Fleas

What Are Fleas?

Fleas are small reddish-brown bugs approximately 1-2 mm in length. They feed on your pet’s blood and may cause allergies, skin irritations, or skin infections. The fleas move rapidly and can be very difficult to detect. They hop but cannot fly. Check your pet for fleas around the neck and ears and the rump area on the back. You may find small black specks in the fur. This is flea feces or “flea dirt”. Take a wet white piece of paper towel and rub the rump area. If the paper towel looks as though there is blood present, this is a definite indication of a flea infestation. Your pet can pick up fleas any place that other pets frequent, but contrary to belief, fleas do not usually hop from one pet to another. The flea uses the host animal as a meal source and rarely leaves the animal.

A Vicious Life Cycle!

The adult fleas you find on your pet are only a portion of what you must deal with in order to clear the entire flea infestation from your pet and house. The adults represent approximately 5% of the total infestation in your home. Roughly ten times that or 50% of the total population are the microscopic eggs that are present all over your home right now. Fleas drop their eggs, which then develop into a larval stage and a pupae stage. Once the eggs have developed into pupae, they can lay dormant for over a year. At any time, under the correct conditions of humidity and animal movement, the pupae develop into adult fleas. Once this happens, the whole cycle starts over again.

First Identify that you have a Flea Problem!

You can bring the actual bug that you have found in a small plastic bag or container to WinRose. If you cannot find any of the bugs, phone and make an appointment with a technician and bring your animal in for us to check for fleas, and flea dirt. Just because your pet scratches, it does not mean that your pet definitely has fleas. There are many different skin diseases that can make your pet scratch excessively.

Controlling the Flea Problem

Once we are sure that your pet has fleas we can solve the problem. It is important to note that all pets in the house must be treated even if they don’t appear to have fleas. With the new products available for flea control – the once difficult to control flea is now very easy to deal with.

If you have a dog and/or cats with fleas, you can use the new product “Revolution®”. We recommend this for heartworm prevention, but it also kills and prevents fleas, mites and mange as well as approximately 80% of ticks. This product is a “topical” application – which means it is applied to the skin once a month. “Revolution®” is a drug that is absorbed through the skin into the blood stream and then starts to work. “Revolution®” does not start to kill fleas on the animal immediately, it takes approximately 6 hours. It is important to note that “Revolution®” is NOT an insecticide. It is completely safe to dogs, cats and humans.

For immediate kill for the fleas that have been seen on your pet, we also recommend you give your pet the new product “Capstar®” that comes in tablet form. “Capstar®” will start to kill fleas immediately, with the majority of the fleas dead within 10 minutes. It will continue to kill these pests for up to 30 minutes. These tablets are completely out of the system within 24 hours and there is no residual.

“Revolution®” is applied to the skin the same day as you give the first “Capstar®” tablet. The “Revolution®” is repeated once a month for 6 months to continue to kill the fleas that hatch from the egg larvae and pupae stages that have been deposited in the environment and continue to hatch.

Fleas in the past have always been a very difficult problem to contend with – now with the new products available, fleas have become relatively easy to control! In the past, you would have had to use topical insecticides, and have your home fumigated! We have come a long way in the past few years!

Deworming when your pet has had fleas

If your dog or cat has, or has had fleas, it is important to deworm him/her for tapeworms. When your pet has fleas, they ingest them as they chew at the itchy skin. Fleas are an intermediate host for tapeworms, and your pet will definitely become infected! If you are picking up flea treatment (“Capstar®”, “Revolution®”), we will also send you home with tablets to deworm your pet for tapeworms (“Cestex®”).

Flea Prevention

If you want to prevent fleas and never have to deal with them, we recommend that you use “Revolution®” from the end of May to the end of October (our flea season in Manitoba). It is much easier to prevent a problem, that to have to deal with it!