Parasites living on your pets

Now that August is here, there are many unwanted visitors just itching to live on yourpet.  Fleas, harvest mites, and ticks are annoying parasites that will not only infest your pet, but may take the odd bite from you! 

 

 

 

Flean Magnified 20x

Fleas are well-known visitors.  Black-brown incolour, they are 2 to 3 mm in length and visible with the naked eye.  They feed on your pet’s blood (sometimes they bite humans, but don’t like our blood).  Fleas can cause major skin irritations and allergic reactions.  They also transmit tapeworms to dogs and cats, so year round flea control is the best way to ensure that your pets are free from fleas.  Regular worming will take care of the tape worms.  Don’t forget that fleas like warm environments, so they will happily live in your home for the winter if you don’t treat your pets!

 

 

 

 

Harvest Mite Magnified 200x

In late summer and early autumn, harvest mites become a problem.  They live in long grass.  As animals pass through long grass, the larval stages jump on them to feed.  Once the mites have had their fill, they fall off and complete their lifecycle.  They tend to congregate on the ears, legs, and belly.  They are easily visible because they appear as bright orange spots on the skin.  They cause severe itching because the saliva they produce is a skin irritant.  Cats seem to suffer more with harvest mite infestations than dogs do.  They will self mutilate because they are so itchy.  They can also have severe allergic reactions to harvest mites.  As with other parasites, harvest mites can bite people too.  Few treatments are 100 percent effective against harvest mites, so repeated applications of treatments recommended by your veterinary surgeon might be necessary.

 

 



Tick magnified 10x



 

Ticks are other uninvited guests.  These parasites live in grassy and wooded areas.  They will get a lift on your dog or cat, have a meal and fall off again.  They can range in size depending on whether or not they have had a blood meal.  As with fleas and harvest mites, ticks are easily visible and will feed on humans.  Treatment for ticks is available through your veterinary surgeon. 



Tick head magnified 200x



All photos were taken by Animals First Veterinary Hospital