Fleas are tiny, wingless insects that measure about 1/16 of an inch in length. Most common in our Northern California backyard is the Reddish-Brown Cat Flea (Centocephalides Felis) which will attack both cats and dogs.
All fleas do is feed and breed. They spend their lifetime “wining and dining” on your pet and reproducing. A female flea sucks up to 30 times her weight in blood and excretes six times her weight in baby flea food (blood-rich, nutrient packed feces) each day for flea larvae to feed on. One female can lay more than 25 eggs a day, adding up to hundreds in her several week lifetime.
Flea eggs are laid on your pet, then roll off wherever your pet decides to go… in your carpet, your pet’s bed, your sofa, dirty laundry and other areas you may be unaware of. As soon as they hatch, flea larvae wiggle deep down into carpet and furniture fibers, under leaves and into dark hiding places. Over the next several weeks they eat dried blood and other organic material, then spin a cocoon and pupate, which protects them against most sprays and chemical insecticides for 2-4 weeks and sometimes as long as a year. Flea pupae molt into adults and stay in the cocoon until a host comes by. Then they attack, jumping onto your pet in passing or possibly even you.
Tips For Control
Successful flea control calls for a full scale attack. Your pest control service technician will treat your premises both inside and out and provide you with detailed steps to aid in successful control. These steps include: Before treatment to your premise, treat your pet (preferably the same day), wash all pet bedding and vacuum carpets and dispose of the vacuum bag. After treatment, vacuum carpets every day for 10 days and dispose of the vacuum bags.