Flea Control » flea problem

Poor flea control can be fatal

simon — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 08:27:59 +0000

Baby kittens are at a high risk of becoming ill when they have a flea burden

Everyone knows that flea infestations can be bothersome and irritating for your pet, but most people don’t realise that a heavy flea burden can actually be lethal in some circumstances. If you have a young puppy, kitten, or older pet, then they could be at risk of much worse than a few itchy bites.

Fleas, like mosquitoes, are blood parasites. Individually they only drink a small amount – average of 13.6 microliters (+/- 2.7 microliters) of blood per day. That doesn’t sound like much, but 100 fleas will drink 1.36ml of blood per day. In adults, this amount is a mere drop in the ocean, but for a 500g kitten with only 35ml of blood in total, that is a lot (3.8% of their total blood volume per day). When you are losing that amount of blood, it doesn’t take long to get very sick.

Young puppies and kittens are at the highest risk for flea anaemia. Outdoor puppies and kittens are especially at risk, because they are more likely to come in contact with fleas and develop an infestation. They are also trying to grow, and before 16 weeks of age their bodies are not very good at producing new blood to replace what has been lost.

Older patients (mostly small dogs and cats) can also be at risk, because they are often less able to groom themselves to get rid of fleas. Also, they are more likely to have chronic disease, which can decrease the ability of the body to produce new blood.

Signs of anaemia to look for include pale gums (normal is pink, with anaemia they can be white), listlessness, and in severe cases your pet may have cold extremities and a rapid heart beat. If your pet has any of these signs then they need to be taken to a veterinarian straight away, where they may need emergency treatment such as a blood transfusion.

If you notice large amounts of flea dirt on your pet, then you need to start flea treatment as soon as possible. Frontline spray is a good option for young pets, as it is licensed for use in puppies and kittens 2 days of age and older. For animals weighing over 1kg, Capstar also makes a good choice, as it provides fast-acting knockdown of all fleas on your pet within 6 hours.

If you have any concerns about your pet, then don’t hesitate to contact your local veterinarian. They will be able to advise you on your pet’s individual case.

To a flea free pet!

Dr. Simon

Photo: clevergrrl

Technorati Tags: anaemia, flea control, flea problem, kittens, puppies

Flea treatment – 3 ways to find fleas

admin — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 12:00:18 +0000

Does your pet's fur look like this? Time to start flea treatment!

Is your pet itching and scratching a little more than usual? If they are, it might be an early sign of a flea problem, and you need to check it out.

The reason that fleas are such a big problem in dogs and cats is that they are perfectly adapted to their hosts. Their entire life is dedicated to survival. Fleas have many adaptations which allow them to survive in adverse conditions: They lay massive amounts of eggs, their larvae hide under carpet and furniture, they can lay dormant for up to 6 months, and they are very adept at hiding themselves on your pet.

Because fleas are so adept at hiding themselves, it can be hard to detect a flea problem, especially if the numbers of fleas are low. Here are three ways you can tell if your pet has fleas:

Look for fleasLooking for fleas on your pet is the most logical place to start when you are trying to check for a flea problem. One of the things that helps to find fleas is that they have favourite hangouts. The area over the base of the tail, around the collar, and over the back legs and belly are the most common places to find fleas. Make sure you are extra thorough when looking in these areas.
Using a flea comb will help you to find fleas. These fine-toothed combs are especially designed to catch fleas and will make flea detection a lot easierUnfortunately, fleas are very good at hiding. They are so good that we only find around 5-15% of the fleas on our pets. If your pet only has a few fleas, then there is a chance that you might not find them. So unfortunately, finding no fleas does not mean that there are none on your pet.
Look for flea dirt If you can’t find fleas themselves, sometimes your can find other evidence. One of the most common ways to diagnose a flea problem is to look for flea dirt. This is the digested blood excreted by fleas after finishing their blood meal. It looks like little black specks of dirt (hence the name).
Wondering whether your pet has flea dirt or regular dirt? One of the easiest ways to figure out if the black spots you are seeing is flea dirt is to sprinkle a few specks on a moist paper towel. If it is flea dirt, the paper towel will dissolve the blood and turn red.The other way to check for flea dirt is to give your pet a bath. If they have a lot of flea dirt in their coat, this will stain the water a pale red colour.
Flea bites. Another sign of a flea problem is flea bites. These look like tiny red dots, and will most easily be seen on your pet’s belly. Chances are that if there are enough fleas to cause visible flea bites that there will be enough to find by other methods, but some pets are quite sensitive and can react to the bites of only one or two fleas.If you have a really bad problem, fleas might get desperate enough to humans too! Humans are not a typical host of fleas, but if there is an overload of fleas in the environment you will find that a couple will mistake you for a dog or cat and have a nibble.

