The flea, also known as the cat flea or Ctenocephalides felis, is a parasitic insect of dogs, cats and other furred animals. Fleas are most commonly a summer problem but can be a year-round infestation in severe cases.

 Effective flea control involves treatment of the pet (or pets) and the environment in which the pets live (house, yard and kennel).  This is necessary because fleas have a rather complex life cycle.  Adult fleas living on your pets lay eggs that fall into your carpet, rugs, small cracks and crevices, crawl spaces, or outdoors in the dirt and hatch into larvae, the flea equivalent of a caterpillar.   After living in their hiding place for a variable amount of time, they become pupae, the flea equivalent of a cocoon.  They remain pupae for another variable amount of time before hatching into adult fleas ready to infest your pet.

Since it can take six to nine months for the flea egg to go through these changes and eventually become an adult flea, we recommend treating with a flea preventative for a MINIMUM of nine months before the flea infestation can be considered eliminated Some sources recommend a full year of treatment.  This can be difficult because after treating for 3 months, you rarely see a flea.  There is a tendency to stop the flea treatment when no longer see them , but it is important to follow the procedures.  It is common for someone to treat for 3 months and quit because they didn’t see any more fleas, only to have to start over 2 months later when the juvenile fleas living in the environment begin hatching into adult fleas.  There is also the possibility of getting fleas from another animal.  This is very frustrating but it is NOT a sign that the flea preventative didn’t work; it is a sign that the flea preventative wasn’t given for long enough period of time.

In order to eliminate fleas from your pet (or pets), you must treat EVERY pet in your household.  There are two aspects to this treatment:

1.      Killing the fleas and making your pet more comfortable.  First, you need to kill the adult fleas by administering either Frontline or Advantage to the dorsal shoulder area of the animal.  These products and are toxic to fleas but not to your pet.  Over-the-counter products have been tried and will sometimes reduce the number of fleas in the household but some rarely completely eliminate the flea population.    Another type of flea control product sterilizes the adult fleas, making them unable to reproduce a new flea population.  These are excellent medications but do not kill the adult fleas that are the source of the immediate problem.  We most frequently use them as a preventative or in conjunction with one of the listed top spot products until the problem is under control.

2.      While the top spot medication is killing the fleas on your pets, it is important to remove the remaining fleas from your pets’ environment.  This involves several steps.  First, frequent vacuuming of the rugs and carpets in your house will help reduce the number of fleas in your carpet.  Flea pupae are stimulated to hatch by light and vibration; a vacuum with a roller brush will provide vibration and many vacuums have a light on the front.  We recommend sprinkling flea killing powder (these can be purchased over-the-counter) on the carpet and then vacuuming.  The pupae will hatch, the adult flea will emerge in the vacuum bag full of flea powder and be killed.  When you’re finished vacuuming, throw away the bag.  For the first month or so, we recommend vacuuming twice a week and moving your furniture every other time to be sure that you get the fleas living underneath.

 Getting rid of fleas is not easy but it is possible to eliminate them from your pets and your home by using the treatment methods outlined above.  Determination, persistence and the use of good products are the key ingredients.  If you have any questions or concerns, call the Council Bluffs Veterinary clinic at 323-2147.   We are open 8-6 Monday through Friday, 8-3 on Saturdays.