Flea Infestations in Mountnessing CM15

Fleas can be visible to the human eye; you will most often observe them as they jump to or from a host. Should you own a dog or cat, cat or dog, or maybe you’ve just moved into a property in Mountnessing that has had pets, then you are at risk from flea infestation.

There are 2 main types of fleas that cause issues with 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 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 huge distances and as high as 16cm.

After feeding on just one blood meal, a female flea is able to lay over a 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 will then fall off your pet into their carpets or bedding. The larvae build a nest in which they mature and, up to two 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 an infestation of fleas.