see it, sometimes it’s under the skin. Hope your dog gets better and I hope everything goes ok!!!
Yes, Nutro brand dog food is the best. It is all natural and doesn’t contain any wheat or gluten. They have a type for dogs with sensitive skin. It is the same brand I use for my Yorkie and she also had a dry skin problem.
These are some of the things I did and we are not having issues anymore:
With her I found that brushing daily helped her. Also, if you keep a harness or colar on him you may want to remove it and only use it when you are walking. I had to do the same with my dog.
When you bath him use a shampoo that is designed for sensitive skin. It may be more expensive but definitely worth it. I also spray a conditioner on my dog once a day before brushing her. I’m not sure if it actually helps though but it’s something I do.
Now, my mother puts a tiny bit of olive oil in her dogs food to help with her coat and skin. She reports a definite difference so that may be something else you could try.
I agree with the above poster….I would make a few changes in with diet, environment etc before getting an allergy panel done. See if the changes help before spending all the money.
The food could be the culprit. And like stated before you can purchase this brand at Petco. Where they also have an incentive when you buy so many bags you get one free. It’s a pretty good food and not that expensive to be natural and gluten free.
Oh yeah, as far as the fleas go, a very inexpensive way to get rid of fleas and will actually relieve some of the itching your dog is experiencing—-Tea Tree Oil.
Tea Tree Oil has a very different and very strong smell. You only need a small amount mixed with water in spray bottle. If your dog has fleas let me tell you this mixture with make those fleas commit suicide…lol. They start jumping off the dog but the tea tree oil kills them. Tea Tree Oil is natures antibotic. You can use it in your ear for an ear infection–on pimples—bites etc. Just as long as you can get past the smell its so worth it. You can pick it up in Wal-mart usually in the vitamin section. This might be a good thing to put on your dog for the itching too.
Hope all works out for you and your pooch. They truly are a joy to have in a family.
They don’t tend to bury themselves in the skin, but you don’t always see them when you search. You’re far more likely to see the flea’s droppings, which are just little black specks. They look comma shaped when you look closely, and they turn red when put on wet paper because they are digested blood.
The first thing a vet would check for with itching is fleas, and they’d be able to find them easily. If the vet couldn’t see any sign of fleas or any other parasite, allergy testing is a logical next step.
Chalice