So, what do you do if you find fleas? Ignore them? Only if you want to be battling a major flea infestation in a few weeks. Every female flea is capable of laying up to 50 eggs per day. 10 fleas on your pet means 500 eggs being laid every day. Fleas can complete their life cycle in as little as 2 weeks. Your house can quickly become overrun with fleas if you aren’t careful.

If you are not using any flea control and you see any number of fleas, you need to start as soon as possible to reduce the chance of contaminating the environment with flea eggs.

If you are using flea control and you are seeing only a couple of fleas, don’t stress too much. Your pet may have picked up one or two fleas on a walk or from your garden. If you are using a good quality product these will be killed within 24 hours. If you are seeing more than a couple of fleas or your pet doesn’t go outside or walking, then you should talk to your veterinarian about possibly reasons why your flea control product isn’t working as well as it could.

To a flea free pet!

Simon

P.S. If you are looking for somewhere to buy flea control online then try Vet Products Direct

Is your pet itching and scratching a little more than usual? If they are, it might be an early sign of a flea problem, and you need to check it out.

Because fleas are so adept at hiding themselves, it can be hard to detect a flea problem, especially if the numbers of fleas are low. Here are three ways you can tell if your pet has fleas:

Look for fleas

Looking for fleas on your pet is the most logical place to start when you are trying to check for a flea problem. One of the things that helps to find fleas is that they have favourite hangouts. The area over the base of the tail, around the collar, and over the back legs and belly are the most common places to find fleas. Make sure you are extra thorough when looking in these areas.Using a flea comb will help you to find fleas. These fine-toothed combs are especially designed to catch fleas and will make flea detection a lot easier.

Unfortunately, fleas are very good at hiding. They are so good that we only find around 5-15% of the fleas on our pets. If your pet only has a few fleas, then there is a chance that you might not find them. So unfortunately, finding no fleas does not mean that there are none on your pet.

Look for flea dirtIf you can’t find fleas themselves, sometimes your can find other evidence. One of the most common ways to diagnose a flea problem is to look for flea dirt. This is the digested blood excreted by fleas after finishing their blood meal. It looks like little black specks of dirt (hence the name).

Wondering whether your pet has flea dirt or regular dirt? One of the easiest ways to figure out if the black spots you are seeing is flea dirt is to sprinkle a few specks on a moist paper towel. If it is flea dirt, the paper towel will dissolve the blood and turn red.

The other way to check for flea dirt is to give your pet a bath. If they have a lot of flea dirt in their coat, this will stain the water a pale red colour.

Flea bites.Another sign of a flea problem is flea bites. These look like tiny red dots, and will most easily be seen on your pet’s belly. Chances are that if there are enough fleas to cause visible flea bites that there will be enough to find by other methods, but some pets are quite sensitive and can react to the bites of only one or two fleas.

If you have a really bad problem, fleas might get desperate enough to humans too! Humans are not a typical host of fleas, but if there is an overload of fleas in the environment you will find that a couple will mistake you for a dog or cat and have a nibble.

If you are not using any flea control and you see any number of fleas, you need to start as soon as possible to reduce the chance of contaminating the environment with flea eggs.

To a flea free pet!

Simon

P.S. If you are looking for somewhere to buy flea control online then try Vet Products Direct

Technorati Tags: flea bites, flea control, flea dirt, flea problem, flea treatment

Environmental flea control strategies

admin — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 05:45:24 +0000

The moist sandy ground under this house would be a perfect habitat for flea eggs and larvae.

If your pet seems to keep getting fleas despite regular flea control, there is a good chance that you have a problem with fleas in your environment. If you have a heavy flea burden in and around your house, you will be fighting a losing battle. Anywhere that your pet has been, fleas will be! Here are a few strategies that will help you in your battle against fleas:

Vacuum the house regularly
Mechanical cleaning (physically removing the fleas from the environment) is the mainstay of environmental flea control. Vacuuming the whole house (especially your pet’s favourite areas) will suck up the majority of the flea eggs, larvae and pupae in the environment. A vacuum with a motorised brush will be especially effective. To really get things under control, you need to vacuum at least twice weekly to pick up fleas before they have a chance to develop into adults. Make sure to dispose of your bag in the bin to prevent any flea escape.
Wash the pet’s bedding
To kill any eggs and larvae in your pet’s bedding, soak them in hot water for at least 10 minutes, then run them through the washing machine on the hot cycle. It’s probably best if you wash these separately to your regular wash.

