Fleas on Your Pets – What Can You Do? (Part 1)

Fleas and pets are often found together. The small dark insect drinks blood, and while so doing can annoy and irritate your pet, bring on infections, communicate disease, and can so disrupt households.

It is vital to move fast to eliminate the flea problem. The life cycle of a flea is a month or longer, which means that if you’re tardy, a brand new crop of problems can arise.

First ensure there is a problem. If your cat or dog is scratching frequently, fleas may be the cause. Fleas jump frequently, so you can see them if you place a cloth down where they are expected. They should become visible as they jump (a light cloth works best for showing up the small dark bugs).

These insects have four parts of their lives called egg, larvae, pupae, and of course adult. The eggs are released by the female flea following a meal (of blood). The larvae and pupae are the phases before the adult, when the insect becomes ready to attack, bite, dine, and then lay some more eggs to begin all over.

If you already have fleas, you should plan to destroy the cat’s or dog’s bed. And while vacuuming may solve of the problem, you might wish to steamclean carpets and furniture to removing leftover fleas and eggs.

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