Dark specs on my dog despite flea meds? Is it flea dirt or just dirt?

Hello. Fleas would be moving, & moving very quickly, so no apparent fleas in either picture. To tell if you have flea dirt ( which is actually flea feces ), drop some of the debris on a damp paper towel. If it is flea dirt, then a reddish brown to rust color will leach from each spot. If the debris just sits there with nothing happening for several minutes, then it is just run of the mill dirt. Thanks for contacting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Fleas live on the surface of the skin, and a live flea will definitely move if you try to touch it. A dead flea would be easy to pick up and remove from your dog's skin. It can be difficult to differentiate flea dirt from regular old dirt - if you comb some of the dirt and put it on a white paper towel and then wet it with water, flea dirt will turn red because it is digested blood. Flea eggs are too small to see without a microscope. A flea comb can make it easier to find both adult fleas and flea dirt - run the comb along your dog's back near the base of the tail since this is typically where fleas like to hang out. Also, if your dog is not on a flea preventative I'd recommend talking to your veterinarian about recommendations.

The way to know if Jake has flea dirt is to comb some of these specs of dirt onto a paper towel. Put a drop of water on one of the flecks, and if the paper towel underneath has a reddish stain, then it is flea dirt (flea poop contains water). If you don't see a reddish stain, then it's just dirt. I hope this helps :-)

The way to tell if it is flea dirt is to put the specks on a wet paper towel and if it is flea dirt it will turn red. If it doesn't leave red on the paper towel than it is not flea dirt. Flea dirt is basically flea feces so it does not actually turn into a flea. The eggs that a female lays will develop into fleas and one flea can lay a lot of eggs. Use a monthly flea prevention, like Frontline, Revolution, Advantage, etc. Also treat your house with a product that has a growth regulator if you see any live fleas.

You can also check for little black specks on his fir closest to his skin called flea dirt. Likely though if you apply flea prevention and the doctor found no evidence he should be ok but if you find these little black specks of dirt, a way to conform if it is indeed flea dirt is take a paper towel, wet it, and smear the dirt specks around. Normal dirt will not look any different after doing this however flea dirt will have a reddish color to it

I think you are asking about the areas on the prepuce? If they are flea dirt you should be able to wipe them off easily. If they wipe off and the debris starts to make a wet paper towel turn reddish then likely flea dirt. If you can wipe them off but they do not discolor the white paper towel then likely just dirt/superficial skin secretions. If you can not wipe them off then likely just skin discoration. I hope this helps and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!

Yes, it would have been an obviously color change, and you are correct that since your dog was already wet when you took the dirt off of him, it would have had a reddish tint then and not be stark black. Rest assured it was good old regular dirt.