Block off access to flea-friendly areas
Shaded, moist sandy areas are heaven for fleas. If your pet has a hangout in a garden, under the house or anywhere else similar, you will have a hard time getting rid of fleas because every time they lie down in their favourite spot they will get re-infested. Fencing off areas like these is the simplest way to avoid this problem.
Chemical measures (optional)
The above three measures should go a long way to reducing your environmental contamination. However, if you have a really severe problem, or a complicated problem, chemical treatment of your house and possibly garden may help get things under control. This is a complicated subject and worth its own post. For now I will just mention that there are chemical sprays and foggers available which can be of benefit if used correctly.

It can be easy to focus on the fleas on the pet and forget about the ones in the environment. After all, that’s where you see the itching and scratching. But if you do that, it will take you months and months to get things under control (if at all). If left to their own devices, those flea eggs and larvae will continue to develop into adults and keep infesting your pet. If you have a flea problem, make sure that you are diligent in cleaning the environment and success will happen much more quickly.

Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mindfrieze/ / CC BY-SA 2.0

Technorati Tags: environmental flea control, flea control, flea problem, flea treatment

Flea allergy dermatitis in dogs – more than just an itch

admin — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 09:49:59 +0000

Sometimes flea infestations can be much worse than a simple itch. Flea Allergy Dermatitis (FAD) is an allergic skin disease that is caused by fleas. It is the most common pruritic (itchy) skin disease in the dog. Apart from being intensely uncomfortable, FAD can lead to severe complications such as deep skin infections, hair loss and scarring.

What is the cause?

FAD is caused by an allergy to the saliva of the cat flea, Ctenocephalides felis. Unfortunately for us Aussies, this happens to be the most commonly encountered flea in Australia. This is also the case in the warmer parts of America. Long coated breeds seem to be the most commonly affected. FAD is mostly seen in young adult dogs, but it can also develop in older dogs, often causing much more severe disease.

Signs of FAD

The most obvious sign of FAD is severe itchiness, leading to self trauma. This itchiness is independent of the number of fleas on your dog. This means that your dog will be just as itchy from five fleas as from fifty. In comparison, dogs without flea allergy dermatitis will show signs of itchiness directly in proportion to the number of fleas that they are carrying.

Dogs with FAD have a common pattern of redness, papules, hair loss and crusting over the base of the tail. This will eventually spread to the top of the back, perineum, thighs and abdomen if left unchecked. After a while, dogs with FAD may develop bacterial or yeast infections in these areas due to the trauma.

But my dog doesn’t have fleas!

This is probably the biggest misunderstanding about Flea Allergy Dermatitis. Logically, you would think that if your dog has flea allergies, you should be able to find fleas, right? Wrong!

Strangely enough, finding fleas on a dog with flea allergy dermatitis is often quite difficult. These guys are extra itchy, so they tend to groom themselves more often than unaffected dogs, meaning they are more effective at removing fleas themselves. Not to mention that fleas are hard to find anyway, with only 5-15% of fleas on the animal able to be found at the best of times. So don’t make the mistake of thinking that your dog doesn’t have fleas just because you can’t find any!

What can I do about it?

If you think your dog might have this disease, you really need to visit a vet. Flea allergy dermatitis is a big deal, and delaying treatment often means that the problem gets worse and worse, and more expensive to fix. Not to mention the serious discomfort your pet will feel being itchy all the time.

Your local veterinarian will be able to examine your animal and prescribe the right medication. This will generally involve a strict flea control program, anti-inflammatory medication and possible antibiotics, antifungals or shampoos, depending on the type and severity of disease.

Prevention

Flea Allergy Dermatitis is nasty business, and is a problem best avoided rather than treated. The only way to ensure your dog will not get FAD again is to maintain a strict regimen of flea control all year round. Even one bite could possibly cause a relapse of disease, so you have to be especially vigilant.

Technorati Tags: dogs and fleas, flea allergy, flea allergy dermatitis, flea problem, itchy skin

In flea control, one flea is one flea too many

admin — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 07:04:59 +0000

Many flea control problems have started with “just one flea”. It can be so easy to ignore that single little parasite. After all, one flea is no big deal right? That’s where so many people go wrong. If you can see even a single flea, then you are already on the back foot in the fight against fleas. In this article I will explain how even one flea is one flea too many.

Finding one flea is only the tip of the iceberg. You may be aware that adult fleas make up only 5% of the flea population, so seeing one flea means that there will be at least another 19 fleas in various stages of development in the environment. Not only that, it has been found that when we are looking for fleas on our pets that we only find 5 to 15% of the number of fleas on the pet. That means that if you find one adult flea on your pet, there could be as many as twenty! For the purposes of this example, we will assume that one visible flea means 10 fleas living on the host.

