Fleas in Dogs and Cats

Fleas are the most common external parasites encountered in dogs and cats. There are a total of over 2,000 species of fleas. However, three of them are more common. These are the so-called cat fleas (Ctenocephalides felis), dog fleas (Ctenocephalides canis) and human fleas (Pulex irritans).


The name of cat flea is a real species name and has nothing to do with whether the flea lives on a cat or a dog or elsewhere. You can find dog fleas on cats, too. The cat flea is by far the most common type of flea encountered in both cats and dogs. According to several American studies, 93% of dogs are infected with cat fleas and only 18% are infected with dog fleas. The same studies showed that 97% of the cats were infected with Ctenocephalides felis or the cat flea. The human flea (Pulex irritans) is found in pets only very rarely.


However, this situation has changed very much since dogs and cats are now kept in heated rooms. The warm interior temperature is favorable to the development of the flea in the environment of the pet. Flea infestation has been converted from a seasonal problem into a perennial one.

The ideal treatment of fleas

 

Fleas develop over several months. Therefore, it is crucial to combat not only the fleas on the pet, but also the flea eggs and flea larvae in the environment (under the couch, in the garden or in the car). You can solve this problem with spot-on treatment, which is the best dog flea treatment.

How it works

 

Flea control products are applied on the neck of the pet and then removed after 30 minutes.
Your cat or dog also ahs to undergo deworming after undergoing flea treatment because fleas transmit worms.

Host search 

 

The flea begins the host search immediately after leaving the cocoon (pupa). It usually moves against gravity and toward light. Fleas choose their host depending on the body temperature, movement and exhaled C02. Fleas have a pretty long lifespan. They live for about 2 weeks in normal conditions. They remain largely stationary during all that time, i.e. they do not cover long distances. Starving fleas do not attack only the pets but also their owners.

Overwintering

In natural conditions, the multiplication of fleas is very limited during the winter due to low temperatures. No Ctenocephalides felis survive at temperatures below 30 degrees Celsius for more than 10 days. Therefore, the overwintering of cat fleas is primarily done on the host animal. Overwintering as a pupa or larva is restricted due to the temperature sensitivity of fleas.