Flea Infestations in RM1

Fleas can be plainly visible to the human eye; you’ll most often see them when they jump to or from a host. Should you own a dog, cat or other house pet, or maybe you have recently moved into a house in RM1 that has had pets, then you could be 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) & the Cat flea (known as Ctenocephalides felis – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_flea).

Both flea species are between 1-3mm in length, the cat flea is more of a reddish brown in appearance, while 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 a single blood meal, a female flea is able to lay over a hundred eggs (larva) attaching to the fur of your dog or cat.  These 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 your animals bedding or carpets. The larvae build a nest where they mature and, up to 2 weeks after, the hungry adult fleas will emerge.

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