Veterinary Medicine - November 2007 - (Page L4)

FLEA BITE FACTS Q&A What should practitioners know about new findings on flea feeding behavior? 1 Flea Trax I Adult fleas begin to feed immediately after accessing a new host. I Female fleas feed for longer periods of time at one location, and male fleas feed for shorter periods of time and move frequently. I Female cat fleas can consume up to 15 times their body weight in blood daily. I Fleas begin defecating partially digested blood two to six minutes after feeding. I Female cat fleas must feed before producing viable eggs. Dr. Byron Blagburn: When and under what circumstances adult fleas feed has been widely debated. The reality is that fleas feed immediately upon accessing a canine or feline host. Dr. Michael Dryden: When cat fleas (Ctenocephalides felis) infest a dog or cat, most begin feeding within seconds to minutes, with upwards of 89% being blood fed within five minutes.1 Dr. Peter Ihrke: Both male and female fleas require a blood meal before mating, and mating of the cat flea virtually always occurs on the host animal. Female fleas feed intermittently for about 25 minutes, and males feed in less than half this time. Therefore, to be effective, especially in animals with flea allergy dermatitis, both systemic and topical flea control products must work very rapidly to prevent or diminish feeding. Blagburn: Female fleas feed for longer periods at one location, while males tend to feed for shorter periods and move frequently. Dryden: Unfed, newly emerged male and female cat fleas are quite similar in size, approximately 0.4 mg.2 Once feeding is initiated, size discrepancies become rapidly apparent with females increasing their body weight 140% within two days, while males increase their body weight less than 20%.2 Female cat fleas can consume up to 15 times their body weight (13 µl) in blood daily, while male fleas con- sume less than their body weight.3 The blood passage through the flea is so rapid that fleas begin defecating partially digested blood within two to six minutes. After rapid transit through the flea, the excreted blood dries within minutes into reddish-black fecal pellets or long tubular coils (flea dirt). Blagburn: It is necessary for female cat fleas to feed before viable eggs are produced. Eggs are first laid by female fleas about 24 hours after they commence feeding and are produced in greatest number commencing about 48 hours after initiation of feeding. Dr. Craig Griffin: Adult fleas do not live in the environment, and once on a pet they try to stay on that pet. The pupal stage in the environment is the main source of juvenile fleas that jump onto dogs and cats. Once on a pet, they rapidly begin to feed, particularly female fleas. Female fleas take more blood meals than male fleas, especially once gravid. It takes generally more than 24 hours for a juvenile flea that jumps onto a dog to become gravid and lay eggs. As long as fleas are killed within 24 hours in a controlled environment, such as an indoor pet’s house, environmental flea infestation will be prevented. However, the dog may still experience flea bites when it is exposed to juvenile fleas from outside the controlled environment. How is flea biting and feeding influenced by the use of systemic or topical flea control products? 2 Griffin: The issue related to rapidity of flea feeding is how rapidly a product, whether systemic or 4

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Veterinary Medicine - November 2007

Veterinary Medicine - November 2007 Contents Leading Off The Veterinary Medicine Interview: Dr. Lila Miller Clinical Exposures Idea Exchange A Challenging Case: Uveitis and Secondary Glaucoma in a Cat Is it Immune-Mediated Neutropenia? Pimobendan Treatment in Dogs with Congestive Heart Failure CE Form Product Preview Advertiser Index Marketplace/Classifieds Mind Over Miller Special Supplement by Lilly: Flea Bite Facts Q&A

Veterinary Medicine - November 2007

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