Send to a friend

"The best time to start pet flea control treatment & prevention is early in the flea season, which is the start of June."

Dr. Gary Arzem
Newmarket Veterinarian

While some pets with fleas are very itchy, others do not seem to scratch at all. Since fleas are so small and fast-moving, they are often very hard to see. The best way to check your pet for fleas is to comb your pet with a fine-toothed flea comb – especially over the lower back near the tail base. You may pick up an adult flea, or you may collect black, pepper-like material. To determine if this black material is flea feces, place the debris on a white paper towel and add a drop of water. If it is flea feces, you will see a reddish-brown stain develop around the “pepper” – since flea feces is actually digested blood.

Fleas are actually quite easy to kill. The difficulty is that the adult flea is only a small part of the problem. Every time a flea bites, it lays 30 to 40 eggs. These eggs fall off your pet and hatch in a week or so, causing the flea population to skyrocket! (An adult flea can lay up to 2, 000 eggs). The key to winning the flea battle is to understand the flea life cycle and to prevent reproduction.

The Veterinarians at North Yonge Veterinary Hospital in Newmarket recommend that you use a product that will effectively “sterilize” any fleas your pet may come in contact with, or a product which will kill the fleas, eggs, and larvae directly. There are several good veterinary products that prevent fleas from producing viable eggs. All pets in your household should be treated. The best time to start treatment is early in the flea season at the beginning of June. Flea preventative treatment should be continued until late in the fall.

In a perfect world, all pets would be treated and there would be no wildlife reservoirs for fleas. Unfortunately, in the real world, your pet may pick up a flea if they encounter a hotspot such as infested shrubbery, kennels, or parks. The good news is that, since you are using a flea preventative product, these fleas will not be able to reproduce on your pet so they cannot infest your home. If your pet is on a flea preventative already, and you are frequently seeing fleas, your pet is being exposed to a heavy flea burden somewhere, and a more aggressive flea preventative program is required. The Staff and Veterinarians at North Yonge Veterinary Hospital in Newmarket encourage you to call us for advice.

In Ontario, we tend to see more fleas during hot humid summers with a peak in August and September. During the dry winter season, fleas are not as common. Often, fleas will remain dormant during this period as pupae – a cocoon-like stage.

Yes. The flea can serve as an intermediate host for the tapeworm (Dipylidium). If your pet accidentally ingests a flea while grooming, your pet can develop a tapeworm infection. If your pet has tapeworms, you may see tiny rice-like segments of the worm on the hair around the anus, or in the pet’s stool. In this situation, deworming (with an oral or injectable product) will be needed in addition to flea control.

There are a number of excellent veterinary products available. Many of the monthly heartworm/deworming products for dogs will also protect your dog against flea infestations. These products come in the form of oral tablets or topical preparations. For cats, similar broad-spectrum parasite prevention is available to protect your cat against heartworm, fleas, intestinal parasites and mites. Alternatively, there are products that protect your pet against fleas only.

North Yonge Veterinary Hospital in Newmarket and its veterinarians recommend that dogs and cats be examined annually to control and prevent the likelihood of fleas.

Please contact our Veterinary Clinic in Newmarket to schedule your pet’s examination. We have flexible appointment times to accommodate your busy schedule.