Fleas |
|
Martin James |
Flea control is a subject that our
clients often ask questions about. This is not really surprising since fleas
are a widely seen problem and the commonest cause of skin disease in dogs.
Any animal which goes outside is likely to pick up fleas from the environment.
Wall-to-wall
carpeting and central heating have contributed to a constantly warm in-door
environment for fleas to develop in, and all dogs and cats are therefore at
some risk. Adult
fleas can live for several weeks on a dog, biting and sucking blood up to 10
times a day, and laying as many as 300 eggs a week! It is not always appreciated
that whilst adult fleas may spend long periods on our pets, 95% of the flea
life cycle, including all the egg and larval stages, take place in the pet’s
environment, i.e. your home!
Signs of your dog having fleas may be an obvious
sudden itch as the flea bites, or you may notice your dog spending more time
grooming, particularly just above
his or her tail. The adult fleas are red-brown, about 2 – 3 mm long
and move very fast! Generally your pet would need to be infested before you
would
actually see a flea. More commonly, the
flea droppings, or flea dirts are notice
first, normally in the lighter coloured parts of your dog’s coat; these
appear as black specks close to the skin, and will weep the red-brown colour
of digested blood when left on wet cotton wool or paper.
Since such a large part of the fleas’ life cycle is spent in the dog’s environment, it is essential to treat both your dog and your house to prevent and treat flea infestation. As always, prevention is better than cure.
Treating your dog
It will never be possible to stop fleas jumping onto dogs whilst they are outside, but by treating your pet regularly, you can ensure that the fleas are rapidly killed. This stops your pet from suffering the unpleasant bites and bloodsucking from these insects, and should prevent a build-up of flea eggs and larvae in your home. Many products are available. We recommend Stronghold and Frontline.
Frontline
is available as a spray or as the more popular and easily applied, ‘spot-on’.
The latter is applied every two months directly to the skin between the shoulder
blades, or on the neck of your dog. The active ingredient is absorbed into
the fat cells of the skin and spreads out sideways from the tip of your dog’s
nose to the tip of his tail (within 24 hours). Any fleas that are present will
be killed within 12 hours of biting the dog, and will be rendered sterile in
the meantime, thus breaking the flea life cycle.
Stronghold is a similar preparation, which kills fox mange, ear mites and roundworms in addition to fleas. It must be applied monthly for the prevention and treatment of fleas (more frequently to treat mange).
Treating your home
Numerous sprays and powders are available for treating your home. We recommend Vet-kem Acclaim, which lasts up to 12 months after a single application.
Your house should be hovered very thoroughly first, paying particular attention to the base of skirting boards, the cracks between floor boards, and under sofas, furniture and beds – all the dark areas that flea larvae are attracted to. The contents of the hoover should then be disposed of, outside of the house. All household bedding, human or canine, should be washed at as high a temperature as possible, and the whole house should be sprayed extensively. In a large house you may require more than one can.
In the case of severe household infestation, it may be necessary to call in the council’s environment department, to fumigate the house.
Most environmental flea treatments are toxic to birds and fish, so these must be removed from the rooms prior to spraying.
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