Fleas on your pet – just the tip of the iceberg

If you see fleas on your untreated pet, the chances are that there are many, many more lurking close by.

The adult fleas on an untreated pet will not only be taking a blood meal courtesy of your pet, but will also be laying eggs – up to 50 a day in fact. These tiny eggs are like grains of sand and they slide off your pet into your home. In as little as one day (or as long as 12 days), the egg hatches and out wriggles a flea larvae. About half a centimetre long (so still very hard to see), the larvae will hide in dark places such as within carpets or under furniture, or in the cracks and crevices of floorboards.

After a couple of weeks the larvae become cocooned. The cocoon is sticky and not always easily dislodged even by vacuuming. The cocoon protects the developing pupa until an adult flea is ready to emerge. That adult flea only comes out of the cocoon when there is a pet (or human) nearby to feed from. When that flea jumps onto your pet, it will feed and 24 hours later will start to produce eggs, starting the lifecycle all over again.

There are a few things you need to take away from this to help you control fleas in your home and on your pet:

• Killing adult fleas on your pet within 24 hours using a product like FRONTLINE^® Plus is really important so the fleas don’t get the chance to lay eggs.
• New fleas are hatching out all the time and may land on your pet – as long as the fleas are killed within 24 hours you can still break the cycle.
• FRONTLINE® Plus has active IGR technology that stops newly laid flea eggs from hatching and larvae developing in your home.
• Regular treatment is necessary to get on top of a flea home infestation. It can take up to 3 months to bring this under control and tackle all the flea lifestages in your home.
• It’s much better to treat your pet preventatively, regularly all year round, than risk an infestation that is harder to control.
• Helps protect your pet, all year round
• Avoid build-up of fleas in the home environment

Here at FRONTLINE® HQ we think that flea and tick prevention is a great idea. First and foremost, it ensures fleas are killed within 24 hours and ticks within 48 hours, helping to protect your pet against the worst effects of these pesky parasites.

Flea infestations can cause skin damage and constant scratching and a heavy infestation can even cause anaemia, especially in young pets. Regular treatment means that fleas should never build up to those levels. Remember though that it is normal to see the odd flea on treated animals because it takes up to 24 hours for new fleas jumping on to the pet to die and there are no products that stop fleas from jumping onto your pet.