Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Does dog hair length affect flea numbers on dogs
By Silva, Guilherme Araujo Collares da et al.·Published in Revista brasileira de parasitologia veterinaria = Brazilian journal of veterinary parasitology : Orgao Oficial do Colegio Brasileiro de Parasitologia Veterinaria·2016·Faculdade de Medicina Veteriná·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Does hair coat length affect flea infestation in naturally infested dogs?
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of dogs with short and long hair coats were studied to see how their fur length affected flea infestations. Over a year, researchers found that long-haired dogs had more fleas than short-haired dogs, especially as temperatures rose. In total, they collected over 2,000 fleas from the dogs, with the majority being the common cat flea. This information can help pet owners understand how to better manage flea control based on their dog's coat length.
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Abstract
The Siphonaptera are parasitic insects of endothermic animals and Ctenocephalides felis and Pulex irritans are important parasites of dogs. This study evaluated the effect of hair coat length and time of year on the population size of C. felis and P. irritans in naturally infested dogs. Fleas were collected from 14 dogs on a monthly basis for a year (February 2015 to January 2016) at a rural property in Bagé, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The dogs were divided into two groups based on hair coat length: short coat (coat length < 5.0 cm, n= 7) and long coat (coat length > 5.0 cm, n= 7). In total, 2057 fleas were collected, 1541 of which were C. felis (74.91%) and 516 were P. irritans (25.08%). The number of C. felis and P. irritans individuals was significantly affected by hair coat length and time of year. The variation in flea numbers over the study months was higher in long-coated than in short-coated dogs for the two flea species and flea numbers increased with increasing mean monthly temperatures. The results provide a better understanding of behavioral aspects of flea communities in dogs and may help develop control strategies targeting these parasites.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27925064/