winning the war on fleas - working planet · 2009-10-07 · winning the war on fleas dr. greg mahon...

Winning the War on Fleas Dr. Greg Mahon

www.thefleacontrolguide.com ©2009 of 39

Winning the War on Fleas



Table of Contents

1. Introduction ....................................................................................................... 4

2. Does itching mean a pet has fleas .................................................................. 6

3. The trouble with fleas ....................................................................................... 7

4. The flea life cycle .............................................................................................. 8

5. How does a pet get fleas ................................................................................12

6. How to tell if your pet has fleas.....................................................................13

7. How to tell if my house has fleas ..................................................................15

8. Does my garden and backyard have fleas ...................................................16

9. Why does a pet still have fleas after treatment............................................17

10. Flea control principles ................................................................................19

11. Eliminating fleas from the home................................................................20

12. Eliminating fleas from the yard ..................................................................21

13. Eliminating fleas from the car ....................................................................22

14. Categories of flea control products for use on pets. ...............................23

15. Overview of my recommended flea control products for use on pets...25

16. Flea Prevention Protocol - for when you don't have fleas ......................27

17. Flea Control Protocol - If fleas are already a problem .............................29

18. What to expect from treatment...................................................................31

19. Diagnosing and Treating Flea Allergy in Pets ..........................................32

20. Flea FAQs.....................................................................................................33

21. Appendix ......................................................................................................35

21.1. Summary of Flea Products for Dogs ................................................................35

21.2. Summary Table of Flea Control Products for Cats...........................................38



Written and Published by

Dr. Gregory Mahon B.V.Sc. (Hons), B.Vet. Biol. (Path),

12 Kent Court,

Buderim, Qld. Australia © 2009

[email protected]

All Rights Reserved ©2009

This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher and the copy right owner are not engaged in rendering veterinary, pest control or any other professional service. If expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person who specialises in that particular field should be sought.

All products and directions described in this guide are based on Australia pack labels. Read all labels and safety directions before use. Residents of countries outside Australia should refer to their own country’s pack labels before use, and comply with all label directions as shown on those packs. The author will not be responsible for incorrect product usage. All product related enquiries should be directed to the customer service contact details as shown on the pack.

Whilst due care has been exercised in the compilation of this guide, we are not responsible for errors or omissions. This reference is intended to assist in providing information to the public and the information is delivered as accurately as possible. Please direct any comments, questions or suggestions regarding this guide to: [email protected]

TRADEMARKS

SENTINEL®, PROGRAM® AND CAPSTAR® are the Registered trademarks of Novartis AG, Basel, Switzerland

REVOLUTION® is the Registered trademarks of PFIZER

ADVANTAGE®, ADVOCATE® and ADVANTIX® are the Registered trademarks of Bayer AG, Leverkusen, Germany

FRONTLINE® is the Registered trademark of Merial

COMFORTIS® is the Registered trademark of Eli Lilly and Company.

PERMOXIN® is the Registered trademark of Dermcare Vet Pty Ltd



1. Introduction

Do you have a problem with fleas? Tried everything and found nothing works?

Stop right there!

Before you spend one more cent on flea control products to use on your pets, you should acquire a working knowledge of the problem you are trying to treat, and then you will be able to pick and choose the best options for your circumstances.

This flea control guide will provide you with easy to understand information on fleas and how to be rid of them. The advice I give is a rational, scientifically based, straight forward, no nonsense and effective approach that is tried and tested in my own business.

If it didn’t work, I’d be out of a job. My name is Dr. Greg Mahon. I am a practicing small animal veterinarian in sub-tropical Queensland, Australia. I have almost 25 years experience in dealing with fleas, developing and marketing flea products, and dealing with flea related diseases in owned pets.

Early in my career, I worked as Veterinary Technical Manager with a multi-national chemical company that had developed flea control products. Later I worked alongside a Specialist Veterinary Dermatologist in the development and marketing of specialist veterinary dermatological products.

I know what it takes to develop and market a flea control product, and what can go wrong if products are not used correctly, or if chemical resistance develops. I also learnt that understanding the biology of fleas allows us to develop effective strategies to deal with these pests.

I have spent the last 13 years in my own small animal practice in one of the worst flea areas in Australia, and not a day goes by that I am not explaining flea control to my clients. I have firsthand experience in dealing with significant flea infestations.

As a pet-owner and the father of insect bite sensitive children, I also understand the importance of flea control in the family home, and the need for rapid and long lasting results.

One recent phenomenon that makes my job more demanding is that pet owners are now purchasing flea control products from non-traditional sources such as the internet. These people miss out on a lot of useful technical information about effective flea control – information that is normally provided by experienced veterinary staff.

This guide is designed to fill the information gap. I use the same information to train my staff, and our clients. This knowledge will help you win the war against fleas.



It is a waste of money purchasing flea control products cheaply over the internet if you don’t understand how to use them effectively to solve your flea problems.

It makes sense to gain some knowledge first, then buy and use the most appropriate products and strategies to control the problem based on your individual circumstances.

This guide will provide you with the necessary knowledge to win the war against fleas.

Dr Greg Mahon B.V.Sc., B.Vet. Biol. (Pathology)

Buderim, Qld 2009



2. Does itching mean a pet has fleas

It is important to understand that just because a pet is itching it doesn’t follow that it must have fleas.

When I examine an itchy pet (and believe me I see a lot of them), I explain to owners that animals itch for a lot of reasons. Below are some of the common reasons:

• Infestation from mites, fleas, lice, mosquitoes, ants.

• Infection – bacteria, yeast and fungal infections are often itchy.

• Environmental factors such as pollens, saps, irritant plants, contact sensitisers such as wandering jew.

• Allergy - Food allergy, Atopy (inherited allergy), Insect Bite Hypersensitivity.

Veterinarians are very good at differentiating the causes of itching. So, if you aren’t sure that fleas are the problem, get the itch diagnosed correctly.

It is important to be aware that it is NOT normal for a dog or cat to be excessively itchy in the presence of fleas. I have seen a dog with over 1000 fleas that hardly itched at all.

If a pet is itching from fleas it is probably suffering from flea allergy dermatitis (more on this later), and for these pets just one flea will drive them crazy.



3. The trouble with fleas

Fleas are small, wingless blood sucking parasitic insects. They feed on domestic dogs, cats, humans, wild mammals such as foxes, opossums, hedgehogs, wild dogs and rodents that live in close contact with humans and their pets.

The trouble with fleas is that:

• They are small and hard to detect, except when present in large numbers.

• For part of their lifecycle they are totally dependant on their host for survival, yet, at other times, they can survive for long periods off the host (at least 6 months) without feeding at all.

• They can live on and feed on a variety of animal species which provides them with multiple food source options.

• They are prolific breeders – they reproduce at an astonishing rate.

