26/05/2023
⚠️THE FLEA LIFE CYCLE & FLEA FACTS
Fleas are the most common of all external parasites found on pets. (Ctenocephalides felis)
The cat flea, is the most prevalent species of flea found on both cats and dogs. An infestation of fleas is both unpleasant and potentially dangerous for pets and their owners.
A flea‘s life cycle lasts anywhere from a few weeks to a month, although under the right conditions it can continue for much longer.
During the lifecycle fleas go through a complete metamorphosis in three main stages:
Adult fleas jump on to a host (e.g. cat, dog or human) and begin feeding on the host’s blood. The bites result in itching and irritation and may also transmit serious diseases.
With in 48 hours fleas begin laying numerous eggs that quickly fall off the animal into the environment.
In a few days these eggs hatch into flea larvae.
These larvae dislike light and immediately crawl deep into carpets and cracks in floors making them almost impossible to spot.
The larvae spin coc**ns in which they develop into pupae and when conditions are right they emerge as new adult fleas ready to jump onto a warm-blooded host and continue the cycle.
A single female can lay up to 50 eggs per day.
In one month, 10 females could lay up to 15000 eggs. The pet spreads these eggs wherever it goes.
This can lead to massive infestation in the home environment.
A flea can jump as far as 33 cm in one leap, so infesting other pets and humans is easy.
Fleas measure 1-2 mm making them hardly visible. For every 5 fleas on the animal, 95 are invisible in the environment (eggs falling off the animal, existing eggs, larvae and pupae in the environment).
The entire home, including carpets, sofas, beds etc can be heavily infested by flea eggs and larvae. These are the seeds of future pet re-infestation.
Vacuuming will only remove a small number of eggs and larvae because they are hidden deep in floors and rugs, and entwined in the fibres. Fleas can survive like this for up to 6 months.
A single flea will bite its host around 10 times a day and ingest up to 15 times its weight in blood. In cases of heavy infestation, fleas can produce anaemia in otherwise healthy animals, and in extreme cases, even death in smaller animals such as very small puppies kittens.
One of the main factors allowing fleas to rapidly complete their lifecycle is warmth, central heating enables fleas to reproduce all year round.
You can book a FREE FLEA check at our surgery by calling the practice on 0115 9326056 8am-6pm Monday-Friday or 9am-12pm Saturday. 🐶🐱🐰🐹🐭
