The best way to keep fleas away from your pets is to never let them enter your home. The following article describes the different species of fleas found commonly on pets. Knowledge is one of the most important factors in flea removal; by becoming aware of fleas living conditions we can effectively make our homes inhabitable and free from infestation.
Species Of Flea
Fleas are a constant burden for your pets because they are found everywhere and are extremely easy to pick up. If you treat your pet with the correct flea repellent it is a fairly easy job to ensure your pets stay healthy and flea-less, however, you should try to treat them at an early stage before that catch fleas, because it is easier to repell them than get rid of them when your pet already has them. If you find that your pet has fleas and it's quite a bad case, you may need to treat your house as well as your pet because fleas can breed in carpeting too.
The Life Cycle Of The Flea
There are four stages of the flea life cycle, the egg, the larvae, the pupa and finally the adult flea. The adults cause most of problems because it is they who live on your pet and suck their blood causing irritation and possible contraction of illnesses fleas can carry. The adults also lay their eggs on the animal beginning the cycle of the flea:
- The eggs that are laid fall off the animal and can inhabit just about anywhere they land
- The eggs then hatch, which is known as the larvae stage of the flea life cycle
- The larvae will feed on small particles of debris they find nearby, too small for the naked eye to see
- Once the larvae have consumed enough they enter the pupae stage, spin a cocoon and the adult flea starts to develop inside
- The pupae can survive in this state for as long as it takes for the environment to be able to support the adult flea contained within, at which point the flea will hatch
- Once the flea favours the environment it will hatch and jump back on to the first animal it comes into contact with, which can be a human too
- If the conditions are right this whole process can take less than 2 weeks, but the adults life span if much shorter than this, only lasting up to 10 days, but usually dying somewhere between 7 and 10 days
Flea Control
The most popular method of flea control is the flea collar, which is easy to use and can prove quite effective. Other methods include flea powder for consumption by the animal, flea sprays, shampoos and flea drops, which are applied to the nape of the neck.
To see if your pet has fleas, the easiest method is to use a comb and comb as much as you can of the fur. If you find small pieces of foreign material it is quite likely that your pet has fleas, although to be sure you can put any bits you find on to a piece of wet cotton wool and if it stains the cotton it is 'flea dirt'. The red that appears in ingested blood that has dried hard.