• They can appear suddenly and in vast numbers, seemingly from nowhere.

• They appear to be extremely difficult to kill.

• They can cause such severe irritation that animals will literal chew or rub themselves til they bleed.

• They cause anaemia and spread tapeworm in dogs and cats.

While this all sounds rather daunting, I can assure you that these pests can be controlled.

The trick with controlling fleas is to understand the vulnerability of the flea and exploit it with effective products and control strategies, and to be vigilant to ensure that the problem is always controlled.

Read on to find out how to do this.



4. The flea life cycle

Understanding where fleas come from is the secret to getting rid of them.

The first point to realise is that there is only one species of flea that is commonly found on cats and dogs – but, confusingly it’s called the cat flea – its scientific name is Ctenocephalides felis.

So where do fleas come from and how does your pet get a flea infestation?

The development process that the flea goes through from egg to adulthood is called its life cycle.

They have four life stages in their life cycle:

• The egg stage – a pearly white oval egg just visible to the naked eye (about 0.5mm long)

• The larval (maggot) stage – a caterpillar which grows a few millimetres long

• The cocoon (pupa) stage; and

• The parasitic adult stage – 2 to 4 mm in length

Incidentally, the adult stage is the only life stage found on the pet - the egg, larva and cocoon are found in the pet’s environment (i.e. off the pet).

In ideal conditions of temperature and humidity (a warm wet summer) the life cycle is complete in as little as 2 weeks, but over winter the cycle could take 6 months.

In effect today’s fleas were last month’s flea eggs. In some cases they are last summer’s flea eggs!

At any time, for every flea on a pet, there may be another 20 fleas off the host in intermediate stages of development that have yet to find the host.

The female flea feeds by punching a hole in the skin then sucking blood. During feeding they inject saliva into the hole which acts as an anti-coagulant (more on flea saliva later). This blood meal provides the fuel for flea reproduction. Within 48 hours of arrival on the host the female has fed, mated and begun to lay eggs.

Interestingly adult fleas cannot survive off the host once they have fed on blood. Adult fleas do not jump from pet to pet, they stay on the first host they find – as soon as they feed they are physiologically committed to that host – we call them an obligate parasite, because without a continual supply of blood they will die.



Female fleas have a very active metabolism which is dedicated to reproduction at all costs, so without blood they simply die from starvation because they use all their energy to continue to produce eggs. You can see why this happens when you look at the size of a flea egg and compare it to the female flea that laid it – the eggs are huge by comparison and the females produce up to fifty eggs every day. Egg production is extremely demanding for the flea.

Fleas have very wasteful guts so a lot of the blood sucked from the host goes through partially digested to become flea faeces, which is visible in the pet’s coat – we call it “flea dirt” – it looks like a dark brown comma or coil in the coat. Flea dirt is used as food by the larval flea while it develops in the environment.

Each day a female flea produces on average 30 - 50 eggs. They are small, white, oval and non sticky, so they fall from the pet continuously and seed the environment. The flea dirt falls off the pet with the flea eggs, providing an immediate food source for the hatching larvae.

Where-ever a flea infested pet goes it drops flea eggs. So if it sleeps under the bed for 12 hours a day, 50% of the flea eggs will be under the bed. If the cat spends six hours per day perched on top of the bookcase, then 25% of the eggs from the cat are on or around the book case.

If it is obvious that your pet has fleas it probably is carrying at least 20 adult fleas, it could actually be dropping up to 1000 eggs per day!

Because the eggs are not sticky they can be removed from bedding by washing, and from the carpet and floor by vacuuming.

Inside the flea egg a larval stage develops. It has a special egg tooth (made of chitin) which it uses to rasp its way out of the egg.

In the environment, the larvae move downwards into carpets or soil and away from vibrations and light. This means inside the home they go to the base of carpets and sofas, under beds and furniture and under skirting boards.

When the larvae have developed sufficiently they spin a sticky cocoon, typically this can take one to two weeks. The sticky outer coating collects dirt, dust and debris which forms a protective insecticide proof barrier around the cocoon.

The cocoon stage of the flea remains viable in the environment for at least 6 months.

Inside the cocoon the larval flea becomes an adult flea, (which some people call ground fleas) which will then emerge from the cocoon (hatch) in response to the presence of a warm blooded host. If they miss the host they wait in the environment for the next passing host. They have up to three months to find a host before they starve to death.



The pre-emerged adult flea inside the cocoon will hatch in response to, and move towards:

• An increase in carbon dioxide – i.e. from an animal breathing

• An increase in temperature – i.e. body warmth

• Pressure or vibration – i.e. movement nearby (including a vacuum cleaner)

• Flickering light – i.e. moving in front of the sun

The pre-emerged adult flea in the cocoon is the source of all your problems (fleas) and unfortunately pre-emerged fleas in cocoons are extremely difficult to kill.

When fully developed, these pre-emerged fleas wait to hatch until whenever a pet (or human) walks past. A few may hatch each day - some can arrive on the pet daily for weeks on end. In this way infestations can go on for many weeks. As soon as the weather begins to warm, the flea development speeds up, and fleas start to hatch in larger numbers.

This is why large numbers of fleas sudden appear from nowhere after a week of warm weather.

You have probably heard stories of some-one who went away for a holiday and came back to a house full of fleas.

Well, what is actually occurring is that the eggs, larvae and pupae that were present when the owners left are now all mature pupae containing pre-emerged adult fleas. The vibrations caused by walking into the house cause the pre-emerged fleas to hatch and move towards the stimulus - in this case the home owner.



The flea control implications of the flea life cycle are:

1. Once a pet owner realises that they have a flea problem, the pet’s environment is already densely populated with immature developing fleas in various life stages.

2. The fleas already present may take up to six months to hatch (depending on the time of year) so you can expect to see fleas on your pet in decreasing numbers for two to six months.

3. Every female flea on a pet can duplicate itself up to fifty times over EVERY DAY. One flea pair can generate tens of thousands of descendant fleas over a single summer.

4. Fleas thrive in warm humid weather and struggle in cold or dry weather, therefore artificially heating your home over winter increases flea survival and the speed of the life cycle. Fleas hate direct sunlight.

5. Flea larvae are mobile and can move short distances to find safe havens – across fence lines, doorways and from outside to inside a home.

6. Flea eggs and larvae can be removed by washing and vacuuming.

7. Mature flea pupae will hatch if the vacuum cleaner passes over them.

8. Hatched adult fleas that haven’t found a host can survive for long periods, yet can be killed by insecticidal sprays; but pre-emerged adult fleas still in the cocoon are very hard to kill.

9. Fleas don’t move from pet to pet. Your pet does not get fleas from playing with other pets (this is different to head lice in humans).

