Quick Flea Facts
If you own a dog or cat, you may experience a flea problem at some point. What you don’t know about fleas could harm you and your pet. Get the flea facts and keep your pet and home safe.
What is a Flea?
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Fleas are parasites that need to feed off a host’s blood to stay alive.
- There are several types of fleas in the world that feed on different animals.
- The most common is the cat flea. But don’t let the name fool you - cat fleas bite cats, dogs and people, too.
What Does a Flea Look Like?
- Fleas are small (about 2 mm long), brown, wingless insects
- They have laterally compressed bodies that allow them to move swiftly through fur.
- Their legs are adapted for jumping and grasping onto their host.
- Fleas can jump vertically up to seven inches and horizontally thirteen inches.
Why Do Fleas Bite?
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Fleas feed on blood, digesting only small amounts, and excreting the remainder as small, dark, fecal pellets called “flea dirt.”
- Adult fleas require a blood meal, so all flea life stages usually occur in the vicinity of the host.
- A hosted adult can survive up to two months.
- Without a blood meal, adult fleas will die in a few days.
- Fleas live outdoors but will easily survive inside your home.
The Flea Life Cycle
- The flea goes through four life stages: egg, larvae, pupae and adult.
- Female fleas start producing eggs within 24 to 48 hours after taking their first blood meal and can lay up to 40 to 50 eggs per day.
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In just 30 days, 10 female fleas can multiply to over a quarter million new fleas in different life stages.
- Optimum conditions for flea larvae are 65-80 ºF with shaded areas and high humidity.
- Flea pupae can lie dormant for many months or can change into adult fleas in as few as 5 days.
- The flea life cycle lasts from a few months up to a year, depending on environmental conditions.
- Only adult fleas bite, but a home flea infestation will keep producing adults until measures are taken to break the flea life cycle. Learn how you can prevent flea infestations from happening in the first place.