Flea Control 

There is no doubt that the last few years have seen an increase in flea numbers.

The flea is an insect and its life cycle progresses from egg to larva to pupa (cocoon) and finally to adult. 

A female flea needs to have a blood meal from your dog or cat before she can start to lay eggs.  Most fleas will lay 10-15 eggs per day and these eggs fall from your pet into the surroundings.  The development from egg to adult can take anything from two weeks to several months, occurring much more quickly in warm weather. 

Unfortunately, problems are seen throughout the year with most homes now having central heating.  Central heating and carpets provide ideal conditions for rapid and undisturbed development of fleas in the winter.

Flea control needs to be comprehensive - not only the animal, but also its surroundings must be treated.  Even then your pet should be continually inspected for possible re-infestation from outside the home e.g. from rabbits, hedgehogs and from other infested pets (look not only for fleas, but for flea faeces/dirts in your pet's coat).

It is obviously essential to treat all pets in your own house - not just the one who may be suffering from skin disease.

The following are some of the products we recommend.

To treat the house

1) Acclaim Plus - aerosol spray

Vacuum the carpets first, change the vacuum cleaner bag, wash your pet's bedding and then spray the whole house to stop fleas breeding for one year.  The spray contains two products - a short acting powerful insecticide, which rapidly kills adult fleas and a unique long lasting compound, which prevents eggs developing into adults.

 2) Program

This is available as a tablet for dogs and a liquid for cats that is simply given with their food on a monthly basis. An alternative for cats is an injection, which is given every 6 months - this is proving to be very popular.

Any flea feeding on your pet takes up the active substance of Program and all eggs subsequently produced by that flea are incapable of hatching and producing more fleas.  Program uses your pet to ensure that any flea eggs produced wherever your pet goes cannot hatch - no other flea treatment does this.

 (N.B. Contrary to popular belief shampooing or steam cleaning of carpets does not help in the short term because the humidity encourages more pupae to hatch out).

To treat the pet(s)

1) Frontline

Our first choice product for both safety and efficiency - now available in spray or ‘spot-on’ form.

i)  The new ‘spot-on’ product is very easy to apply and not at all stressful for your pet. It needs to be reapplied every 4-5 weeks in the cat and every 2 months in the dog. It also protects against ticks for 1 month.

ii)  The spray is the product of choice for pets, which are allergic to fleas. It lasts even longer than the ‘spot-on’ form - up to 2 months in the cat and 3 months in the dog. It is a quiet pump spray, which does not worry most pets unduly. A great advantage is that it can be used from a very early age - 2 days of age in puppies, and 7 weeks of age in kittens.

2) Good Collars

i)     Preventef - for dogs and cats giving 120 days protection. The collar contains a reliable insecticide in slow release form, and also a coat conditioner.

ii)    Vetkem Breakaway collars for cats - these last for 4 months.

3) Flea comb 

Regular combing will help you to see how effective your own flea control program is.