Adult fleas will lay 37 eggs per day on average, for up to 100 days. If there are 10 fleas living on your pet, then that means that they are laying 370 eggs every day, which are falling off your pet, contaminating the environment. If you see a flea on your pet, in two weeks time there could be over 5000 eggs in the environment. In ideal conditions, the flea can complete its life cycle in around 14 days. Even if only one in a hundred eggs survive to adulthood, you could be looking at an extra 90 fleas on your pet in as little as three weeks, with new fleas hatching every day. After four weeks from seeing that one flea, you could have 460 fleas on your pet, and over one hundred thousand flea eggs in the environment.

As you can see the numbers start to get pretty scary. These numbers of course don’t take into account any fleas killed by your pet’s grooming or anything else like that, but you can see that it doesn’t take much for the flea population to explode.

Just think – all of that damage can come from seeing just one flea. As you can see, if you see even one flea on your pet then you need to start flea control straight away. If you wait even a month then your flea problem could grow into a massive issue that will take months to get back under control. If you want to avoid this situation altogether, then it is best to get a head start on the fleas and start using a monthly flea control product to kill fleas before they can become a problem.

Technorati Tags: flea control, flea life cycle, flea problem

The Flea Life Cycle

admin — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 09:35:59 +0000

“Know your enemy and know yourself and you can fight a hundred battles without disaster.” Sun Tzu

The war against fleas is like any other war. Sun Tzu was an excellent general who knew the value of understanding the enemy that you are fighting against, and I thinkthis statement stands true regardless of the size of your battlefied. If you are going to win the battle against fleas it is important to understand them. Today I am going to talk about the different life stages of fleas. This knowledge will help to defeat fleas in your home.

The most common flea found on dogs and cats in Australia is the cat flea, Ctenocephalides felis. It is originally from Africa, and may have been brought into Europe during the Crusades, before spreading throughout the whole world along with human migration. Its life cycle can be split up into five main stages:

The adult flea:

The adult cat flea is around 2-4mm long and a dark brown colour. The body is compressed laterally to make it easier for the flea to navigate in between hairs. It is capable of great jumping feats, with an average jumping distance of 20cm and an average height of 15-25cm. The adult flea is a permament parasite. It is very unlikely to jump from one pet to another, and only survives 3-5 days in the environment Adult fleas take their first blood meal within 30 minutes, and breed within 48 hours. Females can lay up to 50 eggs/day for 50-100 days with an average of 20-30 eggs a day laid over a 2 month period. Fleas can live 100 days or more.

Eggs:

Flea eggs are pearly-white and oval-shaped. They are about 0.5mm long. Flea eggs are not sticky, so after being laid they fall from the fur and accumulate in areas where the host spends most of their time. Sleeping and resting areas in particular are likely to become heavily contaminated.

Eggs hatch in 3-7 days to produce flea larvae.

Flea Larvae:

Once hatched, flea larvae will seek a dark, humid area to hide in while they develop. They can move up to 20cm to do this, and will often take up residence at the base of carpet fibers, under furniture and in cracks in the flooring. Larvae feed mostly on flea poo and other organic debris. Larvae are very sensitive to dessication (drying out), and will die if exposed to relative humidity levels of less than 33%. Flea larvae take 5 days to 3 weeks to develop into pupae depending on environmental conditions.

Pupae

The third larval stage matures into a pupa, which is usually covered by a silk cocoon. The cocoon is whitish, about 0.5mm long and is covered in sticky silk fibres. These pick up debris from the environment and help to camouflage the pupa. The pupa metamorphoses into an adult in 6 days to several weeks. At this stage it can do one of two things: if there are animals around, it will hatch as an adult and try to find a host. If there are no animals around, then they can remain in the cocoon as a pre-emerged adult.

Pre-emerged adult

If no animals, adults will survive for around 150 days in their coccoon. At this stage they are protected from insecticides, which makes them very difficult to kill. Their ability to remain in the cocoon for a long time means that fleas can continue to emerge into the environment for up to 4-6 weeks after beginning a flea control program. When they do emerge, fleas are stimulated by factors like light, vibrations, and carbon dioxide to jump on their host and begin feeding.

Now that you know a little more about fleas, you can see why sometimes they are such a difficult opponent. The ability to remain in the cocoon for so long means that flea eggs laid in the summer can survive the winter and emerge in spring, leading to a sudden explosion of numbers in as short as a fortnight. This highlights the importance of using flea control all year round to keep the fleas in the environment under control.

Technorati Tags: flea carpet, flea control, flea larvae, flea life cycle, flea problem