Hi! It’s Summer again. We have recently been getting complaints from clients claiming their flea control products have stopped working. These products are expensive and consumers expect them to be effective. So they are naturally annoyed when they find their pet is still flea infested. The common complaint is that “it always used to work but has stopped working lately”. There must be resistance building right? Wrong!!!
The 3 main residual flea control products are still virtually 100% effective – proven by independent research. If you put one on an animal with fleas, every one of those fleas will be dead within 48 hours with few exceptions.
So why do I still have fleas? Because they are different fleas! During normal climatic conditions, only a small percentage of the hundreds of eggs which a female flea lays will complete their life cycle to become adults, so the flea products would keep the total biomass of fleas to a low enough level that the adults aren’t noticeable. If a female flea is able to live and feed for over 24 hours, then she will lay eggs which fall into the environment. The very warm summer conditions favours fleas and their numbers explode. Monthly product application may not suppress egg production for the whole month, so the cycle continues despite the product still being quite effective. The eggs can last up to 8 weeks before hatching so patience and dedication is required.
If your owner is having problems despite using an effective product, the best plan is to increase the frequency of dosing to every 3 or 2 weeks. It may also be worth them using another product in conjunction to help stop fleas breeding. Effective flea control can only be achieved if all dogs and cats in the environment are treated and there are no other animals bringing in fleas. It is important to understand that fleas almost never move from one animal to another but act like mobile salt shakers dropping eggs wherever they go. Your mates flea ridden dog (or the fox who slinks into your garden at night) can undo months of careful flea control measures and give your pet another 3 months of infestation despite your best efforts. It’s important that your owner understands that if you have a major infestation, there is nothing that will resolve it overnight. Get them to speak to their vet who will point them in the right direction.
Justin Bulling RDA, BSc.,
BVMS Montville Veterinary Clinic
26 Kondalilla Falls Rd, Montville Ph 5445 7666
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