Fleas
There is only one
kind of fleas - nowadays. Actually, there are two different
species, cat and dog fleas, but the dog flea is almost extinct. It
couldn’t survive the modern household’s intensive
vacuum cleaning. This doesn’t bother the cat flea, however, which
is now the dominating flea, also on dogs.
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The life cycle of a flea The adult flea lives on the host animal which it only leaves very reluctantly. It breeds here and lays its eggs which then fall off the cat and lay in the surroundings. Eggs don’t like light so they roll into the nearest cracks. After some time the eggs hatch and the larvae come out. Amongst other things, they feed off the excrements of the adult fleas which fall off the cat. When the larvae have grown enough, they pupate and at some point an adult flea appears. It will then jump on to the cat or dog immediately if such a host is available. Otherwise a human will be chosen.Fleas can survive on human blood, but they can’t propagate on it. For this they need cat or dog blood. How long it takes for the flea to come out of its cocoon varies according to the circumstances. It seems that the cocoons have "an agreement" to break out at different times. Therefore the time span between the time the last cat or dog lived in a house and till there are no more fleas can be very long. Spreading and prevention Cats can get fleas even though they never come outside or ever see other animals. It only takes the owner walking past a dog on the street from which a few fleas jump over on her/him and (s)he transports "the beasts" home to the cat.On lawns and places where many cats and dogs are there will be many cocoons waiting for a live creature to pass by to jump onto. Indoor cats should therefore be treated preventively. For this purpose the product Program® Vet is very useful. The fleas that are sucking blood from the cat get eggs and larvae that can’t make the protective |
chitin shell that helps them
to not dry out and
die. They will never be able to develop into adult fleas. Therefore a minor spread as the one described above would die out immediately. One mustn’t use other flea products together with Program® Vet (not for the first month anyway). For outdoor cats Program® Vet isn’t quite enough... certainly not if the cat suffers from allergy to flea saliva. The risk of spreading is almost 100% in some areas and even if Program® Vet does that the fleas will never propagate in the cat’s home the cat will constantly be bothered by the beasts.For outdoor cats one should use Advantage® or Frontline® Vet. These two products are dripped on two different places of the neck of the cat. From here they will quickly spread over the whole cat. The great thing about these products - especially for cats with allergy to flea saliva - is that the flea doesn’t have to bite the cat to be affected by the product; it suffices that the flea is on the cat. If the problem is already there - and the house is alive with fleas, the fastest way to get rid of them again is to treat both the cat and its surroundings. For use on the cat itself Advantage® or Frontline® Vet are good. They kill all fleas on the cat within 24 hours and keep working for about a month. For the surroundings you can use a spray containing methoprene. Methoprene is a growth hormone which gets eggs and larvae to grow so fast they grow themselves to death. It is important to clean thoroughly before applying the product or it will fasten to the dirt and be removed next time you clean. Apply the product everywhere the cat comes. Used in this way the effect of methoprene will last for five months. |
Remember:
- very small kittens don’t tolerate all the mentioned products. If you have kittens with fleas you should ask your vet which products to use.