10. The preferred sleeping places of pets are usually flea hotspots.



5. How does a pet get fleas

Pets get fleas by going into an environment that contains mature flea pupae that are ready to hatch. The pet stimulates the pre-emerged adult flea to hatch and find the host (your pet).

The environment contains flea pupae because at some time in the last 6 months another flea host shed some flea eggs in that location. If there is a heavy flea infestation in that location, your pet will pick up a lot of fleas. There are many areas that can be flea hotspots. They are typically protected from direct sunlight, may have organic debris providing refuge for flea larvae, are favoured resting places for pets, or places where pets or hosts (including rodents) congregate.

Some common flea hotspot locations away from home that I have identified are:

• shaded garden beds,

• regular dog walking paths,

• obedience clubs,

• dog parks,

• kennels,

• veterinary clinics, or

• grooming parlours.

Often the facilities themselves are “clean”, but the approaches to them (footpaths, driveways, gardens) may harbour fleas.

There are also situations at home that lead to flea infestations. This list identifies the most common reasons you might suddenly be confronted with a flea problem:

• If you take your pet to visit friends whose pets have fleas

• If you have neighbouring cats or dogs coming onto your property

• If you have rodents on your property (bird cages attract rodents)

• If you have a shared fence line with neighbours who have pets that have fleas

• If you have stray cats sitting at your front door.

• If you rent a property and the previous tenant had a pet (even if it was six months earlier)

• If you only treat some of your pets for fleas (you think the cat doesn’t get fleas because you never see any on it)

In each case, an infested host is dropping eggs into an environment suitable for flea survival. The immature stages go through their life cycle, and then later your pet comes along and hatches out the adult fleas. It’s that simple.



6. How to tell if your pet has fleas

There are a several easy ways to tell if your pet has fleas. In each case you are looking for evidence that confirms the presence of fleas on a pet. Irrefutable evidence of flea infestation on a pet includes:

• The presence of live adult fleas

• The presence of flea eggs

• The presence of flea dirt

How to use a flea comb to find adult fleas:

• The flea comb is a very fine-toothed comb (like a nit comb) that captures fleas and flea dirt in it’s teeth when used to comb the coat of a dog or cat. See the image on the next page for my preferred type of flea comb.

• Comb in a head to tail direction starting on top of the back at the level of last rib and finishing at the tail tip. Then repeat moving more to the sides and eventually down the legs.

• The flea comb will collect & remove fleas and flea dirt from the coat of the pet. Dip the comb in hot water to kill the fleas. If no fleas are found but you think you have flea dirt, dip the comb in the water. If flea dirt is present, the water will turn red from the partially digested blood in the flea dirt.

How to perform a visual inspection for fleas:

• Roll the pet over and look between the back legs and under the tail – you may see some fast moving fleas.

If you don’t have a flea comb:

• Check for flea dirt by placing the pet on a piece of white paper and rubbing your hand through the coat vigorously to cause the flea dirt to fall off. Next, wet the flea dirt on the paper with a moist cotton wool ball, if flea dirt is present the paper turns red.

• Rub the pet over a dark surface - and a shower of pearly white flea eggs fall off the coat onto the surface. The flea eggs are approximately 0.5mm long and will be present in significant numbers.

What do fleas look like?

If you are not sure what a flea looks like:

• Go to a Google Images, then search for fleas and view some pictures of fleas and their life stages.

• Go to this you tube link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMlRYhtsnx4



Always choose a sturdy flea comb. This Flea Comb is 3 years old and used up to twenty times every day.



7. How to tell if my house has fleas

Household flea infestations are normally detected when a human is bitten by fleas and notices red itchy spots on the feet and ankles.

If your pet has fleas, and it spends a lot of time inside, then unless you are using a chemical to kill fleas in your home, it is safe to assume that there will be fleas in the house.

It is helpful to identify the location of the flea hotspots inside the house, because you can spot treat these areas, vacuum them, or isolate them to reduce the irritation to yourself or your pet.

Examples of high risk areas are:

• Carpeted rooms

• Rugs

• The pet’s favoured sleeping spots such as bedding and furniture

• Lounges and sofas

• Under beds and desks

• Behind filing cabinets, refrigerators (rodents)

• Any crawl spaces (rodents)

Here are two techniques you can use to detect fleas in your home. They both rely on finding adult fleas.

• Put on white socks and walk around the house. If fleas are present, you will see fleas on your socks. Walk near skirting boards, around and very close to beds and furniture.

• Give a flea-free pet the run of the house then flea comb the pet afterwards to look for adult fleas. Don’t let the pet out doors during this time.

• You can ensure your pet is flea-free by flea combing it for 10 minutes or until there are no longer any fleas on the comb.



8. Does my garden and backyard have fleas

The simplest way to determine if the garden has fleas is:

• Make your pet flea free by putting it on a table and flea combing for 10 minutes or until you are certain that there are no more fleas on the pet.

• Immediately take the dog outside and let it run around in the garden for four hours. In that time the dog will visit most pet resting places that could harbour fleas, and sniff out any areas where other hosts such as rodents have been. If there are fleas in the yard, the dog should have some after this time.

• Repeat the flea combing on it. If it has fleas they will be trapped in the teeth of the comb.

• You can also fence off parts of the yard and repeat the exercise to find the “hotspot” for fleas in the yard – use a spot treatment in these areas.



9. Why does a pet still have fleas after treatment

This is one of the most common questions we get at our Surgery. You have treated your pet with a recommended product and yet – you are still seeing fleas on your pet. What is going on?

Let’s examine your expectations.

Most people (understandably) expect that if they treat their pet for fleas with a product that works, that they won’t ever see another flea.

Now that we understand the flea life cycle, we know that the only way this can occur is:

• if the pet lives in a flea free environment, and

• the fleas on the pet were just picked up on a walk, and

• the fleas haven’t laid any eggs yet.

If these factors are all true, then you won’t see any more fleas. Otherwise you will see fleas on treated pets. Here’s why:

• All the flea products that you use to kill fleas on your pet (called adulticide products) are contact insecticides – the fleas have to be on the pet for some time to pick up enough chemical to be killed.

• Some products are very fast acting and some are slower, but in general it takes between 30 minutes and 24 hours for the fleas to die depending on the product used and the time lapsed between application and arrival of the flea.

• Fleas take longer to die for a monthly product if it was applied 25 days ago compared to five days ago due to the drop in concentration of the chemical over time.

• There is a continual procession of fleas arriving on the pet from the environmental pupal stage. This reinfestation is the reason that you see fleas after you have treated your pet.

• Newly arrived fleas die within 24 hours of contact with adulticide chemicals– but as an observant owner you still notice the fleas. If you look carefully, you’ll see that some of the fleas are small and unfed, some are bigger (fed) and some are big & lethargic (dying).

• There is always a population mix of new arrivals, actively feeding fleas, and sick, dying and dead fleas on the pet.

