Did you know?

? Fleas spend only 10% of their time on your animal
? An average fleas' life span can be up to 2-3 years
? One female flea can lay up to 1 million eggs during its life
? Eggs can live unhatched in your carpet for a year until the right environment for hatching occurs
? Bark dust Wholesale NFL Jerseys Free Shipping , wood piles and ivy are great places for fleas to survive the winter months
? The flea is the second oldest insect (the cockroach is the first) because of its excellent survival mechanisms

The Flea Life Cycle

Adult cat and dog fleas prefer to feed on pets rather than people. The pets are closer to the ground and have warmer body temperatures than humans. Second choice would be children -- especially infants and toddlers. Female fleas will probe and bite and average of seven times in a "grouping" before locating a blood vessel in the skin. The saliva they leave with each bite can cause a localized allergic reaction (flea allergy dermatitis or FAD as we call it in the veterinary world.) After feeding on large amounts of blood, the female flea deposits her eggs and droppings (flea dirt) which consists mostly of undigested blood. Both the eggs (which are white and about the size of a grain of salt) and the droppings (which are black and appear like ground pepper, often in the shape of a comma) drop off the animal's coat and spread all over the environment.

Here's a quick home-test to see if your pet has fleas: Lay out a white piece of butcher paper and groom your pet for a few minutes as they stand on the paper. Do you see any black, comma-looking things against the white paper? If so Wholesale NFL Jerseys From China , put a drop of water on it. If it's flea dirt, the water will turn pink.

Flea eggs remain in the environment for variable amounts of time and are not destroyed by extremes in temperature or by pesticides. When proper conditions exist, the eggs hatch and release tiny white larvae. These larvae are not able to get around and must rely on the undigested blood left in the droppings for their food source. Larvae are very susceptible to extremes in environment, pesticides Wholesale NFL Jerseys China , and insect growth regulators.

Within several days the larvae spin a protective cocoon called a pupae around themselves. The pupae are very resistant to all but steam cleaning and can lie dormant for many months to years. The pupae is the primary stage that over-winters in the environment. When conditions are favorable (warm and moist), the pupae release young adult fleas and the cycle is complete.

The length of the flea life cycle can vary from a little as one month to as long as two or three years.

Flea Control Products

There are many products available to eliminate fleas. They differ in effectiveness, application, safety Wholesale NFL Jerseys , convenience, odor of the product, and duration of effectiveness. Sounds pretty complicated, right? It is. It's actually a chemical nightmare.

AN EFFECTIVE FLEA CONTROL PROGRAM MUST INCLUDE ALL ANIMALS IN THE HOUSEHOLD AND THE ENTIRE ENVIRONMENT IN WHICH THE ANIMALS LIVE (INCLUDING YOUR CAR.)

Many people only use one product at a time Wholesale Jerseys Cheap , which is NOT effective. You must treat the animal, the house, and the yard all at one time to get this challenge under control.

Control of fleas on the pet: You have your choice of powders, sprays Wholesale Jerseys Online , dips, spot-ons or oral growth regulators.

Flea Powder: Manufacturers of these products say flea powder is safe to use every 3-4 days on dogs and cats older than 8 weeks of age. The active ingredient, (pyrethrins being the safest and most natural ingredient) takes about 15 minutes to kill fleas when first applied. By the end of 5-7 days, if not reapplied Wholesale Jerseys Free Shipping , flea powder works only as a residual, taking up to 12 hours to kill the flea. There is no growth regulator in this product so it only kills the adults.

Note: Powder should be diluted to half strength with talcum powder when used on puppies and kittens.

Disadvantages of flea powder: Flea powder can make the coat feel rough and dirty. So, if your pet is already uncomfortable from the fleas and now you are alienating them by not giving them the affection you used to when their coats were cleaner and softer, this makes the problem worse. The animals do not enjoy flea powder and it may make asthma worse.

Flea Sprays: Sprays can vary somewhat. Most are alcohol-based and some are more organic than others. The alcohol is for quick kill of the adult and pre-adult stages. Some flea sprays contain an insect growth regulator that will kill flea eggs as well. Make sure you get one with this in it. Pets run when they see you come to them with that bottle after a few applications.

The only time I use flea spray is when I'm treating a cat for ear mites (I spray some on a Kleenex and wipe their head down after I clean their ears and put medication down both ear canals.) I also use it to spray my pant legs when I take walks in the woods during tick season.

So Wholesale Jerseys From China , could you use rubbing alcohol or vodka to kill the adults? Yes, but using rubbing alcohol can be toxic. Rubbing alcohol contains a bit of methanol, which can cause blindness when ingested. Cats groom themselves and will ingest this. If you want to use alcohol, stick with vodka or Everclear Wholesale Jerseys China , but it's really not very effective.

Aromatherapy: Herbal insecticides include pennyroyal (very toxic), clove, citronella, and eucalyptus oils (diluted of course.) These can be mixed in with shampoos or applied to a material flea collar. They can be very irritating when applied directly to the skin. They should not be put directly onto the coat either because when the animal grooms himself or herself they will ingest it. In general Wholesale Jerseys , pets hate this type of flea control and only submit to it in a learned helplessness type of situation.

Flea collars are only minimally effective in the control of fleas. Most collars contain dichlorvos, which is released as a vapor. They are sold under several trade names. . Cheap Jerseys Free Shipping Cheap Jerseys Free Shipping Cheap College Jerseys Cheap NBA Jerseys Wholesale Cheap MLB Jerseys China Cheap Authentic Soccer Jerseys Cheap Authentic MLB Jerseys Cheap Adidas NHL Jerseys Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys Cheap Nike NCAA Jerseys