Dog Clinic
Dog Clinic.net
A source of certified dog doctors and clinics
Home › Articles › Disease & Wellness

Cat Fleas

THE FLEA OF PET

No discussion of parasites would be complete without mention of the scurge of all pet owners, THE FLEA.

The flea gained the greatest fame during the Middle Ages in Europe by carrying a disease that killed millions of people called the Black Plague. What most people don't know is that there are over 650 types of fleas and that the plague was carried by the rat flea only.

The fleas that we worry about in the United States on our pets are the dog flea (Ctenocephalides canis) and the cat flea (Ctenocephalides felis). The cat flea is the most numerous and will infest both cats and dogs.

The Cat Flea

Fleas do not crawl or fly, they jump! And they should be drafted by the NBA because they can manage jumps 150 times their height. They have little hooks or barbs on their external skeletons and their legs which catch on to their host's hair and allow them to cling to animals as they walk past. The flea then takes a blood meal from the cat with it's long feeding tube and the females proceed to lay eggs which fall on the skin and then roll off onto the floor or ground to hatch. When the eggs hatch ( and a female flea lays 20-30 eggs per day), the larvae (yucky, hairy, worm-like critters) emerge and feed on skin debris from the animals and flea feces that have dropped from the animal into the environment. These guys are similar to the caterpillars that we commonly see as a stage in the life cycle of the moth or butterfly.

Flea Eggs and Larvae in the Carpet (the smaller black clumps are flea feces)
Flea Eggs and Larvae in the Carpet (the smaller black clumps are flea feces).

These larvae eat for a while and then spin a cocoon called a pupa where they are safe to mature into an adult flea. The pupal stage is incredibly resistant to all kinds for insults and it is this stage that allows fleas to survive over the winter, without food or water, seem to "resist" insecticides and appear from nowhere when you thought you had all those nasty pests cleaned up. Pupa only hatch if the temperature and humidity are just right and only if there is a body around to provide food. It's a miracle of survival!

Flea Control

So, what's the best way to get these little buggers under control? Well, the cat tries do do the job by grooming intensively and picking out the fleas with his rough tongue and those little tiny teeth in the front of his mouth. It's kind of cool to look at these teeth because they are designed specifically for grooming fleas and are too small and tight for anything else! The problem is that when the cat grooms, he ingests the flea which carries tapeworms and thus becomes infected with THAT parasite! If the flea load is not too heavy, you may not see live fleas on your pet because of this grooming, however, remember the tapeworm problem and look instead for the flea feces which tend to remain on the coat. The best way to check for fleas is with a flea comb which will pick up fleas and flea feces from the coat. You can distinguish flea dirt from regular dirt by wetting a white paper towel and placing the dirt on the towel. Flea dirt turns reddish brown (because it is digested blood).

Flea control is best achieved by using a flea preventative on a regular basis from April through October in our area. How often you use the product will depend on the manufacturer's instructions. Generally, You will be found the easier the product is to use, the more likely you are to keep up the treatment. That is why most people are unsuccessful with sprays. Most sprays should be used daily or every other day and most owners don't want to chase their cats around the house to spray them that often. Be wary of over the counter spot-on products, many are unsafe for cats and dogs.


People who viewed 'Cat Fleas' also found interest in following articles . . .
Category: