Flea And Ticks

During the weeks before vacation, fleas feeding and breeding on the pets deposited unborn offspring all over the homestead. And during the vacation, fleas at various life stages evolved, nourished by dried-blood flea excrement, "flea dirt," in the carpet and elsewhere. The result: A population explosion of fleas ravenous for fresh blood.
The scenario is fictional. But it depicts this fact: Left uncontrolled, bloodsucking pests can infest not just your cat or dog, but your entire house--and you!
Common household fleas don't usually transmit diseases to pets and people. The tiny insects are mainly "just a nuisance," says Marcia Larkins, D.V.M., chief of the companion and wildlife drugs branch in the Food and Drug Administration's Center for Veterinary Medicine. "They generally cause a lot of itching and scratching. They may also cause some discomfort due to possible allergic flea bite dermatitis."
Ticks, those other dreaded bloodsuckers, pose greater risk, annually giving pets and thousands of people illnesses such as Lyme disease.
Fortunately, a wide array of pest control products are available. We reccomend Frontline Plus or K9 Advantix. You can get them at http://www.fancypaws.com/petmedications.html for less than most other places.
While there are more than 200 species of fleas in this country, the main troublemaker for pets is the cat flea. Happy to feed on anyone in the household--cat, dog or human--these wingless insects will most likely choose a pet, whose fur provides warm camouflage for their breeding ground.
The flea life cycle, has four stages: eggs, larvae, pupae, and adults. Female fleas lay as many as 50 eggs a day, starting a life cycle that can be completed in as little as three weeks, depending on temperature and humidity. The eggs hatch into larvae, which feed on "flea dirt," excrement of partially digested blood. Larvae grow and molt twice, then spin cocoons, where they grow to pupae and then adults. The adult remains in the cocoon until vibrations indicate a host is nearby. This waiting can extend the life cycle. It also explains why large numbers of fleas often are seen when an empty building is reoccupied. Six-legged adults emerge and attach to a host to feed and breed, beginnning the cycle all over again.
Even when fleas elude detection on a pet, their black poppyseed-like excrement gives them away.
The main problem with fleas--itching--is due not only to their bites, but also to their crawling over the skin.