Another important factor is that fleas are often present before you begin treatment and you aren’t aware of this because their numbers on the pet are small.

It is only when the numbers increase that pet owners become vigilant about flea control – but this is too late – you already have up to six months of potential flea pupae in the environment.



The impact of climate on flea development.

Climate plays a part too – in sub tropical or tropical areas you may find that late spring sees a massive increase in flea numbers. This is because environmental factors such as temperature and humidity improve flea survival and the speed of development of immature flea stages, so that more fleas survive and arrive sooner than at other times of the year.

Treatment Compliance – be sure to use products as directed.

Not many pet owners reliably treat their pets at the correct interval, and this directly affects the flea control effectiveness. For example if a monthly product is applied a week late, this may dramatically affect outcomes – some fleas survive to lay eggs that continue the cycle, and sub-optimal (lower) insecticide levels promote insect resistance – therefore compliance with label recommendations is important.

A number of other factors can also influence the effectiveness of the product. Some topical products have reduced effectiveness if a pet is frequently bathed or if it swims a lot.

The practice of some pet owners decanting from ampoules to treat more than one pet is another potential source of error and can lead to under-dosing, lower efficacy and insecticide resistance.

Is it possible that the fleas are resistant to the product I am using?

Resistance to insecticides occurs if the usual dose of insecticide is less effective than expected, when it is used as directed. If resistance is present, fleas may take longer to die than previously. This means the product is not as effective. If you suspect this is a problem, you need to prove it for yourself.

• Take your pet from its existing environment and leave it in the bathroom for 24 hrs (or board it somewhere). You should find that all the fleas that were on the pet are dead, and as the bathroom is a flea free environment (usually) there has not been any new reinfestation of the pet.

• If the fleas are not dead after 24 hours, you may have insecticide resistance (or reduced effectiveness) in the fleas at your house, so change brands (and active ingredients) of adulticide products.



10. Flea control principles

To successfully control fleas, pet owners must understand and comply with some key concepts:

1. All pets in the household must be treated.

a. This means every cat and dog. Not treating all pets will always result in failure.

b. A common misconception is that one pet doesn’t have fleas – this may be true from time to time, but invariably untreated pets get fleas and become a source of flea eggs and ongoing infestation.

2. You must eradicate or remove from your property all other potential hosts such as rodents or wild animals that can carry fleas. Similarly if friend’s pets have fleas, request that they not bring them to your property.

3. Pets are not flea resistant. Owners often tell me their pets don’t get fleas.

a. If your pet doesn’t have fleas – realise that it is only a matter of time before it gets some. The only reason your pet doesn’t have any is… it hasn’t yet picked up any yet.

4. It is possible for indoor cats or dogs that never leave the house to get fleas – either from

unfed adult fleas coming in on your clothes, or because a stray cat or dog has sat at an entrance to the house and dropped flea eggs – the larvae then cross the threshold to the house.

5. You must use proven scientifically tested, government approved, effective treatments – not

‘natural’ or alternative remedies that lack evidence of effectiveness and that have not had proper scrutiny for safety to the pet and operator. And you must use them as directed on the label.

6. You must alternate active ingredients between packs of products to reduce the risk of

insecticide resistance.

7. You must attack all stages of the flea life cycle to reduce the flea burden in heavy infestations. Just treating the pet means that you are condemning the pet to be a flea magnet for months, when you could reduce that number of fleas that arrive on the pet. This means having an environmental control program as well as a pet control program.

8. You must start flea control BEFORE they become a problem, and maintain a preventative

program once the fleas are controlled.

9. You must be persistent – keep treating until you are flea free. a. You must treat for long enough to be rid of an infestation - in some cases this

means monthly treatments of all pets for six months.

b. Never assume that the last product you used was the only one that worked if the fleas are suddenly gone. Fleas can take a long time to control – the secret is to treat with effective product for long enough to eliminate all the environmental stages of the flea.



11. Eliminating fleas from the home

Step 1: Remove fleas, flea eggs and pupae from carpets, furniture and floors.

Daily vacuuming is the most effective way to reduce immature flea populations in the house, removing 40 - 80% of flea eggs and larvae, and up to 90% of pre-emerged fleas.

• Empty the vacuum bag carefully into a sealed plastic bag or container and dispose of it carefully.

• An application of insect spray onto the surface of the vacuum bag will kill fleas in the bag. Do not spray into the vacuum cleaner while it is running as the propellant is flammable. Remove the bag from the vacuum cleaner, spray it and allow it to dry before use.

Step 2: Remove fleas from the pet’s bedding and sleeping places. Washing pet bedding then hanging it in the sun (or putting in the clothes drier) is a very effective way to remove flea eggs, dirt and larvae from the pet’s bedding. If the pet sleeps on sofas then vacuuming is required, concentrating on the nooks and crevices where eggs may fall. What about pest control chemicals and insecticides to control fleas in the house? Personally I prefer not to use chemical insecticides in my home, and I advise pet owners likewise. However they do have their place and can assist with reducing flea numbers, especially in serious infestations. I don’t recommend use of aerosol type Flea Bombs to control fleas in homes as they are not terribly effective. The mist doesn’t fumigate the entire room, it doesn’t affect the pupae and usually doesn’t reach the areas where the flea stages (eggs, larvae and pupa) reside – i.e. under furniture, along skirting boards and deep in the carpet. I do recommend pet owners use a Licensed Pest Control Operator for problem cases, just remember, however, the chemical used still won’t affect the immature pupae as they are protected from the insecticide by the wall of the cocoon and the material adhered to it. This is a common reason for Pest Controllers to receive complaints after treatment. Pest control chemicals offer good residual action and will kill hatched adult fleas that missed their first attempt to find a host – remember they can live for up to 100 days in the environment.



12. Eliminating fleas from the yard

Step 1: Make the environment less favourable to flea development.

• Fleas don’t like hot, cold or dry environments. Remove all leaf litter, rubbish and debris from the yard. This material protects flea eggs and larvae from exposure to the elements by maintaining temperature and humidity within a range more suitable for flea development.

• Fleas don’t like direct sunlight but they thrive in shade. Trim all overgrown shrubs and trees to reduce the total area under shade.

• Spray Lawn Grub Spray (as per label directions) where-ever you identify flea “hotspots”. Prevent pets from visiting the sprayed area for 24 hours.

Step 2: Make your yard secure to stop other pets coming onto your property and to stop your pets leaving the property.

• You need a “closed” or at least “controlled” environment to stop flea eggs being dropped onto your property by visiting hosts. Ensure fencing is adequate to keep away visiting dogs and cats, or use deterrents like “Get off my garden” on the boundary of your property.

Step 3: Identify segments of the boundary fence that are shared with neighbouring pets.

