![]() Before feeding, it pumps saliva, which contains an anticoagulant, onto the skin. The flea feeds through a tiny, slender mouth part called the proboscis. They are attracted by body heat, movement and exhaled carbon dioxide 2. This helps to explain how a flea infestation can seemingly “explode” out of nowhere, even inside your home.Īdults emerging from cocoons can begin feeding immediately if a host is present. However, a fully developed flea can remain inside the cocoon for up to 350 days 4, a reproductive strategy that enhances the flea’s chance of survival. Under most household conditions, the adult flea will emerge in three to five weeks. Any area of a yard where a pet seeks shelter from the heat or cold is potentially a great environment for fleas.Ī mature larva transforms into a pupa inside a silk cocoon. Outside, they develop best in shaded areas or under leaves or similar yard debris. Indoors, flea larvae tend to live deep in carpeting or under furniture. Their principal food is adult flea feces (“flea dirt”) 3.įlea larvae are small, thin and white, measuring 1 to 2 millimeters in length (about the thickness of a dime). Larvae hatch from eggs in one to six days given appropriate environmental conditions (a relative humidity between 50 percent and 92 percent). The eggs readily fall off the hair into the environment, so you can think of your dog as a flea-egg “salt shaker.” Wherever the pet spends the most time is usually where the heaviest flea infestations are found. They must feed to begin reproduction, and female fleas will begin producing eggs within 24 to 48 hours of taking their first blood meal 2.įemale fleas can produce 40 to 50 eggs per day, up to 2,000 in their lifetime 1. To protect your pet and home from fleas, it helps to understand the flea lifecycle.Īdult fleas can begin feeding within seconds of finding a host. Owners should also consider tapeworm infections as evidence of current or prior flea infestation and take appropriate steps to remove and prevent fleas. The adult worms are killed and digested and do not pass out with the stool.Īlthough tapeworm infections are not generally serious, they should still be treated. Tapeworm infection can be treated with oral, injectable or topical drugs. caninum, via the same method as cats and dogs, swallowing an infected flea. It is possible, although highly unlikely, for humans to become infected with D. Most owners only know their pet has the parasite when segments appear in the stool or in the fur. Tapeworms require very little nutrition to thrive, and healthy dogs and cats don’t suffer from tapeworm infection. Most pets infected with tapeworms show no signs of illness. While the segments that hold the eggs are small, an adult tapeworm can be six inches long or more. The flea body is digested, the tapeworm is released and it finds a spot to attach and continues the lifecycle. When a cat or a dog swallows the infected flea, something that is very easy to do during regular grooming, the cat or dog becomes the new host. ![]() ![]() The tapeworm egg proceeds to develop inside the flea and by the time the flea is an adult, the tapeworm can infect mammals. In pets with flea infestations, the larval fleas hatching in the area consume organic debris, flea dirt (digested blood shed by adult fleas–it looks like pepper) and any tapeworm eggs. The egg must develop further before it can infect a mammal. The good news is that you or your other pets cannot get tapes from the segments being passed by your infected pet. When the sac breaks, the eggs inside are released. Segments that have dried up look like sesame seeds. The segments look like small grains of rice and are able to move. The sac is passed out through the host’s digestive tract. By the time the tail segments drop off, they are mostly just an egg sac. The tapeworm that infects cats and dogs, Dipylidium caninum, is a member of a large group of parasitic flatworms called cestodes. A fully mature adult tapeworm consists of the head segment, a neck segment, and multiple tail segments. Fleas are also a vector for many conditions, including infestation with tapeworms. That's why it's critical to kill fleas quickly.īut.it gets worse.Fleas on your pet are more than an itchy annoyance. And within 24 hours of its first blood meal, a flea can begin laying eggs! Egg production can reach a rate of 40–50 per day 1, resulting in an infestation. Because fleas are so tiny, you might not even see them! An unseen flea can begin feeding on your dog or cat within seconds. ![]() Fleas can make your pet itch and cause considerable discomfort.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |