Sunday, March 25, 2012

Sex and the Single Flea

      Fleas have to be having sex if they are giving you problems. A single flea will get some free meals from your pet but eventually will be groomed, or bitten off its host pet leaving no legacy.  

   A happy, undisturbed, sexually satisfied female flea can lay 50 eggs a day. Fleas are usually not noticed until after the second or third generation of fleas are happily feasting on a pet - don’t you just love hundreds and hundreds of children and grandchildren!

     During the past 20 years there have been dramatic improvements in flea treatment and prevention. In 1990, I used to have to get my clients to spray their entire house with long lasting insecticide sprays, and treat all the pets once a week with insecticide sprays or foams for 4 -6 weeks. Needless to say that was a lot of work and a lot of personal insectide exposure.

     Now both treatment and prevention are more effective, safer, easier and less expensive.  In inflation adjusted 2012 dollars, the cost of 1 month of treatment for a typical house owner with a single dog infested with fleas in 1990 was about $435.  People gladly paid it, because they were often being bitten by the fleas as well!  In 2012, a pet owner can treat (or prevent) more effectively for 6 months for less than $85

Give your veterinary clinic a call for the best flea treatments available on the planet.  

No comments:

Post a Comment