This is one of the most common questions we get at our Surgery. You have treated your pet with a recommended product and yet – you are still seeing fleas on your pet.
Most people (understandably) expect, that if they treat their pet for fleas, that they won’t ever see another flea – sadly, this level of flea control is impossible to deliver – for several reasons – but don’t give up hope, there is a way to eradicate fleas.
Frontline Dog
Firstly – be aware that all the flea adulticide products are contact insecticides – the fleas have to be on the pet for some time to pick up enough chemical to be killed – with the newer products such as Frontline and Advantage, there is no scientific evidence that resistance has developed to these products. You can easily check this for yourself though – take your pet from its existing environment and leave it in the bathroom for 24 hrs. You should find that all the fleas that were on the pet are dead, and as the bathroom is a flea free environment (usually) there has not been any new reinfestation of the pet.
Now, let the pet have the run of the house and yard for 6 to 12 hours, and recheck it. Use a flea comb to thoroughly search the coat – the fleas are caught in the teeth of the comb. If reinfestation has occurred – you’ll see lots of very small fleas on or in the teeth of the comb – use the comb especially on the tummy, back & around the tail, this is the preferred site for fleas. If reinfestation has not occurred, walk the dog/ cat on the usual route and recheck for infestation.
This reinfestation is the reason that you see fleas after you have treated your pet – there is a continual day long procession of fleas arriving on the pet. These newly arrived fleas die within 24 hours of contact with adulticide chemicals- but as an observant owner you still notice the fleas. If you look carefully, you’ll see that some of the fleas are small and unfed, some are bigger (fed) and some are big & lethargic (dying). There is always a population mix of new arrivals, actively feeding fleas and sick, dying and dead fleas on the pet.
So why does this happen?… Well fleas are insects, and so have an egg stage, a larval (maggot) stage, a cocoon stage and a parasitic adult stage. Incidentally, adult fleas are the only stage found on the pet, and they cannot survive off the pet once they have fed. The egg, larvae and cocoon are found in the pet’s environment (i.e. off the pet). Each female flea produces on average 30 -50 eggs a day, which fall from the pet and seed the environment. The eggs hatch into larvae, which eventually spill a cocoon after one to two weeks. The cocoon stage can survive happily in the environment for at least 6 months.
Inside the cocoon the larval flea has become an adult flea, (some people call these ground fleas) which will then hatch in response to nearby vibration (i.e. pets/humans moving about) – they emerge from the cocoon & jump towards the stimulation and seek a host. The cocoon stage is the source of all your problems (and fleas) and unfortunately pre-emerged fleas in cocoons are extremely difficult to kill.
When fully developed, these pre-emerged fleas hatch whenever a pet walks past so they continually appear on the pet. In effect today’s fleas were last month’s flea eggs. Within 24hrs of arriving on the pet, the fleas have fed and the egg production cycle starts again.
Why Does My Pet Still Have Fleas?
Related posts:
- Is He Chasing His Tail? What You Always Wanted To Know About Fleas
- How to Get Rid of Fleas-Help and Advice on How to Get Rid of Fleas
- Getting Rid of Dog Fleas!
- Protecting Your Pets From Fleas and Ticks
- Got Fleas? Let Me Help You Choose the Best Product for Your Pet
