Flea Infestations in WC1

Fleas can be quite visible to humans; you will most often spot them when they jump to a host. Should you own a dog, cat or other house pet, or maybe you’ve recently moved into a house in WC1 that has had pets, then you are at risk from flea bites and fleas.

There are 2 species of fleas that cause problems 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 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 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 their carpets or bedding. The larvae build a nest where they mature and, up to a foftnight 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.