Flea Problems in Upton Park E7

Fleas are usually normally visible to the human eye; 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 have just moved into a home in Upton Park that has had pets, then you are at risk from flea bites and fleas.

There are two species 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) and 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.

After feeding on just a single blood meal, a female flea can 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 will then fall off your pet into your animals carpets or bedding. The larvae build a nest in which they mature and, up to 2 weeks after, the hungry adult fleas will emerge.

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