Tick And Flea Bites On Dogs – 15 Things You Might Not Know

Parasites. They have to be one of the worst parts of having a four-legged companion, as they make us as uncomfortable as our pets: but fortunately, they are one problem that you can prevent.

You may first become aware of flea bites on your dog because they will be uncomfortable and restless and scratch more than normal. Look out for them shaking their head, scratching around the ears or repeatedly licking and chewing the same parts of their body.

If they do have fleas, you may or may not be able to spot them on your pet yourself, but, if you are suspicious about their behaviour, you can check their coat with a dog comb and look for flea dirt, which is much easier to find. Flea dirt is actually flea feces, and looks like pepper on the skin.

The truth is fleas have incredible abilities for creatures of such a tiny size. Did you know the female flea consumes 15 times her own body weight in blood every day? 

As for ticks, these are blood-sucking parasites as well but behave very differently from fleas and carry with them a whole host of different problems. Keep reading and get to know both parasites a bit better and how to recognize signs of fleas and ticks on your dog!

How do I know if my dog has fleas or ticks?

Fleas and ticks can be hard to detect. Not only are they tiny, but fleas also move very fast and can easily hide in the midst of your dog’s coat.

Run a comb through your dog’s hair and see what comes out. If you find dirt, your dog has fleas, even if you can’t actually find them⁴.

Learning to spot signs of tick and flea bites on dogs can also raise suspicions. If your dog has fleas or ticks, they are likely to be itchy, so keep your eyes peeled for:

• Excessive scratching 
• Excessive licking 
• Rubbing against people or objects 
• Red, sore skin 
• Bald patches 

If you do find that your dog has fleas, don’t be alarmed. Though fleas can bring you, your pets and your home a number of problems, introducing an appropriate dog parasite treatment is the first step to get this situation under control and provide your pet with some relief. Just make sure to check with your vet which treatment is most suited for your dog.

15 Little-Known Facts about Dog Fleas and Ticks

Knowledge is power, so here are our top facts on dog fleas and ticks to help you prepare for managing and preventing attacks from these tiny blood-sucking parasites.

1. Your dog can get fleas from other animals, both family pets and wildlife. Fleas have incredibly strong back legs and can easily make the jump from one animal to another over close ranges. An adult flea will be able to make jumps approximately 150 times its own size. Can you imagine an adult human being able to jump over a very tall building? A flea’s leap is just as impressive.

2. Fleas are quick to set up home and establish an infestation: the female flea can lay 2,000 eggs in her lifetime^1,4. This means preventative treatments are usually essential to keep your pets, family and home protected from an infestation.

3. Your dog can develop other conditions, like tapeworm or even anaemia, as a result of having fleas⁴. They may also itch excessively – distressing to them and to you. This is because flea bites on dogs can cause allergic reactions in sensitive pets⁴.

4. Fleas can come and live in your home and infest any animals that live there. You can inadvertently bring them in on your clothing or shoes, or they may hitch a ride with wild mice or other small creatures. This is why it’s so important that all pets in your home have appropriate preventative treatments, even those that do not have access to outdoors.

7. The signs of fleas and ticks in dogs are, in some ways, quite similar. Dogs with ticks may also itch more and go over the same areas of their body repeatedly, although its less common than with fleas. However, ticks can spread diseases (more on number 11) that cause fever, lethargy, a loss of appetite and depression. These signs can continue for days to weeks.

8. Both fleas and ticks are external parasites (ectoparasites). This means that they develop their life cycle outside of your pet’s body, as opposed to internal parasites (such as worms).

9. Ticks are actually arachnids, meaning they are members of the spider family³. This means that, although they also suck blood, they are more closely related to scorpions than fleas or other insects.

10. Fleas have four life stages: the mother lays an egg, which develops into an infant larva, then it pupates, before emerging as an adult, which is able to reproduce itself. This means that if you see one or two adult fleas, the probability is that there are many more: not on your pet, but in the house, the car, the soft furnishings, or the carpets. Only 5% of the fleas in an infestation are actually adults living on your dog or cat!²

11. Ticks have a wide family tree, and there are almost 900 varieties³. Some of these species are able to transmit serious diseases, such as Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, which lead to the signs described in number 7.

12. The diseases carried by ticks are not present throughout their entire lifecycle. They pick them up from animals they feed on and then pass them to the unlucky host that serves as their next meal.

13. Ticks use the blood of animals as their main food source. Humans, reptiles, mammals, including wild and domestic animals, are their usual favourite meals.

14. It can be difficult to spot a tick, particularly if your pet has dark fur. They appear as just a tiny spot, which will increase in size as the tick feeds. There are a few ways to know you might need to invest in tick treatment for your dog Simply living in an area with ticks is reason enough. You may spot a tick yourself or spot your pet’s itching and lethargy, as described above. If this is the case, talk to your vet, as it’s important for your dog to be seen.

15. Though we are meticulous about our pets’ flea and tick treatments during the warmer months, we often forget them during winter. It’s important to keep preventative treatments up to date all year round to avoid any of the parasite-related issues we mentioned above: with climate change, and widespread central heating, we see fleas all year round, and we now see increased tick activity late into the winter, and starting earlier in the spring⁵.

Dog flea treatment

While every dog may be at risk for getting fleas, it’s easy for this situation to escalate to a home infestation. Your vet will be able to prescribe an effective flea and tick treatment both for your pets and for your home.

How to clean fleas from your house

Start with thoroughly vacuuming all the carpets and flooring, even the hard surfaces. When you have finished, you should seal the hoover bag/contents in a plastic bag and safely dispose of it outside of your home.   

Your animal’s bedding will also need treating. Put it through the washing machine on the hottest wash possible – at least 60°C. It may be easier to take a trip to the launderette and run it through the large tumble dryers. If you cannot wash and dry your dog bed in this way, then you will need to replace it instead. 

With everything clean and vacuumed, now you need to apply the treatment. This is usually an insecticide spray that kills active fleas and immature forms, as well as prevents reinfestation, which you can get from your vets.

Have you noticed that your dog is scratching more than usual? Use the information provided in this blog to check them for fleas and ticks! If you don’t think parasites are responsible, use our online screener to find out if your dog needs to see the vet.

^{1: Fleas | ESCCAP UK & Ireland
2: Halos, L., Beugnet, F., Cardoso, L., Farkas, R., Franc, M., Guillot, J., Pfister, K., Wall, R. (2014) Flea control failure? Myths and realities, Trends in Parasitology, Volume 30, Issue 5, pp.228-233
3: Guglielmone, A.A., 1,8, Robbins, R.G., Apanaskevich, D.A., Petney, T.N., Estrada-Peñez, A., Horak, I.G., Shao, R., Braker, S.C. (2010) The Argasidae, Ixodidae and Nuttalliellidae (Acari: Ixodida) of the world: a list of valid species names, Zootaxa 2528: 1–28
4: Fleas Pet Owner Info Sheet.docx (esccap.org)
5: CLIMATE CHANGE INCREASES THE NUMBER AND GEOGRAPHIC RANGE OF DISEASE-CARRYING INSECTS AND TICKS (cdc.gov)}