Flea Problems in Whipps Cross E11

Fleas are normally visible to the human eye; you will most often spot them when they jump to or from a host. If you own a cat, dog or other house pet, or maybe you have recently moved into a house in Whipps Cross that has had pets, then you could be at risk from flea infestation.

There are 2 main species of fleas that cause problems 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 1mm and 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 is able to lay over one hundred eggs (larva) attaching to the fur of your pet.  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 bedding or carpets. The larvae build a nest where they mature and, up to two weeks after, the adult fleas will emerge.

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