Stopping Fleas From Infecting Your Pet (Part 1)

Fleas are a common issue with household dogs and cats. The dark small insect drinks blood, and while doing so can irritate your dog or cat, bring on infections, communicate disease, and can so disrupt families.

It’s important to move quickly to solve the problem. The life of a flea can be as little as a month, which means that if you wait, a whole new generation of problems will appear.

First establish that there is an actual problem. If your cat or dog is scratching often, fleas might well be the reason. Fleas jump often, so you can find them if you place a cloth where you suspect they are. They should become visible as they jump (a white cloth works well to show the dark small insects).

Fleas have four parts of their lives called egg, larvae, pupae, and the adult form. The eggs are released by the female flea after its dinner (of blood, from biting). The larvae and pupae are the phases before the adult, when the insect becomes ready to attack, bite, dine, and lay more eggs to start the cycle all over.

It is very important to move quickly by halting the lifecycle of the flea. With the egg phase, brushing the hair of the pet’s with a finetooth comb will help get the eggs. However, eggs may fall onto surfaces, so you must take care to thoroughly vacuum any place your pet may have been in.

1 2 »