The Columbus Academy of Veterinary Medicine is an established local association of Central Ohio Veterinarians. Its members reflect all aspects of veterinary medicine from small and large animal veterinary practices to academics and research. All the members share the common goal of creating an organization to promote veterinary medicine and safeguard its interests on a local level. The Academy is a vital source of continuing education hours offered at no charge to its membership. It is an important link between the veterinary community and the public it serves.
Summer is here, and so are those pesky fleas. Luckily technological advances have made it much easier to get rid of fleas, so we can enjoy our pets in the summertime. Here are the answers to the most common questions concerning fleas.
Fleas bite not only our pets, but people as well. They can cause severe itching, especially on the rear quarters and the base of the tail. If the itching is severe enough, cats and dogs can start to lose hair and irritate their skin (flea allergy dermatitis) But be aware that your pet can have fleas and not scratch at all! Look at the base of the tail or on the abdomen (where the hair is normally thinner) for live fleas or "flea dirt". "Flea dirt" looks like small dark specks of dirt on your pet's skin and is actually fecal matter from the fleas. To make sure the dark specks on your pet's skin is really "flea dirt", wet the specks and see if they dissolve into a dark red color. Since adult fleas feed by sucking blood, their fecal matter contains some blood components.
In addition to the skin problems mentioned above (which can be severe), fleas can transmit parasites such as tapeworms. Tapeworms live in the intestinal tract of cats and dogs and can cause weight loss. Since fleas feed by sucking blood from their host, they can cause anemia. In small kittens and puppies, the anemia can be severe enough to cause death.
If your dog has fleas, then you should assume that your cat also has fleas, even if you haven't seen any fleas on your cat and your cat hasn't been itching much. The amount of itching can vary among individual animals. Therefore, all animals in the household should be treated to control fleas. If the infestation is severe or continuing, the house and/or yard may need to be treated.
Adult, biting fleas spend most of their life on their hosts. They produce eggs that are first laid on their hosts and then fall off into the environment. These eggs hatch after a variable time and emerge as larvae and pupae that are a constant supply of adult fleas. As a general rule there are about 100 immature stages in the environment for every adult flea on your pet! And fleas are VERY good at reproduction. In 4 weeks a single pair of fleas can produce an infestation of 6000 adult fleas, larvae, and eggs under ideal conditions!
There are a number of good strategies for treating fleas. Fleas are very sensitive to growth regulators that break the life cycle of the fleas if used regularly. Chemical agents that affect the nervous system of adult fleas are also very effective. Neither of these classes of compounds are harmful to you or your pet. Ask your veterinarian to help you devise an appropriate flea prevention program for your particular pets and household.
The four stages of the flea life cycle are the egg, larva, pupa, and adult. The time required to complete the life cycle from egg to adult varies from 3 weeks to over a year and depends on the temperature, humidity, and the availability of a host. High humidity and warm temperature decrease the time to complete the life cycle and increase the survival rate of fleas and therefore increase the number of fleas that are on your pets and in the environment.