Flea Infestations in IG1

Fleas are usually plainly visible to a regular human; you will most often see them as they jump to or from a host. If you own a house pet, or maybe you have just moved into a property in IG1 that has had pets, then you could be at risk from flea bites and fleas.

There are two types of fleas that cause problems with homeowners and tenants, and they 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 species of flea 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.

From feeding on just one blood meal, a female flea can lay over one hundred 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 2 weeks after, the hungry adult fleas will emerge.

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