• If neighbour’s pets have fleas they may drop eggs along your boundary and the larvae may migrate to your property. Barricade or fence off these areas to prevent access by your pets.

Step 4: Treat or fence off all crawl spaces, sleeping places and resting places which are likely to harbour fleas.

• Areas under houses and decks are notorious for harbouring fleas as are any other preferred resting places.

• Treat these areas with Lawn Grub Spray and remove pets from these areas until it is safe for them to return.

Step 5: Depopulate the yard for 2 weeks (in summer) then hatch out the fleas.

• Removing pets from the yard will allow all immature stages to pupate, so you can then stimulate them to hatch on host exposure.

• Have a dog party – invite friendly dogs around for a party. Administer a Capstar tablet to all dogs on arrival. The dog activity will hatch most of the fleas in a short period and the Capstar will kill them.

• This is not practical in winter due to the longer time taken to complete the life cycle.



13. Eliminating fleas from the car

Step 1: Vacuum the entire car thoroughly.

• Thoroughly vacuum the carpet in the car to reduce infestation, focussing on areas under the seats, along the joins and in the seat crevices. Vacuuming will remove any eggs, larvae or pre-emerged adult fleas. Concentrate especially on the areas frequented by the pet.

Step 2: Place a plastic sheet over any carpeted areas in the car to prevent bites.

• Plastic sheet acts as a physical barrier to hatching fleas. This will prevent you or your pet getting bitten every time you get into the car.

Step 3: Ensure that the pet is treated with an IGR to prevent reinfestation of the car.

• An IGR will prevent new flea eggs hatching in the car.

Step 4: Park the car in a warm sunny spot for 2 weeks.

• It takes about 2 weeks under ideal conditions for flea eggs to progress through the life cycle to the adult stage. Parking the car in the sun will increase the speed of the life cycle to ensure any remaining immature stages will pupae quickly. If the weather is particularly hot, the heat in the car will be enough to kill the developing fleas. The ideal temperature for flea development is 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit).

Step 5: Vacuum the car again.

• Remove the plastic sheet after 2 weeks.

• Place your dog back in the car so that any hatched fleas jump onto the dog. Give the dog a Capstar tablet 30 minutes prior to placing it in the car. All the fleas that jump on the dog will die within a few hours. DO NOT use a flea allergic dog for this procedure.

• Repeat the vacuum procedure. This should remove any unhatched fleas and collect some of the remaining hatched fleas.



14. Categories of flea control products for use on pets

There are two broad categories of flea control products that we will consider:

• Flea Adulticides – that kill adult fleas

• Insect Growth Regulators (IGRs) – that interfere with the development of intermediate stages of the flea (egg and larvae)

Flea Adulticides

Adulticides kill fleas AFTER they arrive on a pet. Hence you will normally see some fleas on pets treated with adulticides. Adulticides are contact insecticides - the fleas either have to feed to be killed or run around on the coat picking up insecticide.

Some adulticides work faster than others. They can take between 30 minutes and 24 hours to work. The faster the speed of kill - the fewer fleas you will see.

When adulticides are used, the flea population on the pet will consist of very small unfed fleas, larger fleas that have fed and large slow moving or paralysed fleas that are about to fall off the host and die. With very fast acting products you may find sick unfed fleas.

The products are available as tablets, sprays, rinses and spot on treatments. The most popular adulticides used in Australia are

• Tablets for oral administration

o Capstar®

o Comfortis®

• Topical small volume liquids for spot on treatment of the pet

o Frontline® Plus

o Advantage®

o Advantix® (not for use on cats!)

o Advocate®

o Revolution®

• Sprays and Rinses

o Permoxin® Insecticidal Concentrate

o Frontline® Spray

Some adulticides (Revolution, Advantage, Advantix and Advocate) also claim activity against intermediate stages of fleas, due to shedding of some of the chemical into the environment or interference with egg viability and larval development.



Insect Growth Regulators

Insect growth regulators interfere with the normal development of an immature flea. Some work by stopping the larvae from hatching from the egg, while others stop the larvae developing to an adult flea.

IGRs do NOT kill adult fleas so an adulticide must be used to control an existing infestation on the pet. IGRs are ideal to stop the flea life cycle, and prevent future infestations.

IGRs can be administered to the pet or used as an environmental pest control chemical. The common IGRs used for animal treatment are:

• Lufenuron – stops flea eggs hatching. The products that use Lufenuron are:

o Sentinel® - a monthly oral tablet for dogs

o Program® Tablets - a monthly oral tablet for dogs

o Program liquid – a monthly oral liquid for cats

o Program Injection – a six month duration injection for cats, administered by a Veterinarian

• Methoprene

o As an additive in Frontline Plus



15. Overview of my recommended flea control products for use on pets

Products Summary

Branded products described below may vary in formulation, label claims, indications, safety directions, and directions for use from country to country. All products described here are products from Australia and recommendations are based on the label directions for Australian labeled products. If you are using non- Australian labeled products, check the directions of the pack before use.

Program® and Sentinel® - manufactured by Novartis (IGRs)

Sentinel and Program tablets are insect growth regulator products which have Lufenuron as their active ingredient. They are administered monthly with food. Lufenuron interferes with the development of the flea larvae inside the egg and prevents the egg from hatching. It effectively stops the flea life cycle. Lufenuron does not kill adult fleas. The key points are:

• Lufenuron must be given with food to allow absorption. Once absorbed the Lufenuron is stored in body fat and released slowly into the blood stream and taken up by fleas when they feed, then incorporated into the egg.

• Sentinel is a dog only product, administered orally. It contains lufenuron, praziquantel and milbemycin. Dogs should be heartworm negative prior to commencing Sentinel (due to the presence of Milbemycin in the formulation).

• Program is also available as an injectable product for cats, which is administered by a Veterinarian every six months, or as an over the counter liquid that is added to the cats food. Program only has flea activity.

• All pets in the household must be treated.

• In pre-existing infestations, pets must be treated with an adulticide in addition to these products, and fleas may be present for 2 to 3 months after commencing treatment.

• New flea infestations will occur if untreated pets are present on shared fence lines, or if stray or wild hosts visit your property.

Advantage® (imidacloprid), Advantix® (imidacloprid with permethrin), Advocate® (imidacloprid with moxidectin) from Bayer

Advantage and Advocate are spot on flea adulticides for both dogs and or cats, for application to the back of the neck. In large dogs, they are applied in 3 places on the neck and back to improve spread of the chemical. Advocate is also effective against a range of intestinal parasites and some mites. Flea allergic pets can be treated every two weeks to reduce flea bites.

Advantix contains Imidacloprid and Permethrin and repels biting insects (mosquitoes, sandflies) as well as controlling fleas and ticks.

Imidacloprid may have reduced effectiveness with dogs that swim or pets that are shampooed regularly.



