Fleas

In the past fleas were mainly associated with spring, which is when the weather started to become warmer; but Since central heating and double-glazing have become popular, fleas have now become an all year round problem. It is recommended that as well as treating your pet it is also a good idea to treat the home, especially in places where your pet sleeps.

The signs to look out for are actual sight of fleas or flea dirt, scratching and over grooming.
Fleas can causes a number of problems for your pet, one being obviously self trauma, others include pruritus, fleas allergic dermatitis and if there are a lot of fleas then they cause anaemia, and in young animals this can lead to death. They are also hosts for other parasites, two of them include the tapeworm and the other is Haemabartonella, which is a blood parasite that destroys the red blood cells.

The female flea lays her eggs on the animal, which then drop off into the environment, that can be carpets, bedding etc...

Two to fourteen days' later larvae hatch out and fed off the skin debris, flea faeces, and other organic matter in the environment where it has hatched. So this could be your carpet, bed, animals bed, sofa, where ever.                                         

After about a week the larva spins a cocoon and pupates.

After a further ten days the adult flea is fully developed inside the pupa and once it has emerged it jumps onto the nearest host, which means your pet.

For further advise on which products to use please contact the surgery.

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