Flea Problems in RM15

Fleas are usually plainly visible to humans; you’ll most often observe them as they jump to a host. Should you own a dog or cat, cat or dog, or maybe you’ve recently moved into a home in RM15 that has had pets, then you are at risk from flea infestation.

There are 2 main species 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 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 will lay over a hundred eggs (larva) attaching to the fur of your cat or dog.  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 their bedding or carpets. The larvae build a nest where they mature and, up to 2 weeks after, the adult fleas will emerge.

Flea droppings can be best described as resembling ground black pepper, and a careful search of the property may indicate an infestation of fleas.