Pets more prone to scratching this year

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) - Cats have been itching. Dogs have been itching. So much so, that maybe you have been more inclined to itch! It has been one rough season for fleas.

"We didn't have a real hard winter and it allowed some of these fleas to perpetuate themselves. And now during the summer, we've had a big flea problem, generally worse than previous years," said Dr. Louis Budik of the Transit valley Animal Hospital in Clarence.

Finding these buggers starts with a close inspection and often.

Dr. Budik recommends "at least probably a couple times a week, they should go through the fur of their pet and just part the fur of their pet and just part the fur and you can see the fleas running around."

You've probably heard it before, but keeping your pet flea-free starts with prevention.

"There's certainly several flea products available," he said. "They should bring their pet into their veterinarian who can examine the pet for other problems associated with the fleas."

Yes, along with bitting, fleas can cause tape worms and other skin diseases on pets. Yuck! And it's not always a given that itching means fleas.

"Goldenrod, ragweed, there's many allergens that are in the the environment this year and they cause dogs to itch," Dr. Budik note.d

The itching can be so bad that it causes a more serious problem, called "hot spot."

"I compare it to scratching a mosquito bite," said Dr. Budik. "Sometimes the more you scratch it, the more it itches, so you keep scratching it and then it causes trauma to the skin. The skin becomes infected and it's very painful."

The worst part of this, fleas may not just hang out on your pet.

"Some of these fleas will actually go onto humans and start biting the children or adult members of the household causing a reaction on their skin. They wont make a living off you, but they can cause a problem," Dr. Budik explained.