We find ticks on dogs just the same way you guys do. Many times, we're looking for the tick themselves. We'll just run our hands over their bodies, see if we can feel anything. Owners will often think they’re tiny nodules or masses or things like that, and once we get a closer look, sometimes we realize they're a tick.

Generally, the answer to that is yes. Fleas don't discriminate, so you want to make sure that all your pets are protected.

Yes. Any pet can pick up fleas; any pet can have fleas. Some products repel, just like you and I put on bug spray to repel mosquitoes, but a lot of the preventative products that we have here require the flea to bite the pet to uptake that medication kills them, so it's possible.

Sometimes, those are a little small to see with the naked eye, but they can have some secondary reactions. It's not uncommon for pets to be allergic to flea saliva, but we can see some secondary skin infections because of fleas. And so you might see red bumps, pimples, ulcerated areas, maybe some scabs, or things like that.

No. Other than visual confirmation, or the evidence that we see of fleas being there, there's no blood test or anything like that that we'll do here at the clinic.