Almost every cat and dog will come into contact with fleas at some stage during its life and it’s not only your pets that suffer, you and your family may receive itchy bites too.

Only 5% of a flea’s life cycle occurs on your pet, with a staggering 95% of the cycle occurring in the environment; in your home. Central heating, carpets and upholstery provide a perfect breeding ground for fleas throughout the entire year and it is important therefore, that you treat your pet for fleas all year round.

Adult fleas consume blood from your cat or dog, and the female then begins egg production. A flea can lay up to 50 eggs per day on your pet, which subsequently drop off into the environment and hatch to produce larvae. The larvae then pupate into protective cocoons and await the stimuli of a feed, your pet, before they emerge as fleas. Fleas can survive in their cocoons for many months, and often emerge as an infestation upon your return from a holiday, or if you are moving home.

Flea bites cause mild irritation to your pet at best, and significant health problems at worst. Flea Allergic Dermatitis is an allergic reaction to the fleas’ saliva from bites, which cause significant irritation, itchiness, hair loss and skin damage to your pet due to it obsessively scratching and biting itself. Treating your pet regularly, using a recommended product, will avoid your pet having to suffer from problems caused by fleas.

Ultimately, your pet may suffer from fleas even if you don’t see them, and if you do see a flea on your pet, then there are probably hundred’s more in your home.

Ticks

Ticks are blood-sucking parasites that lurk in grasses and bushes, attaching to unsuspecting animals as they pass by. They favour attachment at sites where there is relatively thin hair such as the face and ears. Whilst feeding on your pets’ blood, they can swell up to 200 times their original size. Ticks can cause infection and abscesses at the site where they attach, and potentially can transmit serious diseases. Frontline®, used as recommended, will treat your pet for ticks. It is important however, to understand that it may not prevent all ticks from attaching, but will kill them within 24-48hours.

Lice

Lice are wingless insects that live their entire life on your pet. Cats and dogs have their own separate species of lice, none of which are transmissible to man but all are highly contagious to other animals of the same species. They feed on your pets’ dead skin cells, hair and may even suck their blood, causing intense irritation to your pet. Adult lice are visible to the naked eye and are seen crawling across your pets’ skin, their eggs can be seen attached, glued, to your pets hair. Long and matted coats seems to provide the perfect ‘home’ for these irritating insects, but all cats and dogs remain susceptible.

The products that we recommend at Church House Veterinary Clinic

Acclaim®

• Household flea spray.
• Prevents flea eggs and larvae from maturing to adults for 12months.
• Also contains a short acting insecticide that will kill adult fleas’ that may continue to hatch within the first 2 weeks.
• One can will treat an average four bedroom house.
• Not suitable for use by asthmatics. 

Advantage®

• Available in ‘spot-on’ for use on dogs, cats and rabbits.
• Effective against fleas for 4weeks.
• Safe to use in cats and dogs over the age of 8 weeks and in rabbits over the age of 10 weeks.
• Regular treatment will reduce the incidence of Flea Allergic Dermatitis.
• Advantage® is safe to use on pregnant and lactating bitches, queens and doe’s.                               

Capstar™

• Available in tablets.
• For the treatment of adult fleas on cats and kittens, dogs and puppies over the age of 4 weeks and greater than 1kg in weight.
• Effects on the fleas may be seen within 15 minutes after administration. Between 95% and 100% of fleas are killed within the first 6 hours. Capstar™ has 100% efficacy within 24 hours, meaning that all adult fleas on your pet are killed.
•  Use in combination with Program® has no residual effect on fleas after 24 hours and does not affect the environmental stages, larval and pupae, of the fleas’ life cycle.
• This product is safe to repeat as and when fleas are seen on your pet, at 24 hour intervals.

Frontline®

• Available in ‘spot-on’ and spray formulations, both of which will kill 98-100% of fleas on the animal within 24 hours.
• Frontline® spray can be used in puppies and kittens from 2 days of age and the ‘spot-on’ formulation is safe to use from 8 weeks of age.
• Spray is effective against fleas on your pet for up to 12 weeks in dogs and 8 weeks in cats.
• Spot-on is effective against fleas on your pet for up to 8 weeks in dogs and 5 weeks in cats.
• Safe to use on breeding, pregnant and lactating bitches and queens.
• Standard Frontline® will not treat the environment.
• New formulation, Frontline Combo®, controls fleas on the animal and in the environment, by inhibiting egg hatching and larval development.
• Frontline® is effective against ticks for up to 1 month and kills ticks within 48 hours.
• Using Frontline® will control lice infestations within 48 hours.
•  Effective against Flea Allergic Dermatitis if used every 4 weeks.

Program® 

• Available in tablet form for dogs and suspension and injection formulations for use in cats.
• Safe to use on pregnant and lactating bitches and queens, and on puppies and kittens taking solid food.
• To be fully effective, the tablet and suspension formulations must be administered together with food.
• The tablets and suspension are effective for 4 weeks and the injection for 6 months.
• It is essential that all dogs and cats in the household are treated simultaneously with Program®.
• Program® does not kill live fleas but renders there eggs sterile, thus stopping their cycle.
• Program® should be used in combination with Capstar® in order to kill live fleas and stop their cycle effectively.

Stronghold® 

• Available in ‘spot-on’ formulation.
• Effective against fleas for 4 weeks.
• Safe to use in cats and dogs over 6 weeks of age.
• Stronghold® kills adult fleas, also making their eggs infertile and droppings that the larval stages feed on lethal, thus treating the environment.
• Stronghold® is also effective against adult intestinal roundworm, hookworm, heart worm, biting lice. It also treats ear mites in cats and sarcoptic mange in dogs, however should be used under the direction of a member of the Veterinary team.
• Regular treatment will reduce the incidence of Flea Allergic Dermatitis.
• Stronghold® is safe to use in pregnant and lactating bitches and queens.

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