Imidacloprid has no efficacy against ticks, but Advantix®, with permethrin does, it needs to be applied every two weeks to prevent paralysis ticks. Advantix is ONLY FOR DOGS, as cats are sensitive to permethrin.

Frontline Spray and Frontline Plus (fipronil) from Merial

Fipronil is effective against fleas and ticks. For paralysis tick control, it should be used more frequently than for flea control. Fipronil is incorporated into hair follicles and released slowly over time. This mechanism reduces loss of fipronil from bathing and swimming effectively making the product waterfast.

The label claim for Frontline Spray in Australia for flea control is 12 weeks for dogs and 8 weeks for cats. For Flea Allergy Dermatitis the label recommends monthly use. It can be used from 2 days of age on puppies and kittens and is safe for pregnant and lactating bitches.

Frontline Plus should be applied to the back of the neck monthly for dogs and cats, and should not be used in puppies and kittens less than 8 weeks of age. The methoprene (an IGR) in Frontline Plus is claimed to provide persistent ovicidal and larvicidal effects in the environment.

Revolution® (selamectin) from Pfizer This adulticide is a once-a-month heartworm and flea preventive for dogs and cats. It also has activity against some other internal and external parasites such as roundworms, hookworms, and mites (ear mites and sarcoptes). It is safe for puppies and kittens from 6 weeks of age and for breeding and lactating queens and bitches.

The label claims it is effective against immature flea stages in the environment, and the flea allergy dermatitis symptoms improve after treatment.

Capstar® (nitenpyram) from Novartis This oral adulticide tablet for is safe for dogs and cats as young as 4 weeks of age. It provides very rapid adulticide activity with 30 minutes of administration. It has very low toxicity and can be administered daily. In flea allergic pets or infested environments, second daily treatment provides adequate control of fleas and reduces the signs of allergic disease.

Comfortis ® for Dogs (spinosad) from Elanco Animal Health Division of Eli Lilly This monthly adulticide tablet for fleas on dogs is a new flea control compound that rapidly kills fleas within 4 hours of treatment and before they lay eggs. It should be given with food. Flea allergic pets improve on this product. It has not been evaluated for use in breeding animals.

Permoxin® for Dogs (Permethrin) from Dermcare Vet

This liquid insecticidal concentrate is diluted 1 in 40 in water and used as a rinse applied after shampooing, or as a spray. Permethrin has repellent properties and this formulation is safe to use daily as a spray to treat heavy flea infestations and flea allergy dermatitis. For routine flea control, weekly to monthly application is used depending on the level of infestation.



16. Flea Prevention Protocol - for when you don't have fleas

Step 1: Use an Insect Growth Regulator (IGR) for all pets in the household.

• For cats, Program Injection is administered by your Veterinarian every 6 months. This is the simplest most effective and reliable way to stop fleas breeding on cats. Ask your veterinarian to send you a reminder when the next injection is due.

• For dogs, give Program tablets or Sentinel monthly at the correct dose for your dog.

• It is vitally important that the Program and Sentinel tablets be given with or immediately after the main meal, as the active ingredient is absorbed with the fat in the meal. Once absorbed from the gut, the ingredient is slowly released into the body and picked by the flea when it feeds.

• Use an effective reminder system to ensure you treat every 30 days.

Step 2: Use an Adulticide only if you suddenly find fleas on your pet.

• If you have suddenly found fleas on your pet (from any source), you simply need to kill the fleas. With the IGR on board, these fleas are infertile and none of their eggs are viable. For low numbers of fleas in cats and dogs use a single Capstar tablet as a “one off” treatment whenever fleas appear.

• If your pet is flea allergic, use a Capstar tablet every second day until no fleas are seen or scratching stops. Repeat Capstar as required to control scratching. Capstar can be given daily without side-effects. If you believe there has been a control breakdown (e.g. flea infested pet has contaminated your property), then begin a monthly adulticide treatment.

Step 3: Determine the source of the Fleas and go to Steps 4 – 6.

• Has the pet been off the property to areas frequented by other pets?

• Are potential hosts coming onto your property (cats, dogs, rodents, wild animals)?

• Have visitors brought pets with them?

Step 4: Prevent access to identified high risk out door areas.

• Some areas outdoors (where pets prefer to sleep) will harbour large numbers of pre-emerged fleas – fence off or block access to these areas.

• Walk dogs on footpaths only, avoiding garden beds.

• Avoid other sources of fleas (dog parks, kennels).

Step 5: Prevent exposure to fleas from other animals.

• Stop visits from other cats and dogs which could carry flea eggs onto your property.



• When your pet is visiting homes with pets (and where fleas are present), administer a Capstar tablet to your pet/s before returning home to your property. This will immediately kill any “hitchhiker” fleas.

Step 6: Treat the environment

• You can apply Pool Salt to any area under the house to reduce the viability of existing eggs and larvae – just make sure it does not wash onto your garden as it will kill plants. Pool salt is inexpensive and long lasting. It causes flea eggs and larvae to dehydrate on exposure.

• Spray outdoor areas & garden beds with a Lawn Grub Insecticide as this insecticide will also be effective against flea eggs and larvae (but not pupae). Follow all label directions and take care to remove all pets from the sprayed area until it is safe for them to return.

• Tidy garden beds to remove organic waste and debris that could harbour flea larvae.

It is not necessary to wash bedding or vacuum if the fleas came from outside the pet’s environment as there will not be any viable flea eggs in this situation.



17. Flea Control Protocol - If fleas are already a problem

Step 1: Kill the adult fleas on all your Pets with an Adulticide Product.

All pets must be treated with an appropriate flea adulticide treatment. Choose your preferred adulticide product from the list below. Read the application instructions for adulticides and follow them carefully.

• Use a topical spot-on treatment every 30 days, either:

o Revolution®, Frontline®, Advantage® (Dogs & Cats) or Advantix® (Dogs Only)

o Reduce swimming and bathing frequency to maintain effectiveness

• Or wash every 7 days in Permoxin® concentrate (Dogs Only)

• Or administer Comfortis tablet (Dogs Only) orally monthly

• Or Capstar every second day as required (Dogs & Cats)

• Or use Frontline spray every 21 days (Dogs & Cats)

The choice of products depends on personal preference, perceived effectiveness, cost and ease of use, as well as degree of infestation.

Step 2: Use an Insect Growth Regulator to completely stop the flea life cycle.

Administer a Flea growth regulator to all dogs and cats on the property.

• For dogs, use Program® or Sentinel® tablets for Dogs, administered monthly after a full meal. When using Sentinel, ensure that all dogs treated are heartworm free prior to use, otherwise use Program tablets, which can be used regardless of heartworm status.

• For cats, have a Program® Injection administered every 6 months.

Step 3: Manage Flea Allergic pets more aggressively than non allergic pets.

