Flea Problems in Highbury N5

Fleas are usually normally visible to the human eye; you’ll most often observe them when they jump from or to a host. If you own a house pet, or maybe you’ve recently moved into a house in Highbury that has had pets, then you could be at risk from flea infestation.

There are two main species of fleas that cause problems to homeowners and tenants, and these are the Dog Flea (known as Ctenocephalides canis –https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dog_flea) & 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 significant distances and as high as 16cm.

After feeding on just one blood meal, a female flea will lay over a hundred eggs (larva) attaching to the fur of your dog or cat.  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 bedding or carpets. The larvae build a nest in which they mature and, up to two weeks after, the hungry 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.