Flea Infestations in SE5

Fleas can be plainly visible to the human eye; you will most often observe them when they jump to or from a host. Should you own a dog, cat or other house pet, or maybe you’ve just moved into a property in SE5 that has had pets, then you are at risk from fleas and flea bites.

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

From feeding on just a single blood meal, a female flea can lay over 100 eggs (larva) attaching to the fur of your cat or dog.  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 can be best described as resembling ground black pepper, and a careful search of the property may indicate the presence of fleas.