Flea Infestations in SW16

Fleas are usually plainly visible to the human eye; you’ll most often observe them when they jump to a host. If you own a dog, cat or other house pet, or maybe you’ve just moved into a property in SW16 that has had pets, then you could be at risk from flea bites and fleas.

There are 2 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) and the Cat flea (known as Ctenocephalides felis – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_flea).

Both flea species 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 will lay over 100 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 carpets or bedding. The larvae build a nest in which they mature and, up to a foftnight after, the adult fleas will emerge.

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