Keeping Your Pet Flea Free

So your pet has fleas, should you panic? No! It's reasonably common for pets to get fleas, especially in the warmer months of spring and summer.

The genuine problem is how it's possible to get shot of them and the way to keep them from re-infesting your pet. What kind of treatment is required to get shot of them? Sadly that is not necessarily an easy answer. The flea life cycle is difficult and there basically is no single product which will look after all of the chances for re-infestation. The 1st step to eradication is to start to grasp a touch more about your annoying tiny enemy.

Flea Life Cycle

Ctenocephalides felis, more well known as the pussy-cat flea (first flea found on dogs as well as pussies), has 4 main stages in their life cycle: egg, larva, pupa and adult. The entire flea life cycle can go from 2 weeks to 1 or 2 months counting on environmental conditions.

ADULT - Adult fleas live on the host animal (your pet) where they eat the pet's blood. Female fleas lay up to 50 white, roundish eggs a day.

EGGS - The eggs often fall off the animal and onto your carpet, bedding, floorboards, and the like. Where they will hatch anywhere from a couple of days to 2 weeks later on. The larva then appear.

LARVA - The semi-transparent white larvae spend a lot of their time eating dried blood from the feces of adult fleas. They are also keen on waste in your carpet and bedding. After five to 18 days they spin a cocoon and pupate.

PUPA - The adult flea will appear from the cocoon in 3 to five days, or it can remain dormant for up to a year or longer till the time is right.
stuff like warm temperatures, humidity, deep carpet agitation or the passing of animals could cause an adult flea to appear.

Where to begin

If you find yourself scratching your head thinking how you are going to take on a flea infestation, there are a few options to consider. First, find a good flea collar. There are many good ones on the market. You may also think about employing a flea spray or perhaps a spot-on treatment. Anyway, check with your vet and be sure to read labels to avoid over-medication. Other points to think about are flea shampoos or natural flea repellent chewable additions.

Fighting Dormancy

The hardest difficulty with fleas is the potential for long term dormancy in the pupa stage. It is not unusual for a pet to be treated and totally flea free only to get more fleas one or two weeks or months later on. That is because fleas can remain sleeping for a long time and appear again for re-infestation on your pet. So it is important to treat your carpets, pet beds, kennels, car seats and any other shaded, wet environments with a grounds spray. Stopping a flea infestation is not a straightforward task, so stay observant. And as usual, early and regular prevention is the best defense.