Fleas are tiny, dark brown, creepy-crawlies which feed on animals by sucking their blood. They move colse to on the face of the skin, dodging between hairs and are difficult to see, let alone remove. They might live on your cat or dog for about a month. During this time they cause most animals no great harm as long as there are not too many of them. The occasional "itch" is all we might notice. Any way some animals become very sensitive to flea bites and can invent severe skin disease as a result. This could be likened to some citizen getting hay fever straight through inhaling pollen grains, when other citizen breathing the same air might feel fine. This can by comparison why just one animal from a group develops a flea "problem". Commonly speaking it is true to say that if you see a flea then there are going to be lots of them around. If you never see a flea, it plainly means that there are not lots. It does not mean there aren't any.
Just like every other animal, fleas breed. In fact they are rather good at it. A female flea will lay eggs every day of her adult life. These tend to fall off the animal and are never seen. Any way they hatch and invent as microscopic larvae, living in the nooks and crannies of your home. Carpets and the gaps between floor and skirting boards make a wonderful nursery for these microscopic blighters. When they are ready they hop onto the next passing warm and furry vertebrate and get ready to lay more eggs, and so the cycle goes on. The problem lies in the fact that for every one flea on your pet there might be 100 eggs or developing adolescent fleas, living out of sight in your home. This means that by the time we notice any fleas at all, there are commonly vast numbers developing in the background, ready to set in motion their "attack". In fact, switching on the central heating in the autumn tends to fool the dormant army into reasoning it is springtime. They all invent at once and suddenly they can seem to be everywhere. If there are sufficient of them they might bite you as well!
Mobile Home Skirting Ideas
So what can we do about them? Well the best thing is to keep your pets protected all year round so that a flea problem does not get started. Any animal which goes face at all is at risk of picking up the occasional flea. Hedgehogs and other small mammals can carry them, leaving a few in your garden. Using an productive treatment all year round is the best answer. If you do not do this and you then see fleas (this commonly happens in the autumn) then it is very likely that there are going to be masses of them living in the house, with only a tiny fraction of the citizen living on your pet. So if you treat your pet with a perfectly productive goods one week, by the next week it might be crawling with them again. They will not be the same fleas that you saw in the former week, just the next wave of invaders. This means that you should treat your house as well. Households where there are cats and dogs together tend to suffer the greatest flea problems, but even single cat households can be affected. It is foremost to treat every animal in the house, and vital to treat the house too.
Products to use against fleas
So called "spot-on" products are the most popular. The original brands contained organo-phosphorus compounds and were not very safe. They have gone off the shop now and all contemporary treatments are likely to be very safe. The most productive ones tend only to be sold straight through vets or some pharmacies. Ones which can be bought from pet shops and supermarkets do not comprise the same ingredients and are commonly not nearly as effective. We advise "Frontline" or "Stronghold", but other products such as "Advantage" and "Advantix" (for dogs only) seem to be effective. Frontline is also ready as a spray. This is slightly more difficult to use, but is probably the most productive and yet safe goods on the shop for fleas. It kills ticks and other surface-living parasites too. Stronghold has a different advantage in that it controls most other parasites too, along with the vast majority of the intestinal worms and mange mites. Speak to your vet if you need more information.
To treat the household there are a amount of good products. We advise "Acclaim" or "Indorex" sprays. The main thing to remember is to treat the whole house as fleas are very mobile. Supervene the directions on the can and make sure you buy sufficient of the goods to treat everywhere.
It is also helpful to vacuum clean any carpets or other areas where pets tend to rest, and arrange of the dust and debris outside. Also put any bedding which your pet uses straight through the washing motor - this will destroy huge numbers of eggs and developing larvae.
Remember that fleas have existed for a very long time and are very good at surviving unnoticed. It is best not to wait until you see them, because then they will have got a huge head start. Treat commonly as a precaution. And then ultimately - don't have nightmares - sleep well!
John Cousins (VioVet)
Please visit http://www.VioVet.co.uk to purchase any of these products or to ask questions if you have any. Thanks for reading
Fleas? Where Do They Come From And How To Get Rid Of Them
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