Cat fleas (Ctenocephalides felis) are frequently encountered in homes and are common pests on domestic cats and dogs. Dog fleas (Ctenocephalides canis) look like cat fleas, but are rare in California. Sticktight fleas (Echidnophaga gallinacea) can become a problem when pets frequent areas near poultry. Female sticktight fleas firmly attach themselves around the ears and eyes of their host. Fleas on either cats or dogs in California are most likely cat fleas.
Identification
Adult fleas are very small insects (up to 1/8 inch), so it is difficult to see a number of the characteristics used to describe them. These reddish brown to black, wingless insects are compressed from side to side so that they look like they are walking "on edge." They have piercing-sucking mouthparts through which they obtain blood meals from their hosts. Flea larvae are tiny (up to 3/16 inch long), hairy, and wormlike with a distinct, brownish head, but no eyes or legs.
Life Cycle
Female cat fleas remain on the host (unlike most other fleas) and lay about 20 to 30 eggs per day on the animal. Cat flea eggs are pearly white, oval, and about 1/32 inch long. The eggs are smooth; they readily fall from the pet and land on surfaces like bedding and carpeting in the animal’s environment. They hatch in about 2 days. The whitish, wormlike larvae feed on dried blood and excrement produced by adult fleas feeding on the pet. Larval development is normally restricted to protected places where there is at least 75% relative humidity. They feed and crawl around for 5 to 15 days at 70° to 90°F before they build small silken cocoons in which they develop into adult fleas (pupate). The pupae are usually covered with local debris for visual camouflage. Flea larvae develop more quickly at higher temperatures. At cool temperatures, fully formed fleas may remain in their cocoons for up to 12 months. Warm temperatures and mechanical pressure, caused by walking on the carpet, vacuuming, and so on, stimulate emergence from the cocoon. At room temperatures, the entire life cycle may be completed in about 18 days. An adult cat flea generally lives about 30 to 40 days on the host; it is the only stage that feeds on blood. Fleas may be found on pets throughout the year, but numbers tend to increase dramatically during spring and early summer.
Problems Associated With Fleas
The cat flea is suspected of transmitting murine typhus to humans, but its primary importance is in its annoyance to people and pets. Cat fleas readily try to feed on almost any warm-blooded animal. Some people are bothered by the sensation of fleas walking on their skin, but bites are the major nuisance. Bites tend to be concentrated on the lower legs but can also occur on other parts of the body. The bite consists of a small, central red spot surrounded by a red halo, usually without excessive swelling. Flea bites usually cause minor itching but may become increasingly irritating to people with sensitive or reactive skin. Some people and pets suffer from flea bite allergic dermatitis, characterized by intense itching, hair loss, reddening of the skin, and secondary infection. Just one bite may initiate an allergic reaction, and itching may persist up to 5 days after the bite. Cat fleas may also serve as intermediary hosts of dog tapeworms. Cats or dogs may acquire this intestinal parasite while grooming themselves by ingesting adult fleas that contain a cyst of the tapeworm.
Management
The best approach to managing fleas is prevention. New, safer, and more effective products aimed at controlling fleas on the pet have made flea management without pesticide sprays feasible in many situations. Management of fleas on the pet must be accompanied by regular, thorough cleaning of pet resting areas indoors and outside. Once fleas infest a home, control will require a vigilant program that includes cleaning and treating infested areas indoors, eliminating fleas on pets, and cleaning up and possibly treating shaded outdoor locations where pets rest.
Indoors
Controlling cat fleas in buildings requires a variety of approaches. Before starting a control program, look through each room in the building to determine areas where larval development occurs. Flea populations are highest in places where dogs or cats regularly sleep. Flea larvae are not usually found in areas of heavy pedestrian traffic or locations that receive exposure to sunlight; they are likely to be present in areas where adult fleas have left dried blood and feces.
Sanitation. Thoroughly and regularly clean areas where adult fleas, flea larvae, and flea eggs are found. Vacuum floors, rugs, carpets, upholstered furniture, and crevices around baseboards and cabinets daily or every other day to remove flea eggs, larvae, adults, and food sources. Vacuuming is very effective in picking up adults and stimulating pre emerged adults to leave their cocoons. Flea eggs can survive and develop inside vacuum bags and adults may be able to escape to the outside, so immediately destroy bags by burning or by sealing them in a plastic trash bag and placing them in a covered trash container. Launder pet bedding in hot, soapy water at least once a week.
Thoroughly clean items brought into the building, such as used carpets or upholstered furniture, to prevent these from being a source of flea infestation.
Outdoors
Outdoor flea populations are most prevalent in coastal localities and other places with moderate daytime temperatures and fairly high humidity. In Central Valley locations, populations can become very numerous in shaded and protected areas such as sheltered animal enclosures, crawl spaces where pets may sleep, or vegetated areas adjacent to buildings. If an infested outdoor location is not treated, the flea problem may reoccur if pets are re infested. However, treatment of the pet with any of the preferred pet treatment products listed above will normally prevent re infestation.
Outdoor sprays are not necessary unless you detect significant numbers of adult fleas. One way to do this is to walk around pet resting areas wearing white socks pulled up to the knee. If fleas are present, they will jump onto socks and be readily visible.
The best products for elimination of fleas outdoors are formulations that contain a knockdown material such as pyrethrin or permethrin plus an insect growth regulator (pyriproxyfen) to inhibit larval maturation. Avoid products containing diazinon or chlorpyrifos as these materials pollute waterways when they are washed into storm drains by rain, hosing, or irrigation.
Apply sprays directly in locations where pets rest and sleep such as doghouse and kennel areas, under decks, and next to the foundation. It is seldom necessary to treat the whole yard or lawn areas. Flea larvae are unlikely to survive in areas with sunlight exposure or substantial foot traffic.
Regular lawn watering will help destroy larvae and prevent development of excessive flea populations. If possible, open pet sleeping areas to sunlight by removing low-hanging vegetation.
Handling a Flea EmergencyIf your home is heavily infested with fleas, take these steps to get the situation under control. Inside the Home
On the Pet
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