Pets MightyMart – Your one stop online Pet Med shop.

Frontline Flea Control

Fleas are a problem that every pet owner dreads dealing with. Not only do fleas bother our pets, but their saliva is one of the most allergenic substances known to man. To keep fleas under control you can use Frontline flea treatment on your pets. Fleas are not only irritating to your pet but they can get into your carpet or furniture and become an irritant to your family. Frontline flea control products by Merial break the flea's life cycle getting fleas out of your home and off of your pets. 

Understanding the life cycle of fleas, health risks related to fleas and how to effectively control fleas will help you and your pet have a happy, healthy life together. 

Life Cycle of Fleas

Fleas start out as eggs. Unlike lice that attach eggs to human hair, fleas do not attach their eggs to the hair of the animals they live on. The eggs fall off of the pet and are left in your carpet or on your furniture to hatch. It takes anywhere from two to ten days for flea eggs to hatch. After they hatch fleas start their lives as larva. They hide out and feed on the partially digested blood that is in feces left by other fleas. As they grow they molt twice before spinning the cocoon that they spend their pupa stage in. Even though it takes 8-9 days for the flea pupae to grow into adult fleas, they will not hatch out of their cocoon until they detect a host nearby. Once they hatch and find a host fleas mate and begin populating the area with more flea eggs. It can take as little as two to four weeks for a complete flea life cycle and fleas live an average of 50 days. 

Health Risks Caused by Fleas

Fleas are more than irritating to your cat to dog's skin, they can cause serious health problems for you and your pet. One common problem that affects 10% of dogs and cats is Flea Allergic Dermatitis or FAD which is an allergic reaction to the saliva that the flea leaves behind in the animal's skin when biting the animal. This causes the animal to itch and scratching usually is one of your first cues that your pet is being affected by fleas. Reddened areas, scabs, and bumps can appear and often the animal will bite and scratch the areas excessively. Some pets end up wearing collars to keep them from chewing on their own skin. This can be easily avoided by getting to the cause of the problem, the fleas. Frontline flea and tick products can be used to get rid of the current infestation and break the life cycle to prevent future infestations. Other health risks caused by fleas include:

Anemia can also occur if there are too many fleas. This can be fatal to smaller dogs. The fleas live on the blood they take from their host, if they take too much your pet can show signs of anemia. Symptoms include being lethargic or not being playful, sleeping and laying around most of the day instead. Other things to watch for are pale gums and overall weakness as well as a large flea infestation.

Cat Scratch Disease or Bartonella henselae is not necessarily a problem for the animal as much as for the pet owner. This disease can be passed to humans when flea feces enters a cat scratch. Pet owners who catch this will show symptoms including fever, lethargy, swollen lymph nodes and the most obvious is a pustule at the infection site.

Plague including bubonic plague, septicemic plague and pneumonic plague can all be caught by cats and humans. The most common is Bubonic plague. Symptoms include fever, dehydration and swollen lymph nodes.

Pruritis is general itching that flea bites cause to cats or dogs. This is caused by the saliva that gets into the wound with the flea bites the animal.

Rickettsiosis does not usually produce detectable symptoms in cats but their owners can catch this from flea bites. In humans the symptoms include fever, headache, depression and delirium.

Tapeworms are carried by fleas and can be passed to your pet when your pet swallows the flea. Young puppies can be affected by these as well as older dogs and even humans. It is important to take your dog to the vet if you see small white worms that break into segments in your pet's feces so you can have the pet treated to reduce the risk of spreading tapeworms to you or your family. Other symptoms may include anal itching, distended abdomen, and lethargy.

All of these conditions can be prevented by using Frontline flea control products on your pet as well as in your home. It is rare, but possible, for humans to get diseases from fleas.  If you or your pet show signs or symptoms of these conditions you should seek medical attention. 

To protect your family as well as your pet you need to get rid of fleas. This can be done by cleaning, vacuuming, and using Frontline flea control products. 

Frontline flea Control by Merial is the number one recommendation of veterinarians because their products offer long lasting, complete flea and tick control. Frontline kills up to 100% of the fleas that are on your pet within 18 hours. No waiting for days hoping that the fleas will either die or go away, Frontline takes care of the problem immediately. 

Frontline offers long lasting flea control. The products are water proof. Frontline Plus flea treatment and Top Spot flea and tick control are safe for your pets, safe enough that they are recommended for pregnant and nursing bitches as well as puppies and kittens as young as 8 weeks old. 

Frontline stays with your pet because it is in their oil glands. This isn't a product that will wash off and be gone in no time. Frontline stays with your pet for a full month. You don't have to treat and retreat your pet with Frontline, you can treat once a month/twelve times a year and not worry about it on the other 353 days of the year. 

The flea life cycle is broken by killing adult fleas as soon as they attempt to feed. An adult flea has to be on its host for 24-36 hours before it can lay eggs and Frontline kills the fleas within 18 hours. When you use Frontline Plus you improve this protection by killing flea eggs and larvae instead of waiting until they are mature enough to bite the pet to be killed. 

Using Frontline flea control products on your pets not only protects the pet from carrying fleas but it uses your pet as a flea control system for your home. Instead of being a flea magnet and bringing fleas into your home your pet becomes a flea killer. Fleas that bite your pet die, before they are able to repopulate the area.

 

For more information on these products please visit our website at www.PetsMightyMart.com.au or email us by using our online Contact form.