Flea problems and your pet

Flea season!  It?s that time of year again when just the mention of these words bring visions of the pesky little buggers jumping from your pet and invading your home.  Some clients will have no problems at all and never see a flea on their pets.  Others will have fleas crawling out of the woodwork by the end of the season. 

How could a few tiny little creatures give rise to so many headaches?  In one month, 10 prolific female fleas can give birth to an alarming quarter of a million offspring!  Multiply that number by a lot of fleas (it?s said that for every flea seen on the animal, there are 10-100 more fleas in the environment), and you?ll soon realize why you?re losing your sanity over this problem!

Where are they coming from?  It may sound like an Orkin commercial, but they?re everywhere.  They?re in the fields, the parks, vacant lots across the street, your neighbor?s yard, your yard, and soon can be in your house.  Other pets, mice, rabbits, and squirrels seem to spread the fleas around these areas.  The adult flea spends the majority of its time off the animal, only getting on for a blood meal.  Therefore, when the dog goes out to sit in the backyard on a nice, sunny day, or the cat takes off to stalk a rabbit or mouse, or we decide to go for a run in the park, our pets get attacked by these fleas and our problem begins.

The life cycle of the flea can be anywhere from three weeks to two years depending on environmental conditions.  It consists of four stages:  egg, larvae, pupae, and adult.  After the female flea feeds, she mates and begins laying eggs.  More eggs are laid when temperatures range from 65F-80F and when the humidity is high (70% and greater).  Dogs and cats with fleas are like furry salt shakers, dropping flea eggs wherever they go.  The eggs are deposited in the grass, in warm dark places such as under furniture, along baseboards, in carpeting, or in cracks or crevices in the floor.  Any eggs laid on the animal will usually fall off, hence, bedding or any place the animal spends a lot of time, is frequently infested with them.  After incubating at least one week, the egg hatches revealing a very small, worm-like larvae.  The larvae live on debris and feces from the adult flea.  These larvae will molt three times before spinning a cocoon in which they pupate. These pupae are virtually impervious to anything ? including environmental conditions and insecticides. Seven days to one year later, the adult flea breaks out of the cocoon and looks for an animal on which to feed.  Adult fleas will live from six months to one year and can survive many months without food. 

Fleas can produce a severe skin irritation because of their frequent bites.  The itchiness produced by the flea bites causes self-mutilation by the animal.  Some pets become hyper-sensitized to flea bites.  These animals have an allergic reaction to the flea saliva as it is injected into the skin when fleas bite them.  Frequently the animal may only have a few fleas on them, but will still be very itchy.  Don?t be lulled into a false sense of security that there are no fleas just because your pet is not scratching much.  Dogs that are not allergic to flea bites sometimes do not appear particularly itchy.

Fleas can also serve as intermediate hosts for tapeworms and can be a source of tapeworm infections for your pet.  Make it a practice to check your pet for fleas.  It seems they prefer the ?back end? of dogs, and the head and neck of cats.  Many times you may not see the fleas on your pet, but you might see ?flea dirt?, or feces from the fleas spread throughout the coat. 

Now that your pet has the blasted little buggers, how are you going to get rid of them and keep them from coming back?  To totally rid your life of fleas is virtually impossible.  However, it is possible to break the life cycle and control the problem by treating the home, all of the pets within the home, and if possible, the outside environment.  A significant improvement in flea control can be achieved by treating the house and yard twice, but preferably three times, at 2-3 week intervals, and treating the pets either weekly or monthly depending on the flea product being used.  MAKE SURE TO READ THE LABEL AND USE FLEA PRODUCTS EXACTLY AS STATED IN THE INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE PRODUCT YOU PURCHASE.  

TREAT THE HOME:

Vacuum all carpeting, wood, or tile floors, and furniture to manually remove flea eggs, pupae, or larvae.  You should dispose of the vacuum bag immediately.  Spray the inside of the new bag with premise spray to help prevent any fleas from eventually escaping back into the house. 

All pet bedding should be vacuumed and washed in hot water every few days.  If the infestation is severe, destroy the bedding.  If your pet sleeps in beds with family members, that bedding should be washed in hot water every few days as well.

Use a premise spray in the house.  A premise spray is an insecticide made                               

specifically for the house, NOT FOR THE PET.  Because of their mobility, there is nowhere in your house that a flea cannot go.  This is why your entire home must be treated.  Be sure to spray under tables, chairs, couches and beds. 

TREAT ALL PETS IN THE HOUSE

To kill adult fleas, treat your pet by bathing with an insecticidal shampoo, and using a residual insecticide such as a spray, a dip, powder, or a topical spot-on such as Frontline or Revolution, which are the two products that Palos Animal Hospital carries.  Almost any flea product will kill fleas, but what we may perceive as a product failure is most likely a reinfestation due to a lack of residual activities of the products.  The key word here is residual (how long the product will remain active on the pet).  Flea shampoos offer no residual activity and do nothing to prevent fleas infestation from reoccurring.  Topical insecticides, such as Frontline and Revolution will kill the flea.  Most importantly, always check the product label to see if it is safe to use any product on your pet, and how frequently it can be applied, especially for use on puppies, kittens, and cats.

It is important to know that applying a spot-on product for one or two months at a time is not an effective way to control fleas.  Remember, flea pupae can survive for months at a time, and are almost impossible to destroy.  You might see fleas on your pet when the pupae hatch into adult fleas, but if your pet is treated monthly with a spot-on product, those fleas will die once they jump on your pet.  And remember to treat all pets in your home! 

TREAT YOUR CAR

If you have taken your pet for a ride, you must treat your car(s) with the same premise spray you use in your home.  Failure to treat your car is one way to reinfest your pet with fleas quickly!

As you can see, a few simple fleas can create a very complicated, disturbing problem.  The flea season begins in the early spring, intensifies in the fall, and doesn?t end with just the first frost.  Until the weather turns cold and stays cold, the battle will go on. Be patient and don?t give up.  What you are doing is helping.  Work with your veterinarian, use good quality products, and you can win the war against the dreaded flea.