513 Oak Ridge Turnpike - Oak Ridge, TN 37830 - Phone: (865)483-6614 - Fax: (865)483-2955
Fleas thrive when the weather is warm and humid. Depending on your climate, fleas may be a seasonal or year-round problem. Your pet can pick up fleas wherever an infestation exists, often in areas frequented by other cats and dogs. Adult fleas are dark brown, no bigger than a sesame seed, and able to move rapidly over your pet's skin.
Adult fleas live their entire lives on your pet. The blood intake of a female flea can be equivalent to more than 15 times its body weight. Well fed this way, adults survive on a host for up to 140 days. Female fleas begin laying eggs within 24 hours of selecting your pet as a host, producing up to 50 eggs each day.
These eggs fall from your pet onto the floor or furniture, including your pet's bed, or onto any other indoor or outdoor area where your pet happens to go. Tiny, worm-like larvae hatch from the eggs and burrow into carpets, under furniture, or into soil before spinning a cocoon. The cocooned flea pupae can lie dormant (inactive) for weeks before emerging as adults that are ready to infest (or reinfest) your pet. The result is a flea life cycle of anywhere from 12 days to 6 months.
Flea infestation can disrupt the general well-being of all animals, cause itching, redness, hair loss, and in certain cases severe skin infections. The most harmful effects are:
•Blood loss
•Flea allergy dermatitis (FAD)
•Transmission of tapeworms
•Transmission of bacterial diseases
Fleas belong to the insect family (classification: phylum Arthropoda, class Insecta). In most parts of the world, only a limitted number of flea species are common on companion animals, particularly on cats and dogs. These are
•Ctenocephalides felis, the cat flea,
•Ctenocephalides canis, the dog flea,
•Archaeopsylla erinacei, the hedgehog flea,
•Pulex irritans, the human flea, and
•Echidnophaga gallinacea as well as Ceratophyllus gallinae, fleas found on poultry.
A) Cat flea Ctenocephalides felis
B) Dog flea Ctenocephalides canis
C) Hedgehog flea Archaeopsylla erinacei
D) Poultry flea Ceratophyllus gallinae
1) Adult female flea
2) Eggs
3) Larva
4) Pupa
5) Preemerged adult
All flea species develop similarly via four stages:
•Eggs: are laid 24 to 36 hours after first blood meal.
•Larvae: three larval stages, life span 5 to 12 days.
•Pupae: best protected and resistant life stage.
•Preemergent adults: The waiting stage, emergence of adults upon stimuli (pressure, heat).
The life cycle of the flea is based on holometabolic metamorphosis. It can be completed in as little as 14 days or be prolonged up to 140 days, depending mainly on temperature and humidity.
Life Cycle of
the Cat and
Dog Flea
Ticks are one of the most common ectoparasites of companion animals. All active stages (larva, nymph, adult) are obligate blood feeders and, furthermore, adults require blood for sperm or egg production. Following their blood meal, adult females drop off the host and die after they have laid up to 3.000 eggs.
Most ticks seek hosts by crawling up the stems of grass or perch on the edges of leaves on the ground in a typical posture with the front legs extended (a behavior called questing). Others are so-called nest parasites, questing in sheltered environments. Carbon dioxide as well as heat and movement serve as stimuli for the questing behavior. As soon as a suitable host brushes against their extended front legs, the questing tick climbs on to its body, holds on tight, bores into the skin and begins to draw tissue fluids such as blood.
FLEAS
A) Castor bean tick (Ixodes ricinus)
B) Black-legged deer tick (Ixodes scapularis)
C) Brown dog tick (Rhipicephalus sanguineus)
D) American dog tick (Dermacentor variabilis)
Ticks belong to the arachnid family (classification: phylum Arthropoda, class Arachnida). Companion animals are affected by a number of tick species varying considerably in terms of their occurrence, choice of host, length of the life cycle and role as vectors for diseases. The most commonly identified species belong to the Ixodes, Rhipicephalus and Dermacentor genera such as:
•Ixodes ricinus, the castor bean tick, most widely distributed in Europe,
•Ixodes scapularis (dammini), the black-legged deer tick, most widely distributed in North America,
•Rhipicephalus sanguineus, the brown dog tick, distributed all over the world
•Dermacentor variabilis, the American dog tick, most widely distributed in North America
All tick species develop via four stages, the embryonated egg, followed by the three active stages, the larva, one or more nymphal stages, and the adult. Sexual dimorphism is evident only in the adult stage.In most species, each active stage seeks a new host, feeds, and drops off to develop in the natural environment (3-host life cycle). The length of the life cycle can vary considerably, from less than six months for Rhipicephalus genera up to three years for Ixodes genera.
A tick bite does not just cause a localized infection, it can also serve as the portal through which serious diseases are transmitted, which can have a severe impact on the animal's well-being. Ticks can transmit disease agents such as viruses, bacteria and protozoa. The most harmful effects are:
•Transmission of Lyme disease
•Transmission of Babesiosis
•Transmission of Ehrlichiosis
•Transmission of tick-borne encephalitis (TBE)
•Tick paralysis
