Flea Control for Dogs and Cats all Year Round

• Can dogs and cats get fleas in the winter?
• Do we need to continue our flea control regimen all year?

The answer is a resounding “yes” to both questions. Fleas like nothing more than to invade our homes and use our pets as permanent hosts, so it’s important to prevent flea infestations before they occur. Using flea control products can be an important part of your flea control program, and used regularly and as directed, can prevent full-on flea infestations. So, I recommend keeping your pets on an effective tick and flea prevention product year round and checking them frequently for parasites.

How fleas infest your pets and your home

It's miserable to discover fleas have invested your furniture, your carpets, your rugs, and your vehicles, but it is preventable. If you find fleas on your pet, your home is already a part of the problem, and there will be eggs, larvae, and pupae wherever your dogs and cats lie around or play. Cats and dogs continue to pick up newly hatched fleas from the environment and adult fleas feed on your pet’s blood. Unfortunately, our pets continue to scatter flea eggs wherever they go, and the eggs can hatch into larvae in as little as one day. Larvae move away from light, deep into carpets and cracks in flooring where they feed before spinning themselves a cocoon and becoming a pupa which is nearly indestructible. New adult fleas in their protective cocoons lie in wait for the next available host – either a pet or a human, and then attach to the host, continuing the cycle.

Treating a flea infestation

1. Kill the adult fleas that are already on your pet – there are a number of ways to do this, including: topical and oral flea prevention products, such as Frontline; bathing your pet in pet shampoo and warm water; using a flea comb to remove adult fleas and their eggs, larvae, and pupae. Most veterinarians recommend all three approaches.
2. Continue to kill newly-arriving adult fleas on the pet by using flea preventative products, flea combing, and bathing.
3. Clean your home thoroughly by vacuuming and washing any bedding that your pets have used.
4. Allow your treated pets to roam in all their usual places to attract newly hatched fleas that are then killed on the pet.
5. Keep up your cleaning regimen of vacuuming, and increase the temperature and humidity of your home to encourage the pupae to hatch into adult fleas – these newly arriving adult fleas will be killed when they jump on your treated pet.

Points to remember about fleas:

Flea pupae are protected by their cocoons and will have to hatch out and be killed as adult fleas on your pet. It can take several weeks for all pupae to hatch from an infested environment. If undisturbed, pupae can exist for many months in the environment, which is why encouraging them to hatch (allow your pet to roam as usual) and regular flea treatment help rid your home of an infestation. Treat all your cats and dogs – some pets are good at masking the signs of a flea infestation, but if one cat or dog is infested, all pets in the household can be. One adult female flea can lay up to 50 eggs per day and over 2,000 eggs in a lifetime. One adult flea could lead to tens of thousands.

Instructions for using a flea comb:

If your cat already has fleas, here is how to use the flea comb: Bring your cat to a comfortable spot where you have placed a container of soapy water. Start combing your cat at the head and remove the fleas and flea dirt immersing the comb in the soapy water after each removal. The soapy water kills the fleas. Continue combing the cat thoroughly until the cat is clean. Flush the water down the toilet.

How fleas harm dogs, cats, and people

Pruritus (Itching) When fleas bite your dog or cat, they release saliva that contains chemicals that are extremely irritating to your pet’s skin. You may have noticed that some of your animals are not bothered by fleas, while another animal may have intense reactions to even a few flea bites.

Flea Allergy Dermatitis (FAD) Research shows that FAD may be caused by sporadic exposure to large numbers of fleas. Dogs and cats become sensitized in this way over time and become extremely allergic to flea saliva. Therefore, it’s important to treat pets all year with flea prevention products to prevent repeated flea infestations.
FAD initially appears as reddened wheal, and forms a papule or swollen nodule and crusts over. Then, a number of secondary changes are possible:

• superficial pyoderma - skin infections affecting the skin surface
• seborrhea - scaling, crusting, yellowish patches on the skin
• diffuse erythema - reddening of the skin over various parts of the body
• hair loss
• "hot spots" - bare, eroded, oozing patches or a severe localized skin infection or pyoderma

Often these reactions cause intense itching in dogs and results in self-mutilation. Common sites for these irritations are the inner thigh and abdomen and along the spine and hindquarters. Veterinarians will often prescribe corticosteroids to relieve symptoms. However, a flea control program is necessary to fully resolve resolve the problem. Tapeworm (Dipylidium caninum) This species of tapeworm uses the flea as an intermediate host in its own life cycle. Eggs are deposited by the adult tapeworm and are shed into the environment where they are consumed by the flea larvae. If a pet then ingests an adult flea that consumed tapeworm eggs as a larva, the tapeworm parasite is passed on.

Tapeworm doesn't usually cause serious disease in pets, but they are disgusting all the same. They can usually be seen wriggling near the hind end of the animal near the base of the tail.
People can also become infected with tapeworm if they accidentally ingest an infected flea. Anemia Fleas live on the animal’s blood, and a flea infestation can cause anemia, particularly in young animals. Kittens and puppies with fleas can become severely anemic to the point of death.

Flea-Related Conditions in Humans:

The most common species of flea on both cats and dogs is the Cat Flea. Cat Fleas will not live on humans, but they certainly will bite us!

Prevention is always the best medicine!