As my K9K8 nickname indicates: I love dogs! Here’s another of my 2023 hide submittals. I grew up with 14 different dogs and have had 5 dogs of my own. My first vocation was as an engineer; once a geek, always a geek. As a second career I switched to dog grooming. Both science and animals have enriched my life. All my cache hides will have something to do with dogs.
Here’s my opportunity to impart a little knowledge gleaned through my grooming career: Fleas. As a groomer when I find fleas on a dog I’m automatically personally itchy and for the rest of the day I’m psychologically crawling with fleas. As a geocacher, find one deer tick and again I’m wigged out for the rest of the day. Perhaps another cache about ticks at another time and location.
Fleas have been on earth for more than 100 million years. That means that they have perfected their ability to survive. They are voracious eaters – a female flea consumes 15 times her body weight in blood daily. Both male and females bite. Flea bites cause allergic reactions similar to mosquito bites – generally leading to itchy, irritated and inflamed skin. In extreme cases fleas can cause anemia. Historically fleas have been responsible for transmitting tapeworms, as well as diseases such as Murine Typhus and Bubonic Plague.
A female flea can produce over 2000 eggs in her lifetime – one adult flea can lead to tens of thousands. Adult females lay eggs that can hatch into larvae in as little as 1 day. Larvae move away from light and spin a cocoon. Inside that cocoon a pupa develops and eventually emerges as an adult flea. Pupae can remain in stasis for years waiting for a host to arrive.
Even if you don’t see a flea, your pet could be scratching from flea bites. To check, part their hair and look at their skin, if you see little dark specks that look like pepper, that is flea dirt (feces) and proves fleas are present. If you have one pet with fleas, your other pets are likely to have them also. Fleas can be picked up in almost any environment: inside the house, gardens, barns, sheds, woods, etc. Our houses happen to be the perfect environment for fleas all year round.
Please contact your personal veterinary professional with any questions you might have regarding your pets. Always keep your guard up when geocaching or socializing with animals of any kind.