You have probably seen this before without knowing what you were looking at. When combing your pet, you might find flea dirt in its fur. When you do, you can be certain that there will also be fleas around. So what is flea dirt and what does it look like? Basically it’s flea droppings, flea dirt just sounds so much better. It’s digested blood that has been sucked from the host, which is usually your cat or dog (or yourself!). If you think about your own toilet visits, most of them take place at home, at work or somewhere else where you spend a lot of time. The same goes for fleas, so when you find flea droppings, there will also be fleas nearby.
Flea dirt or flea droppings primarily come from female fleas. The male fleas also drink the blood of your pets and leave flea dirt behind, but not in the same amounts. A female flea can gain almost twenty times her own bodyweight, leaving your dog or cat with a significant amount of blood loss. It adds up if there are many female fleas living off your pet at the same time.
What does flea dirt look like?
To make sure what you’re looking at is flea dirt, you have to perform a little test. Take a wet piece of paper and get some of the dirt from your pets fur. If it changes color to red or brown with a little red in it, it’s flea dirt. It will look like small black dots that are found at the bottom of the hairs. Normally you find it on the stomach of your pet, but the fleas can drop it anywhere in the fur. The stomach is the place where flea dirt is easiest to spot and this is where you should start to look for it. You can find flea dirt in other places than on your pet. This especially includes places where your pet sleeps or rests. If your dog or cat is allowed to sleep in your bed, it’s also possible to find flea dirt here. As soon as you spot these small pieces of dirt, you should do the test to see if it’s flea dirt. If the test is positive and the dirt turns reddish, you can be sure that fleas are involved and you need to be on highest alert.
Do a thorough check for fleas in your home and on your pets as quick as possible, so you can get an idea of how big the flea infestation is. If you have spotted flea dirt in your home or on your pets, I recommend treatment of all animals and areas in your home. This includes combing, shampooing, spraying, daily vacuuming and all the works, until all the fleas are gone. If you have found flea dirt in your home and have questions regarding this, please feel free to ask them in our forum. This is the fastest way to receive help and solve your problem.
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