For Flea Allergic pets, halve the treatment interval for the above products, or spray with Permoxin daily, Frontline Spray every 2 weeks or use Capstar® tablets every second day as required.

Step 2: Remove Flea eggs and pre-emerged adult fleas from inside the house.

• Daily vacuuming is the most effective way to reduce immature flea populations in the house. Vacuuming removes 40- 80% of flea eggs and up to 90% of pre-emerged fleas. Focus on areas near and under beds, furniture and skirting boards.

Step 3: Prevent access to high risk outdoor areas.

• Some areas outdoors (where pets prefer to sleep) will harbour large numbers of pre-emerged fleas – fence off or block access to these areas.



• Walk dogs on footpaths only, avoiding garden beds.

Step 4: Prevent exposure to fleas from other animals.

• Visiting cats and dogs (and some rodents) carry flea eggs onto your property – stop these visits.

• When your pet is visiting homes with pets (and where fleas are present), administer a Capstar tablet to your pet before returning home to your property. This will immediately kill any “hitchhiker” fleas before they contaminate your property with flea eggs.

Step 5: Treat the environment.

• You can apply Pool Salt to any area under the house to reduce eggs and larvae viability – just make sure it does not wash onto your garden.

• Outdoor areas and garden beds can be sprayed with a Lawn Grub Insecticide which will also kill flea eggs and larvae. Follow all label directions and keep pets away from sprayed areas until it is safe for them to return.

• Garden beds should be tidied to remove organic waste and debris that could harbour flea larvae.



18. What to expect from treatment

If you have very few fleas at the start of your treatment, then treatment will result in rapid elimination of the fleas on the pet and there should be minimal subsequent reinfestation as there is minimal environmental contamination. Within 24 hours of treating your pet, the fleas will be dead, and you will not find many more. It is possible that the occasional flea will appear over the few weeks immediately post treatment.

If you have a moderate flea burden on the pet with some environmental infestation at the start of treatment – the results will depend on the time of year. In warmer humid weather the flea life cycle is completed at a faster rate, so there may be more fleas present for some time after treatment. If you have commenced IGR treatment you can expect a significant reduction in fleas after 4 weeks, though it may take up to 8 weeks to be flea free. Without IGR treatment, flea control may prove difficult until the weather cools.

In severe flea burdens with heavy environmental infestation there is a regular ongoing source of fleas that will hatch and jump onto the pet. Aggressive management of the infestation on the pet, and in clearing the infestation in the environment, may still not be enough to clear the infestation quickly. It may take up to three months to be flea free, due to the sheer number of flea pupae that may be waiting to hatch. Professional treatment by a Licensed Pest Control operator will reduce the flea burden, however further hatchings will occur for some weeks after treatment.



19. Diagnosing and Treating Flea Allergy in Pets

Flea Allergy Dermatitis is an allergic disease of dogs and cats, caused by the body’s excessive immune response to flea saliva which is injected into the skin during flea feeding. The disease is manifested as an intense skin irritation which results in self harm.

A flea may bite a pet up to 30 times per day during feed, and in the allergic pet each bite can itch for up to five days. So it’s no wonder the pet becomes distressed.

The pet’s response is to bite, scratch and rub furiously at themselves to try to remove the flea and relieve irritation in the affected areas.

The site that is most often affected is the back half of the pet as this is where fleas prefer to feed, therefore classical flea allergic animals have a triangular shaped pattern of hair loss above the tail with the base of the triangle at the tail, and hair loss on the inside, outside and back of the thighs.

When you look closely at affected pets you will see red spots in the skin – these are called papules and are the sites of flea bite. You will also see hair loss, skin damage, and bleeding in acute cases.

In chronic cases you will see black pigmentation of the affected skin, complete hair loss and a continuously itchy pet.

It is not necessary to see fleas to make a diagnosis; in fact it is quite common not to find fleas as the pets remove them through furious biting at their skin. Often the incisor teeth are very worn from continuous abrasion on hair.

Treatment involves absolute flea control and symptomatic treatment for the allergy using a variety of products which are prescribed by the Veterinarian. The basic components of treatment are:

• Immediate removal of fleas from the pet (using Capstar® or Comfortis®).

• Prevention of further flea attack by treating the pet using either flea repellents or flea adulticides that have a fast knockdown effect - so that fleas fall from the pet quickly.

• Anti-inflammatory treatments to reduce the itch and ongoing skin damage.

• Long term flea control of all pets in the household.

• Environmental flea control to reduce the flea load in the environment and the duration of the infestation.

Dr. Greg Mahon B.V.Sc., B.Vet. Biol.


20. Flea FAQs

I don’t like using chemicals, what else can I use to kill fleas?

This question usually means you want a natural product. Examples might be Rotenone, Pyrethrins, and extracts from various plants, though could include free living parasite nematodes and ingredients such as boracic acid.

I do not recommend the use of any natural products in this guide for two reasons:

• We are not aware of the evidence that shows that the ingredients work any better than the products included in this guide.

• There are possibly many manufacturers of these “natural” products, therefore I cannot comment on the safety, standards of manufacture, quality of ingredients, stability testing and approval by authorities to ensure that the products are safe to use, effective and stable in the formulations provided.

I don’t want to use a topical chemical, what are the other choices?

Two alternative regimes are:

• Insect growth regulators (Program Injectable for cats, Program or Sentinel for dogs) – are internal products that interfere with the flea’s breeding cycle and render the flea sterile. These products are ideal for maintaining a flea free environment, but need to be used in conjunction with an adulticide.

• Capstar or Comfortis are oral adulticide insecticides that can be given instead of topical products.

Can I use a dog flea control product on a cat?

No! Dog and cat products are not interchangeable. Cats are intolerant of many products used on dogs. Always follow the label directions regarding the species, age, and condition of the pet. The cat product that is the same brand as dog products may be different volumes and concentrations, so they are not necessarily interchangeable.

How often should I use a flea control product?

Always follow the label directions.

I have a very young pet aged 2 weeks, how can I get rid of the fleas?

Frontline Spray is safe to use on pregnant and lactating bitches and queens, and can be used from 2 days of age on puppies and kittens.

My cat doesn’t get fleas; do I need to treat it?

If it is in your house or sharing the house with other pets, you must treat it. Just because you can’t see fleas, you can’t assume your cat doesn’t get them. Cats groom off 30% of their flea burden

Dr. Greg Mahon B.V.Sc., B.Vet. Biol.


every 24 hours. Even if you can’t see fleas, they may still be present. Remember - one flea produces up to 350 eggs per week.

Why don’t you mention shampoos?

Because they are not very effective, have short residual activity and don’t work as well as a Capstar tablet. I won’t recommend inferior products.

What about flea powders?

