Flea Problems in EC2

Fleas are usually quite visible to humans; you will most often see them when they jump to a host. If you own a cat, dog or other house pet, or maybe you have just moved into a property in EC2 that has had pets, then you are at risk from fleas and flea bites.

There are two main types of fleas that cause problems to homeowners and tenants, and they are the Dog Flea (known as Ctenocephalides canis –https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dog_flea) and the Cat flea (known as Ctenocephalides felis – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_flea).

Both flea species are between 1mm and 3mm in length, the cat flea is more of a reddish brown in appearance, whilst the dog flea is a slightly darker reddish black in colour with long tapering legs, allowing them to jump huge distances and as high as 16cm.

After feeding on just a single blood meal, a female flea will lay over 100 eggs (larva) attaching to the fur of your pet.  The eggs are very small (0.5mm in length) and whitish in colour, once the larva hatch small maggots will emerge, these then fall off your pet into their carpets or bedding. The larvae build a nest in which they mature and, up to a foftnight after, the adult fleas will emerge.

Flea droppings are best described as looking like ground black pepper, and a careful search of the property may indicate the presence of fleas.