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Fleas
 Everyone
knows or has heard something about the life of fleas. How much of it is true?
There are a lot of myths out there about fleas and how to control them. We will
try to give some clear facts about fleas:
- Lifecycle
- Interesting Flea Facts
- The problems of fleas
- Controlling Fleas
- Why is your flea control not effective?
Lifecycle
Eggs
Flea eggs are laid in the coat of your pet while the flea feeds. The eggs are
~0.5mm in diameter. They have a white smooth surface and are easier to see on a
dark background. They are easily shed from the pets coat and are generally in
the environment within in 8 hours of being laid.
These eggs will hatch ion 1 to 10 days depending on the humidity and
temperature. The flea eggs will not survive in a dry environment (less then 50%
humidity)
Larvae
When a flea larva hatches from the egg it is approximately 2mm long, whitish
in colour and have fine hairs coating them. They are able to move around (may
move up to 1 meter) and will generally head towards darker areas and areas where
there organic matter. Here they will feed on organic debris, other larvae and
adult flea dirt. Over the next 5-11 days the flea moults and double in size.
This once again depends on temperature and humidity. IN the outdoor environment
the most likely place a larvae will survive is shaded moist area. Indoors the
environment in carpets and bedding etc is most suitable.
When the larvae finish developing they produce a cocoon to become a pupae.
Pupae
A flea cocoon is approximately 5mm long. Within 5-8 days the flea is ready to
hatch with the right stimuli. Vibrations, carbon dioxide levels and temperature
play a role in emergence of fleas. The adult flea can stay in the cocoon ready
to hatch for up to 6 months if the conditions aren't right. This allows fleas to
hold off hatching until the next season.
The whole lifecycle (egg to adult) can be as short as 12 days given the right
conditions.
Adult
A newly emerged adult flea is attracted to light and to pets by their
movement, temperature and exhaled carbon dioxide. When the flea jumps on to the
pet (they can jump ~0.5 metres in one jump !) they begin feed within the first
few minutes. The female flea will begin to lay eggs 48 hours of her commencing
feeding. Generally around 30 eggs/day are laid but it can reach 40-50 eggs per
day. Laying can go on for up to 3 months …. That's a lot of flea eggs ! ...
~3000 in a female flea's lifetime !
Some interesting facts about the adult
flea:
- The female flea must have a meal of blood before she can lay eggs, so
fleas cannot breed on the ground - it all happens on your pet's coat
- The adult female flea consumes 15 times it's bodyweight in blood each day
and lays approximately it's body weight in eggs.
- Adult female fleas don't tend to jump from pet to pet, once they find a
host they stay attached for the rest of their life - drinking blood and
laying eggs !
- The adult only makes up ~5% of the total flea population in an environment.
The other 95% are eggs, larvae, pupae waiting to become adults!
| The
problems of fleas
Besides the general irritation they cause
the health problems fleas can cause are:
- FAD
- Flea Allergy Dermatitis. If you've ever had a dog or cat with this
you'll understand how awful this condition can be for your pet.
Constant itching lead to chronic skin disease. The drugs to control
the itching have side effects and even worsen the condition of the
skin.
- Tapeworm
- The flea tapeworm (Diphylidium caninum) is carried by fleas
and causes repeated tapeworm infection in your pet. Treating for
tapeworm is important but the fleas will just keep re-infecting your
pet if they are not controlled
- Anaemia
- This condition is generally seen in juvenile cats and dogs or those
how are old or debilitated. A decent burden of fleas can consume an
enormous amount of blood each day. This can quite quickly lead to anaemia.
Adequate flea control from when the puppy/kitten leaves their mother
is important.
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 Fleas
and Skin Problems
Fleas are often at the root of many skin
problems in dogs and cats. Even if you can't find then they're often
there. Many times simply using an adequate form of flea control has seen
skin problems improve without the fleas ever being seen. The reason being,
often pets are so sensitive to the flea bite that they quickly nibble
or scratch at the site the flea is biting and remove it. But, the
damage is gone. The flea has deposited some saliva under the skin
leading to inflammation and itching. |
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Controlling Fleas
There are literally hundreds of products claiming to control fleas. most of
them probably do kill fleas but that is only part of the battle in total flea
control. As you see from their lifecycle, their ability to breed is incredible.
Suspending this is important too.
We generally take a 2-pronged approach:
- Kill the adult fleas which cause irritation (FAD) using Flea Adulticides
- Stop fleas from breeding using an IGR (Insect Growth Regulator)
1. Adulticides
These are the topical or oral applications designed to kill the adult flea.
Examples include Frontline PLUS, Advantage, Revolution, Fido's Rinse, Proban
Tablets, Capstar Tablets. They must be given as directed to work effectively.
If they are not given at the correct frequency and dose the fleas will keep
feeding and breeding as normal.
2. Insect Growth Regulators
These are compounds which inhibit the development of the flea at the larval
or pupal stage. So, eggs can be laid but they never hatch. They will not kill
the adult flea. The most used example of an IGR is Sentinel Spectrum. It
contains lufenuron, which is ingested by the female flea when she
feeds, rendering her eggs not viable. Frontline PLUS contains a compound, methoprene,
which coats the eggs as they are laid and has a similar effect.
Some recommended regimes for
flea control:
-
Frontline
PLUS once every 2-4 weeks (will also control ticks at
fortnightly dosing)
-
Advantage
once every 4 weeks (the active ingredient of Advantage also has some IGR
effect)
-
Revolution
once every 4 weeks
-
Sentinel
Spectrum given orally once each month (can use Capstar tablets
as required to kill any adult fleas that may appear, a flea rinse could
also be used for this purpose )
Why is your flea
control not working ?
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Dormant Pupae: As we learnt before, the
pupae can stay in a dormant state for up to 6 months. Given the right
conditions these can hatch at any time and jump on your pet. A great number
can jump on your pet at once and, as the topical flea agents don't kill
fleas immediately, your pet appears infested. It can take up to 24hrs for
some topical flea control products to kill all fleas on your pet.
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Infested Environments: Your flea control
may be going fine then there is a visit to another environment. When you
come home you notice your pet is covered in fleas. This is due to the lag
time in flea kill as described above. As long as you have been applying the
flea control agent as per directions, these new fleas should slowly die off
over the next day
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All pets not treated: For those using IGR
type flea control (eg Sentinel Spectrum), it is important that all animals
in the environment are treated with an IGR. If eggs are laid on the coat of
a pet not on an IGR, these eggs will hatch and infect any pet in the environment.
It is important that all pets in the environment have some form of flea
control for it to be effective for any of them.
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Compliance: The frequency of flea control
is important. Too long and the fleas get a chance to breed in a fertile environment
for them and the numbers will continue to increase. In many areas of
Australia year round use is required as the warm environment in
heated house is ideal for the flea cycle to continue all year long.
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Washing, Swimming: Although many products
claim to have a degree of water resistance, regular shampooing may reduce
the duration of action of some products.
Flea control products are available in the shop for dogs here
& for cats here
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