Do Hairless Cats/Dogs Get Fleas?

Factual Questions
1
      • I was watching this commercial for a pet product that eliminates fleas, and they show this (virtual) cat wearing a rubber suit + air tank while outside to prevent getting fleas. Do hairless animals even get fleas? Yes, the animals can still be bitten bly fleas of course, but do the fleas manage to hang around as usual? - DougC
2

I would imagine that a hairless cat or dog could catch/remove offending fleas much more easily, since said flea would not be able to hide in any thick fur. Still, there are parts of its body that a cat or dog might not be able to reach as easily as others, so the peskier fleas would probably be able to hang around there for a while…

People can get fleas and body parasites, and some of us are (practically) hairless…

ICK …

3

There are a number of fan websites that claim that hairless dogs don’t get fleas.

http://members.aol.com/AHTerrier/ahtcare.html
http://www.shreddedheart.com/petsites/chinesecrested-info.htm

Although this could be because hairless dogs need more frequent baths, and that’s probably the real reason for “no fleas”.

This one is more honest:

4

Personal experience: I used to pet sit for a Chinese Crested dog and a Sphinx cat. Fleas are very rare on these animals, especially the Sphinx, although the Chinese Crested has some hair, and so could get fleas. However, what Duck Duck Goose pointed out is correct: a lot of te hairless breeds have major skin problems, and you will be spending more time caring for their skin than you would with a normally-haired dog in taking care of fleas. Hairless breeds are susceptible to sunburn, and must have sunscreen put on them when spening a lot of time outdoors. They also have problems with dry skin, and there’s a controversy in the pet world over whtehr this helps the situation or makes it worse. The dog and cat I sat for both had daily applications of Avon’s Skin-So-Soft. And they had to wear sweaters when it was cold- sometimes even indoors. Normally, animals with a full coat have correspondingly thinner skin than humans on many parts of their body. This leads to injuries.

Hairless breeds are nice, if you like that sort of thing, but they are high-maintenance pets. The time you think you’ll save by not having to deal with fleas is much less than the time you spend caring for their skin.

Many people also believe that hairless breeds produce no dander and are somehow ‘hypoallergenic’. This is not true. They produce less dander, but it is still produced. People with severe allergies to animal dander may still react to these breeds; it just won’t be as bad as with, say, a Newfoundland dog.

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I asked a vet:

Fleas do not care if an animal has hair or not. Hairless animals can still have fleas. It is just easier for us to see the fleas on a hairless animal.

6

No they do not.
:o

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[Moderating]
Welcome to the SDMB, Radiance. While we do not have a hard rule against bumping old threads, we ask that people only do so when they have substantive new information to add to the discussion. Four words and a smiley, that could be condensed down to a single word, hardly qualifies as “substantive”, so I’m going to close this.

But stick around and read some other threads (especially current ones), and see what else you can contribute.