Psychological implications of fleas and ticks

Some dogs and cats don’t seem to notice when they have fleas or ticks biting them, while others appear to shiver and scratch at the slightest irritation to their skin. These unpleasant sensations can lead to the pet licking and chewing at themselves – sometimes frantically – in an effort to help ease the irritation.

In some cases, this activity can become a learned behaviour and continue even after the parasites themselves have been treated.

Resultant bald patches, skin injuries and ongoing distress can really upset owners, who try to stop their pet from hurting themselves. As this behaviour has become the pet’s way of dealing with real or imagined stress, their owners reacting can lead to more anxiety for the pet and so more scratching/licking.

It can become a vicious cycle.

Breaking the cycle

The recommended advice for those already struggling with this situation is to use distraction techniques.

Calm intervention with an alternative item for the pet to lick (hollow toys filled with something tasty work well) can help deflect the behaviour away from damaging themselves. It is also important to address any identifiable causes of stress.

Prevention is better than cure though and effective flea and tick treatment is the only way to stop the problem developing in the first place. For some animals, particularly those with a hypersensitivity to parasites, a single bite can be enough to start the downward spiral into compulsive self-harming behaviour.

This is why it is vitally important to avoid lapses in parasite preventative treatment, even if only brief. One of the biggest causes of parasite protection lapse is poor owner compliance – forgetting to apply products regularly enough, or failing to apply them properly.

Vet Vicky Lees, director at Alder Veterinary Practice, is no stranger to these issues:

“Parasites are a major part of our work as vets. We see a huge number of flea and tick problems, and the majority of these cases unfortunately suffer from parasite hypersensitivity reactions.

“One main issue when it comes to parasite prevention is client compliance in keeping up with regular preventative treatments.

“We like to prescribe Seresto to our clients as it has much longer duration compared to other products which helps with owner compliance. The other good benefit that Seresto offers is that it repels ticks which assists in helping to minimise transmission of tick-borne diseases.”

Why is it important?

The degree of owner concern about a pet health condition is almost always proportional to how visible it is to them. Skin, eye and behaviour problems always rate high on ‘worry lists’ for pet owners.

Lots of owners see fleas and ticks as an ordinary part of pet ownership, but we shouldn’t downplay its importance. Many vets will have seen upsetting cases of FAD or compulsive self-harming behaviour as a result of parasite infestations. Sharing these potential complications with pet owners can help educate and motivate them to act against parasites.

Parasites are a mild irritation for some pets but can spell misery for many others. Simple, effective parasite treatment can be all it takes to avoid unnecessary, potentially long-lasting and difficult to treat skin and behavioural problems in pets.

_{Use Medicines Responsibly (www.noah.co.uk/responsible). An attachment of single ticks after treatment cannot be excluded. Seresto® contains imidacloprid & flumethrin POM-V (UK) POM (IRL). Advice should be sought from the medicine prescriber. Further information from the datasheet at noahcompendium.co.uk or on request. ®Registered Trade Mark of Bayer AG. Bayer plc, 400 South Oak Way, Green Park, Reading, Berkshire, RG2 6AD. Tel: 0118 206 3000. Bayer Ltd., The Atrium, Blackthorn Road, Dublin 18. Tel: (01) 299 9313. L.GB.MKT.01.2017.16702a}

_{*SPC tick repellency & Mehlhorn et al. Parasitol Res (2001) 87:198-207, information is regarding mode of action and is not intended to imply parasites can be completely stopped from biting. An attachment of single ticks after treatment cannot be excluded.}