The Louse and Flea Infestations in Cats and Dogs in Antakya Animal Shelter

We aimed to determine frequency of louse and flea infestations in cats and dogs in various gender and age in this study. A hundred and fifty dogs and 50 cats were evaluated according to flea and louse infestation in Hatay Metropolitan Municipality Unattended Animals Care and Rehabilitation Center between 01 June 2017 and 10 July 2017. Louse was detected in none of the animals. Flea infestation was detected in 78.7% of dogs and 68% of cats. Ctenocephalidescanis andCtenocephalidesfelis were the most common species in dogs and cats respectively. Eight hundred and three of 1180 fleas (74%) detected in dogs were C. canis and 377 of 1180 (26%)wereC. felis. In cats 217 of 340 fleas (64%) were C. felis and 123 of 340 (36%) were C. canis. There was no significant difference between infestation and age, race and sex in cats and dogs (P>0.05). Absence of louse and increased flea infestation in unowned cats and dogs may be related to the seasonal and geographic conditions