Fleas are small, laterally flattened, wingless insects that infest the hair coats of mammals or the plumage of birds. Species that infest dogs and cats are the cat flea whose scientific name is Ctenocephalides felis and the dog flea whose scientific name is Ctenocephalides canis. The most prevalent, however, is C. felis.
Figure 1. Cat flea (Ctenocephalides felis) courtesy of wikipedia.
Ticks are parasites which normally inhabit the skin of land dwelling animals. Like mites, they are also a member of the arachnid family because they share the same basic anatomy with spiders. They are blood-suckers and can transmit a variety of diseases some of which can also produce disease in people. The kennel tick or brown dog tick, scientific name Rhipicephalus sanguineus belongs to the Ixodidae family of ticks.
Ear mites are microscopic parasites that infest the ears of dogs and cats. It is called by its scientific name as Otodectes cynotis. They resemble ticks in appearance. Infestation results in the production of dry, black ear discharges. (more…)
Figure 1. Diagram of heartworm life cycle from Hill’s Atlas of Veterinary Clinical Anatomy
Canine heartworm is a 23 to 30 cm long worm that resides inside the heart of the dog. The female produces baby heartworms called microfilariae which spread out through all the blood vessels of the dog. When mosquitoes feed on infected dogs, they suck in blood and the baby heartworms. They molt three times inside the mosquito producing L3 (more…)