Hanson-Meekins Animal Hospital

THOSE INCREDIBLE FLEAS!

THE INCREDIBLE FLEA 

Okay, so incredible probably isn’t the word your thinking of, but face it. They’ve been around forever, and although there are  lots of products out there (some are safe and some are not) - fleas are still here.  Why can we have an endangered species but not see the flea on it?   Well…the south coast is a perfect environment for them. Our weather in neither too hot and dry in summers like those of desert area,  nor freezing  and snowy in the winter.  Welcome to the perfect flea environment! In our area fleas are present year around, that is why it is so important to keep your pets on a veterinary approved safe product year round.

Fleas are persistent, nasty and tough to kill. Home infestations  make you and your pets miserable. You say, I’ve  tried spraying, cleaning and "bombing". Why can’t I get rid of these creatures?  Let’s look at the flea’s life cycle. Flea’s go through four stages in their life cycle.  First off and adult flea must have a blood meal ( you, your dog or cat or even smaller pets) to become reproductive, but they can live a long time without feeding. Once a female takes a blood meal, she then lays her eggs, quite often on the host itself, the egg rolls off and winds up in your home environment. So where dogs your dog or cat rest and play? Their bed, the living room sofa or chair, how about your bed?

It takes anywhere from two days to two weeks for the eggs hatch into the caterpillar or larvae. The larvae will take anywhere from a week to several months to develop. It lives off digested blood, flea feces, dead skin, hair, feathers, and other organic debris.  They weave a silken cocoon and in five to fourteen days an adult flea emerges or they can remain within the cocoon resting until something stimulates them to hatch . Vibration, heat, or carbon dioxide, which means there is a potential meal nearby.

 Flea control is like a war with an enemy, and in fact it is the enemy. You must hit it hard and keep hitting it till the battle is won. Once the home environment is clean and the fleas are controlled on your pet, then it’s simply management, which means being religious about keeping flea product on your pet.  Don’t ever think I don’t see anymore fleas so I can stop treating. That is a BIG mistake. A single pair of fleas can they thousands of eggs! NEVER SURRENDER, NEVER GIVE UP! It takes only a couple of weeks to re-infest what took months to clean up.

 Since most of the flea’s life is spent somewhere other than the host animal, it is not adequate to treat only the host. You must treat the environment also.  Thorough vacuuming is a good start, vacuum carpet, the floors, seat cushion and under them, curtains. Once you finish vacuuming YOU MUST REMOVE THE BAG IMMEDIATELY. Otherwise those little critters will just march right out  and all your hard work is for naught. Spray your carpets with  Siphotrol  it will kill adult fleas and immature fleas,  in about 10 minutes and prevents reinfestation for up to 30 weeks.

Your treating the home now treat the pet. WE CANNOT STRESS THE IMPORTANCE OF USING A SAFE PRODUCT. Many a time an owner has used a product purchased at the store, or used something for a dog on a cat, and then ends up coming in on emergency. It’s tragic but it happens.  Each product has different active ingredients and because cats cannot metabolize some compounds of these products, care must be taken in their use.  Just be safe,  use a product that has been tested to be safe, use the appropriate dose for the weight of the pet, and do not apply a product for a dog on a cat.

 There are many products out there. Some have proven chemicals for killing fleas, such as Advantage, Vectra, & Frontline. Some work better than others.  Borax dries out the flea, but its safety for pets is untested. There are herbs such as Pennyroyal, but it too should not be used in homes with pets due to high toxicity to mammals. Using a dehumidifier with air conditioning and vacuuming all may interrupt the flea cycle. Humidity is critical to flea survival.

Combating a flea infestation takes patience. For every flea found on a pet, there are thousand more in one stage or another in your home. Be patient and persistent. For a healthy happy pet, keep them on a veterinary approved product year around.

 What's in Your carpet?

SERIOUS ALLERGIES FROM A SIMPLE FLEA BITE…

You have noticed that your dog or cat is constantly scratching and biting at itself, but you can’t see any fleas. It could be that your poor pet is suffering from flea allergic dermatitis or FAD.

Flea allergy dermatitis is when your pet suffers an allergic reaction from a fleabite. When fleas feed on dogs and cats, they release saliva with the bite, to prevent the blood from clotting. The flea saliva is what causes the allergic reaction in some pets, and results in inflammation and itchiness and if left untreated, can become severe enough to cause self-mutilating behavior and secondary infection. For pets that suffer flea allergy dermatitis, just one flea, or just one fleabite can cause an allergic reaction.

 STUDIES SHOW there are over 15 different antigens in the saliva of the flea. Each one of these antigens is capable of causing an allergic response in a sensitive dog or cat. Despite recent advances in flea control, flea bite allergies still continue to be a common problem. In fact, once your dog develops an allergy he will almost always be allergic

 Flea allergy dermatitis is the most common allergy in dogs and cats. It is a very itchy disease and predisposes to the development of secondary skin infections. In an allergic pet, the bite of only one flea may cause a serious problem and the pet will itch for over five days. Extensive skin damage may result from the pet's biting, licking and scratching.

 Pets with flea allergy have very few fleas because they are so itchy, they groom themselves excessively, eliminating any evidence of fleas. However, a couple of flea bites every two weeks are sufficient to make a flea allergic pet itchy all the time.

 The abdomen and rump are the most commonly affected areas in the dog. These itchy areas may develop oozing scabs. Cats, on the other hand, typically overgroom; they may have hair loss but not develop skin lesions.