What are Fleas?
Fleas are small flightless, jumping and flat body insects. It has well developed hind legs for jumping. Fleas are external parasites of birds and mammals. They live off the blood of their hosts. An adult flea is 3mm long and generally brown. At the end of their legs, they have some tiny claws to help them attach to animals and other warm-blooded mammals. They sometimes spread diseases through their bites , such as plague and myxomatosis. There are 70 different species of fleas found in Australia.
Here are some popular species of fleas.
- Ctenocephalides felis – commonly known as cat fleas
- Ctenocephalides canis – dog fleas
- Echidnophaga gallinacean – sticktight fleas
- Pulex irritans – human fleas
Most common fleas live on the blood of cats and dogs. The most common name of fleas is sand fleas. Let’s discuss cat fleas and dog fleas. Remember if there is any sign of fleas you should Call Control Pest Management immediately on 1300 357 246.
Cat Fleas:
In general, these cat fleas are common insects whose foremost host is the pet cat. The cat flea refers to the insect order Siphonaptera which in its adult stage is an unavoidable hematophagy. Both male and female adults’ size is from 1–2 mm and are commonly a reddish-brown or chestnut in color.
Like other fleas, cat fleas also bury their heads under the dark, dense hairs of the host above the top layer of the skin, resulting in an extremely tiny insect which may be hard to see, even the host is pure white. Cat fleas can also live in other carnivores and omnivores, although these are only selected if the required host is unavailable.
Dog Fleas:
The Dog flea is the species of flea that live as an ectoparasite in a wide variety of mammals, most commonly in domestic cats and dogs. It refers to the cat flea, “Ctenocephalides flea” which can live on a vast range of animals.
Although, they live on the blood of pets like cats, dogs, and sometimes bite humans, they can survive without blood for several months. However female fleas need a blood feed before they lay eggs. They can lay about 400 eggs in the hosts fur.
Protect Cat and Dogs From Fleas
If pets scratch and seem restless that could mean that they could have fleas. We can protect them from itching.
- Observe the fur of the pet and check any sign of movement. If we see some infection or bugs on their skin, then it is the time to Call Control Pest Management immediately on 1300 357 246 and hunt fleas.
- Comb the skin of the pet many times a day with a fine-toothed metal flea comb. That will push off the fleas and their eggs from the skin of the pet.
- Then plunge the comb in water and in liquid detergent or cleaner to kill the fleas.
Signs of flea allergy
Sometimes flea bites make some pets feel irritated . However, some cats and dogs are allergic to fleas. The physician can call it flea bite hypersensitivity or flea allergy dermatitis (FAD).
Some sign of FAD
- Rashes , some bleeding or an irritated area on the skin of the pet indicates FAD. Dogs generally have it on their tail areas, stomach and near the back legs while cats have it near their face and neck.
- Hair loss, uniquely where the bites occurred.
- Small pink and red spots that look like pimples on pet’s skin.
- Constant clawing, grooming, itching, and biting.
Life span of a flea
Under ideal condition, a flea’s lifespan is from 18 days to 1 year. Ideal conditions include food supply, humidity, and temperature. Although in general, an adult flea can survive for 2-3 months. Without food or host, flea life might become short as a few days. However, with an enormous amount of food supply, a flea lifespan is up to 100 days. After their first meal of blood, female fleas begin to lay eggs within 36-48 hours.
Kill fleas in your home and yards by calling Control Pest Management on 1300 357 246
- Vacuum furniture, carpets, and mats.
- We can spray the inside of your house; fleas loves dim or dark areas so we spray everywhere, under all the dark places such as furniture and in all dark corners.
- Spray yards. Control Pest Management can Spray your yard to target the fleas before they enter in the home on clothes, shoes, and pet.
- Fog the house. In most cases fogger, is valid for up to 3-7 months, long enough to kill during the lifespan of fleas. Depending on the size of the house, we might need to use 2-3 foggers.
- Wash the toys of the pets as fleas, and eggs of fleas may hide in the toys of the pet. If you are unable to wash the toys of our pet, then it is better to throw them away.
- Wash all of the pet’s belonging with hot water to kill fleas and their eggs.
- To instantly kill all the live and harsh fleas on the pet Call Control Pest Management immediately on 1300 357 246 and use a flea preventive such as NexGard Chewables which can stop fleas from jumping back on the pet.
