Cat
fleas are common nowadays on dogs and cats with over 1,800 species and
sub-species.
Fleas
are small wingless insects about 2-3mm long; they are dark-red/ brownish in
colour. They have hard flat bodies, which allow easy movement with backward
facing spines; they also have a row of spines on their faces which are known as
the ‘genel comb’. Fleas have 3 pairs of legs which give them the ability to
jump they are the best jumpers on the planet, they can jump distances of up to
300mm horizontally by using stored energy.Their mouth parts are adapted for piercing their hosts, fleas feed on
blood; they do this by piercing the skin of the host and injecting a small
amount of saliva forming a clot from which they can then receive the blood.
They
generally don’t do much sucking and rely on the pressure of the blood to be
pushed out of the hosts’ body and straight into their mouths, a fleas’ saliva
contains anticoagulants which encourage blood flow. After feeding, a female flea will lay eggs which can be as many as 50
per day, larvae will be formed and after a few weeks adult fleas will emerge
from their cocoons. Fleas are zoonotic parasites, they can cause a lot of
irritation to both humans and animals if they bite you, they are known to
transmit disease organisms such as tapeworm larvae and, uncommonly, the
disease murine typhus. They are most commonly known for transmitting bubonic
plague from wild rodents to humans. If your dog has fleas you will be able to
see them by looking at his coat, you will also see black dots in your dogs coat
which are flea faeces, you will probably also notice your dog scratching a lot.
When treating the infestation of fleas it is important to treat every animal in
the household and also the environment itself, e.g. carpets, as this is where
eggs fall and build up, treatment comes in sprays which kill the flea eggs;
these sprays are available from your veterinary surgery. It is very important
to manage fleas correctly in order to stop them multiplying and spreading
disease.The correct management of fleas
helped immensely in killing the bubonic plague.