Powders are messy, increase the risk of owner and pet exposure to chemicals, have short residual activity, and are also more toxic than the products I recommend.

Some flea collars contain Methoprene – what about them?

They are okay for low flea infestations as they prevent further flea development, however the adulticides in them are usually old fashioned by comparison to the spot-on products in this guide - this means more toxic to you and the pet, and more likely that the fleas will have some resistance to them.

I want to treat fleas and ticks (In Australia) – what should I use?

The answer is… it depends on a few things. If you bath the dog weekly, or it swims a lot, use Permoxin Insecticidal Rinse as weekly use controls fleas and ticks. This is the most economical product to use and doesn’t require much additional work on your part.

If you don’t bath the dog regularly, use either Comfortis tablets monthly and a Tick collar, or Frontline Plus or Advantix (dogs only) every 2 weeks, or Frontline Spray every 3 weeks.

I bath my dog weekly – what should I use for flea control?

If fleas are already a problem, Comfortis tablets monthly is ideal – as an oral tablet it will not be affected by washing or shampooing. If fleas are not a problem – use Program tablets monthly.

What other pets besides dogs and cats can carry fleas?

Rabbits, rats, mice and guinea pigs. Check with a veterinarian before using any products on these pets, as the recommendation is “off label” and product safety and accurate dose calculation is very important to ensure that the pet is not affected.


21. Appendix

21.1. Summary of Flea Products for Dogs Product Method Of

Application Animals Age

Safety Application Effective Against Additional Information

Frontline ®Plus

Topical Back of Neck

Dog From 8 weeks of age

Monthly

Fortnightly

Fleas, Brown Dog Tick

Paralysis Tick

• Larvicidal and ovicidal effects for fleas

• Prevents development of eggs, larvae, pupae for 6 weeks

• Safe on pregnant or lactating bitches

• All animals in the household should be treated at the same time

• Daily search for ticks still recommended

• Do not bath within 48 hours of treatment

Advantage®



Monthly Fleas • Larval fleas stages are killed in the surroundings of treated animals

• Remains effective following shampoo, swimming or rain

• Safe on pregnant and lactating bitches


Program®

Oral Tablet Dog From 6 weeks of age

Monthly Flea eggs • Must be given on a full stomach

• Flea development inhibitor – flea eggs don’t hatch

• Does not kill adult fleas – recommend Capstar as well

Capstar®


Daily if required

Adult fleas • No known contraindications

• Works within 30 minutes

• May cause vomiting in some dogs

• Should be given with food

Comfortis®


Monthly Adult fleas • May cause vomiting


• May cause short term irritation due to flea stimulation before death

Revolution®



Monthly Heartworm, Fleas, Ear mites, Sarcoptic Mites, Hookworm and Roundworm

• DO NOT apply to the wet coat

• Waterproof after 2 hours


• Larvae and eggs killed

• Mites controlled with monthly treatment

• Treat all pets simultaneously


Product Method Of Application

Animals Age Safety

Application Effective Against Additional Information

12 Weekly Fleas

Lice

4 Weekly

Brown Dog Tick,

Flea Allergy Dermatitis

Frontline® Spray

Spray onto coat

Dog 2 days of age

Every 3 weeks

Paralysis Tick

• Do not use on Rabbits

• Lice – single treatment

• Mites – multiple monthly treatments required

• Treat all animals in the household simultaneously

• Safe for pregnant and lactating bitches

• Do not towel dry, allow to dry naturally.

• Daily searching for Paralysis Ticks is recommended

Monthly

Fleas

Brown Dog Tick

Bush Tick

Sandflies

Mosquitoes

Stable Fly

Fortnightly Paralysis Tick

Advantix® Topical Back of Neck


6 Weekly Lice

• Larval fleas stages are killed in the surroundings of treated animals


• DO NOT USE ON CATS

• Do not allow cats to groom treated dogs

• Repels biting Insects



• May discolour some fabrics and leather – keeps animals away from furniture, polished floorboards and fabrics until the product is dry

• Stops flea feeding within five minutes



Animals Age Safety


Advocate® Topical Back of Neck


Monthly Heartworm,

Fleas,

Roundworm,

Hookworm,

Whipworm,

Lice,

Sarcoptic Mange,

Ear Mites,

Demodectic mange



• Liquid vehicle may discolour certain fabrics and surfaces until dry

• Does not treat tapeworm



• Recommend test for heartworm prior to use

• Use with caution in sick, debilitated or underweight animals

Winning the War of Fleas Dr Greg Mahon © 2009


21.2. Summary Table of Flea Control Products for Cats


Animals Age Safety


Frontline ®Plus


Cat From 8 weeks of age

Monthly

Fleas

Biting Lice

• Prevents development of eggs, larvae, pupae for 6 weeks

• Safe on pregnant or lactating queens


• Do not bath within 48 hours of treatment

Advantage® Topical Back of Neck

Cat

From 6 weeks of age (weaning)

Monthly Fleas



• Safe on pregnant and lactating queens


Program®

Oral Liquid

Injection

Cat

From 6 weeks of age (weaning)

Monthly

Six monthly

Flea eggs

• Liquid must be given on a full stomach

• Flea development inhibitor – flea eggs don’t hatch

• Does not kill adult fleas – recommend Capstar as well

Capstar® Oral Tablet Cat From 4 weeks of age

Daily if required

Adult fleas • No known contraindications


• May cause vomiting in some dogs

• Should be given with food

Revolution® Topical Back of Neck


Monthly

Heartworm, Fleas, Ear mites, Sarcoptic Mites Hookworm and Roundworm

• DO NOT apply to the wet coat

• Waterproof after 2 hours


• Larvae and eggs killed

• Mites controlled with monthly treatment

• Treat all pets simultaneously

Advocate® Topical Back of Neck


Monthly

Heartworm, Fleas, Roundworm, Hookworm, Whipworm, Lice Sarcoptic Mange, Ear Mites, Demodectic mange



• Liquid vehicle may discolour certain fabrics and surfaces until dry

• Does not treat tapeworm

• Safe on pregnant and lactating queens


• Recommend test for heartworm prior to use

• Use with caution in sick, debilitated or underweight animals

Winning the War of Fleas Dr Greg Mahon © 2009



Animals Age Safety


8 Weekly Fleas

Lice

4 Weekly

Flea Allergy Dermatitis

Frontline® Spray

Spray onto coat

Cat 2 days of age

Every 3 weeks

Paralysis Tick

• Do not use on Rabbits

• Lice – single treatment

• Mites – multiple monthly treatments required

• Treat all animals in the household simultaneously

• Safe for pregnant and lactating queens

• Do not towel dry, allow to dry naturally.

• Daily searching for Paralysis Ticks is recommended

winning the war on fleas - working planet · 2009-10-07 · winning the war on fleas dr. greg mahon...

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