These tiny insects feed on the blood of pets and their owners. The most common species of flea is Ctenoephalides felis. It is a blood-sucking parasite which lives and feasts on dogs, cats and wildlife.
The most common type of flea is the cat flea, Ctenocephalides felis, which is about 1/8 inch long and is brownish-black in color. It has no wings and appears to be flat. This insect cannot fly but it has 6 strong legs that are well adapted to jumping, so it can hitch a ride with any passing animal simply by jumping on board and hanging on.
Life Cycle
Fleas pass through 4 stages in their life cycle: egg, larva, pupa and adult. Adult fleas travel by waiting and hopping onto its host animal when the opportunity arises. It will stay with the animal until it is knocked or brushed off. Fleas can only live a few days up to 2 weeks on the ground without a host, but they live up to 8 days on a host like your dog or cat.
Within 2 days after jumping aboard your pet, the female flea will take her first blood meal and within 4 to 9 days she'll start laying eggs-up to 27 eggs per day-and she'll consume 15 times her body weight in the host's blood each day. She excretes the blood as a partially digested fecal material and it appears as a fine reddish-black dust. The flea feces can easily be seen in the pet's fur and bedding.
The Larvae and Pupa Stages
The flea feces provide the nourishment required by the larvae once they hatch. It takes 5 to 11 days for the larvae to mature before they spin a cocoon and retire into the pupa stage. After a week or so the pupa develops into an adult. If the conditions are not favorable, the adult flea can remain dormant in its cocoon for up to 5 months.
The presence of an animal can trigger a response from the cocoon and the adult flea can emerge within seconds if the opportunity is available. A vacant house or apartment can harbor dormant flea cocoons indefinitely. But once humans or animals appear, the fleas can emerge almost instantaneously and a full-blown flea infestation can result.
However fleas cannot survive in the summer heat in the grass. If the relative humidity is less than 50 percent or the soil temperature rises above 95 degrees Fahrenheit, the flea larvae will die. They prefer moist, shaded areas under trees, bushes or decks. Indoors, they hide out in the carpets, under furniture and in the pet's bedding.
Animal and Human Response to Fleas
Dogs and cats can scratch themselves bloody when a flea infestation erupts. Some pets are allergic to fleas and severe itching and scratching may result. The fleas don't just tickle your pet when they crawl around through its fur and over its skin. They bite and the bites are painful.
Fleas do not usually live on humans due to lack of fur, but they can bite, causing small, red and itchy bumps on the legs and feet. If a person is allergic, the reactions will appear 12 to 14 hours later and may last at least a week. Some fleas which attack rats, mice, squirrels, raccoons, opossums and other rodents can transmit diseases such as plague and murine typhus. Fleas have been known to transmit tapeworm eggs to pets.
Flea Control
Change the pet bedding and vacuum often. This will remove up to 25 to 30 percent of the larvae and 50 to 60 percent of the flea eggs from the carpet. But fleas can continue to develop in the vacuum bags and re-infest the house. Get those bags out of the house and discard them at least once a week.
Treating Pets For Fleas
Soap is a mild insecticide and a good bath will help control the problem. A flea comb has fine teeth that will scrape fleas off of the animal hair. Clean the comb in soapy water or alcohol.
Insect growth regulators (IGR's) are preventative treatments for fleas. They break the flea life cycle by disrupting the development of eggs and larvae but they do not kill the adults. However when mixed with a mild insecticide, the IGR's are effective in killing the adult fleas.
Pesticides
Treatments applied to one or more spots on the animal's back-especially behind the head and neck where the pet cannot reach-are effective in controlling adult fleas. Natural oils on the fur transfer the pesticide to all parts of the pet's body.
Do not apply dog flea treatments to cats or vice versa. Cats are extremely sensitive to pesticides and can easily overdose and die if the wrong kind of flea treatment is applied to their skin.
Treating The Home
It's most effective to treat both the pet and the home at the same time. Boric acid and boron-based products can be applied to indoor carpeting and other areas with little risk to pets or humans. These products have little toxicity to the skin but they are fatal to the flea larvae because they contaminate their food supply. Since the adult fleas are blood-feeders, boron cannot affect that life stage of the flea. Apply follow-up treatments every 5 to 10 days to ensure that the flea population cannot re-establish itself successfully.
Diane Evans - I am a retired civil engineer as well as a member of Sisters in Crime and the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators.
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