Understanding the
life cycle of the flea is necessary in order to control it. The flea has several
stages to its life cycle. Adult fleas spend most of their time on the dog or cat
- they must be dislodged to leave since they will not do so voluntarily. Despite
this, when the flea population on the dog becomes excessive humans tend to be an
acceptable alternative to the flea. The average life span of an adult flea is
probably about 6 weeks - but fleas can live as long as a year under certain
conditions. A female flea can lay 20 to 28 eggs a day. She may lay several
hundred eggs over her life span. These eggs fall off the pet and develop where
they land. They are small and can even develop in the cracks in wood floors or
other small crevices. A larvae hatches from the flea egg. It takes as few as 9
days to as long as 200 days to go through its growth stages. At this time is
forms a pupae and waits for the right time to hatch. Fleas prefer temperatures
of 65 to 80 degrees and humidity of 75 to 85 per cent. This range determines the
period of time that fleas are a problem in your particular area. For some areas
of the country, this is all year. In others, the flea season is relatively
short. It is estimated that for every adult flea found on the pet, there are
about 10 developing fleas in the pet's environment.
**** Flea Control
****
Since we know that the flea lays her eggs on the pet and they fall off, it is
obvious that they fall off where the pet goes. This means that you must treat
your house if your pet comes inside. Many people resist doing this, explaining
that they never see fleas in the house. The flea egg does not move and it is
very hard to see. The flea larvae does not have legs so it has limited movement.
The pupal stage of the flea does not move at all. It is not likely that you
would be aware of immature fleas --- until they grow into adults. At this point
you will be overwhelmed and the problem will be very hard to control. It is
possible to kill the pre-adult stages of the flea in the house. Outside, the
flea eggs fall off in areas where the pet does things that dislodge them, like
jumping around, sitting and scratching, etc. If these areas are warm and moist
throughout the day, the flea can reproduce there. It is not necessary to treat
large expanses of lawn that dry out during the day -- concentrate on areas the
dog spends time, that stay moist and warm. Make sure you treat around the doors
in and out of the house, where your dog or cat is likely to be waiting around
and where flea eggs are likely to drop off.
There are now several "once a month" flea control medications for pets.
Lufenuron (Program - tm), makes control of preadult fleas easier than it has
been in the past. This medication is approved for both dogs and cats. It is
administered once a month and is active in the body for that entire time. At the
present time there are no known side effects of the medication other than a
small percentage of pets who are nauseous after administration of the pill. It
may be administered when other medications are being used. The pill does not
affect adult fleas at all. Therefore it is important to start this pill before
the flea season or to treat for adult fleas as necessary. There are also "once a
month" adult flea control medications. Advantage (tm) and FrontLine (tm) are two
new medications that provide long lasting adult flea control. Advantage works
for about one month to kill fleas and FrontLine works for one month in cats and
up to three months in dogs. These are very effective products. While these
products may be combined with Program (tm), their ability to kill adult fleas
effectively may make it un-necessary. There are many other products that will
kill the fleas on the pet. Shampoos, powders, and sprays tend to kill only the
fleas present on the pet at the time of application. Mousses (flea foams) and
flea creme rinse products tend to have some residual effect. Dips, which are
usually used as pour-on products, have a slighlty longer residual effect and are
more likely to be associated with toxicity. Proban, an orally administered flea
killing pill has short duration of action but is made to be given twice weekly.
There are "spot on" products as well, which have may have a longer duration of
action. However, all of these products are more toxic and/or less effective than
FrontLine (tm) and Advantage (tm).
Treating the house should involve a two pronged approach. To kill the pre-adult
fleas it is necessary to use methoprene (Precor). This can be done by using this
product alone, or in combination sprays with an adult killing ingredient. The
ingredients that kill preadult fleas are generally effective for 3 to 4 months,
indoors. Killing adult fleas can be accomplished using any of the pyrethrins (tetramethrin,
pyrethrin, permethrin, etc.), or an organophosphate. The adult flea killing
ingredients do not have a residual effect and retreatment every 2 to 3 weeks
until the fleas are gone is usually necessary. These products come in sprays and
aerosols (foggers). It is very important to read the directions, figure out the
square footage you are attempting to treat and use these products properly.
Foggers generally are ineffective unless one is placed in each room, so small
size foggers may be the most economical approach. An alternative to this
approach is to use a sodium borate product for flea control - such as
FleaBusters. Some people use diatomaceous earth (food grade) in the house to
control fleas.
Flea treatment in the yard can be accomplished using one of the yard sprays
specifically made for this purpose. There is a new approach, in which a nematode
(worm) that lives on flea larvae is spread in the yard. This is non-toxic and
appear to be effective. These worms are sold by various companies. One brand
name is Interrupt, available through veterinarians. Remember, it is only
necessary to treat areas which stay warm and moist. For some people this will be
the whole yard. For others, treatment of much less than the whole yard will be
effective.
Prior to this year (1996), we felt that effective flea control meant that you
needed to treat the pet, the house and the yard. Not treating any one of these
could lead to perpetual flea problems. It appears that FrontLine (tm), Advantage
(tm) and Program (tm) may change that situation and allow control of fleas with
treatment of the pet, only.
Flea control can be accomplished if you are careful to take a few steps to
ensure that your plan works. Treat your pet with one of the new flea control
products. If you elect to treat the house, to it right. Measure your house and
figure out the square footage -- then apply a proper amount of flea control
product. If you are using foggers, make sure that they will cover the area you
anticipate -- don't expect them to treat two rooms by placing one in the hall,
for instance. Get a fogger for each room. If you use a professional
exterminator, make sure they use a product that kills preadult fleas as well as
an adulticide. Pay them to come back in 2 weeks the first time, rather than
waiting a month. Keep up the treatment until you see no fleas, then use the
preadult products 2 or 3 times a year to keep the problem from coming back.
Fleas can be controlled. It can be expensive to take care of a flea infestation
but it is usually cheaper than dealing with the complications to your pet's
health that fleas can bring about.