Cat Flea
Appearance:
Tiny, about 1/6-inch in length; reddish brown and flattened.
Habitat:
Fleas live on the bodies or animals and feed on their blood. Because fleas usually feed and lay their eggs while an animal is sleeping, your pet’s resting area is where the most fleas will be found. Many pets acquire fleas outside in the yard. The cat flea will attack both cats and dogs. Its flat shape allows it to pass easily between animal hairs.
Diet:
Fleas live on the bodies or animals and feed on their blood. Because fleas usually feed and lay their eggs while an animal is sleeping, your pet’s resting area is where the most fleas will be found. Many pets acquire fleas outside in the yard. The cat flea will attack both cats and dogs. Its flat shape allows it to pass easily between animal hairs.
Solutions:
What you can do:
- Wild animals such as raccoons, rodents, opossums, etc., which are nesting in or frequently visiting the structure must be prevented from entering the structure and controlled by trapping, baiting and exclusion. Likewise, cats should be prevented from entering crawlspaces.
- If the pet has fleas at the time of treatment, the pet owner must arrange for the pet to be treated. Treatment may be done by a veterinarian, grooming parlor, or by the pet owner, but must be done on the day of treatment and either before or while the premises are being treated.
- Indoors, the homeowner or occupant must do the following just before the flea treatment:
- Remove all items such as toys and pillows off the floor or carpet; remove all articles from under beds, on closet floors, and from under furniture.
- Vacuum all upholstered furniture, floors, and carpeting, paying particular attention to the foot of the furniture on which the pet rests, under furniture, and wall-floor junctions. The vacuum bag must be immediately removed and put into a plastic garbage bag, the top sealed, and then placed in an outside garbage receptacle or burned.
- Thoroughly clean all areas frequented by cats, e.g. table tops, refrigerator tops, windowsills, counters, etc.
- Cover aquariums and turn off the pumps prior to the treatment. Be sure to remove all pets, including birds.
Professional Solution:
Following a preparatory indoor vacuum-cleaning of the premises by the occupants, a Quik-Kill service technician will apply thoroughly an appropriately labeled material on carpeting, non-staining floors and upholstered furniture. Following carpet and floor treatment, humans and pets must not go back into the house until the treatment has completely dried. This will prevent pesticide pickup and possible staining from dirt being brought in contact with the damp carpet. Occupants should ventilate the house upon re-entry. Since vacuuming has little effect on residual deposits, the customer also should vacuum several times during the first 7 to 10 days after treatment. This will help reduce the emerging fleas and callbacks.
Dogs and cats should be professionally treated (shampooed or “dipped”) for fleas by a veterinarian or pet groom on the same day as the residence is treated.
Outside, spot treatment should be performed, if deemed useful by the technician. This consists of treating with an appropriately labeled material on all places dogs and/or cats rest or sleep, which are typically shaded areas such as next to the building’s foundation, porch or beneath decks, trees and shrubs. In addition, band treatment is often helpful. Band treatment is done with an appropriately material, which is applied in a 6 to10 foot band around the perimeter of the building. If dogs are confined to a fenced-in yard, the 3 to 4 feet adjacent to the inner perimeter of the fence should be treated.
