~ 549 ~ ISSN Print: 2617-4693 ISSN Online: 2617-4707 IJABR 2024; SP-8(3): 549-553 www.biochemjournal.com Received: 15-01-2024 Accepted: 18-02-2024 Rabeya Begam Assistant Professor, Department of Veterinary Parasitology, College of Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry, CAU, Jalukie, Peren, Nagaland, India Pallabi Devi Assistant Professor, Department of Veterinary Parasitology, College of Veterinary Science, Assam Agricultural University, Guwahati, Assam, India Kanta Bhattacharjee Assistant Professor, Department of Veterinary Parasitology, College of Veterinary Science, Assam Agricultural University, Guwahati, Assam, India Sanjana Bora Veterinary Officer, A.I. Centre, Joymaguri, Gossaigaon, Assam, India Nabanita Thakuria Veterinary Officer, SVD, Kachugaon, Gossaigaon, Assam, India Abhijit Deka Assistant Professor, Department of Veterinary Pathology, College of Veterinary Science, Assam Agricultural University, Guwahati, Assam, India Corresponding Author: Abhijit Deka Assistant Professor, Department of Veterinary Pathology, College of Veterinary Science, Assam Agricultural University, Guwahati, Assam, India A comparative morphological study of flea recovered from dog and cat in Guwahati Rabeya Begam, Pallabi Devi, Kanta Bhattacharjee, Sanjana Bora, Nabanita Thakuria and Abhijit Deka DOI: https://doi.org/10.33545/26174693.2024.v8.i3Sg.818 Abstract A study was conducted to investigate the prevalence of fleas in dogs and cats in Guwahati city from August 2020 to July 2021. A total of 244 dogs and 120 cats were examined, out of which 55 dogs and 24 cats were found to be infested with fleas. For morphological identification, 388 fleas and 252 fleas were collected from infested dogs and cats respectively. Fleas were highly prevalent in stray dogs (76.0%) and cats (62.4%) than in pet dogs (17.5%) and cats (13.2%). The prevalence of flea infestation was higher in young dogs (51.4%) and cats (36.3%) than in adult dogs (37.1%) and cats (32.3%). Two species of fleas were identified namely Ctenocephalides canis and Ctenocephalides felis. On dogs, the prevalence of C. canis alone was 62.0%, whereas that of C. felis alone was 38.0%. Prevalence of C. felis only on cats was 90.0% whereas that of C. canis alone was 10.0%. Mixed infestation of C. canis and C. felis were recorded in 10 dogs and 2 cats. These two flea species C. canis and C. felis infesting the host causes irritation, dermatitis and also act as a vector of many diseases, therefore the proper control of these flea is necessary in dogs and cats to prevent flea borne diseases. Keywords: Fleas, Ctenocephalides canis, Ctenocephalides felis, cats, dogs, morphology Introduction Ectoparasites are a common and important cause of pruritic and non-pruritic skin disorders in dogs and cats which cause hypersensitivity disorders (Ettinger and Feldman, 1995). In addition, many species of arthropod are responsible for the transmission of disease to other animals or are vectors for some diseases that are transmitted to humans. Amongst others, fleas are an important ectoparasite of class Insecta under the order Siphonoptera. Members of the genus Ctenocephalides are thought to have originated in Africa, but have been introduced to countries around the world. Ctenocephalides canis occurs worldwide and is the predominant flea found on dogs in most parts of the world. They not only infest the host and cause irritation but also act as the carrier of the disease in case of the host animal like dog and cat. They are not markedly specific for their host and may feed on other hosts. The dog flea has been reported on many mammalian hosts including dogs, cats, rabbits, rats, gray foxes, red foxes, woodchucks, and humans (Fox, 1940) [6] . C. canis can act as intermediate hosts for parasitic worms including the double-pored tapeworm, Dipylidium caninum and the nematode, Acanthocheilonema reconditum. The cat flea (C. felis) is an extremely common ectoparasite whose principal host is the cat. It is considered the most pervasive flea with veterinary significance principally centered around owned dogs and cats (Tsoi et al., 2020) [15] . C. felis and C. canis are the most important flea parasites of dogs and cats throughout the world; they themselves affect the host and act as vectors of diseases (Ali et. al, 2020) [2] . C. felis is more adaptable than C. canis, since it infests more host species and has therefore become established in more extensive areas (Linardi and Santos, 2012) [14] . C. felis is one of the few flea species that is truly cosmopolitan. Throughout the rest of the world, cat fleas are found wherever suitable hosts reside (Hubbard, 1968; Roberts and Janovy, 2000) [7, 11] . In this part of the country, no detailed morphological studies on the mentioned flea species were performed. In the present work, fleas collected from dogs and cats in and around Guwahati city have been morphologically examined. International Journal of Advanced Biochemistry Research 2024; SP-8(3): 549-553