Think Your Indoor Animal Doesn’t Need Flea Prevention? Think Again.
By Sherri Zuccaro, DVM
What can accelerate 50x that of a space shuttle and can jump 1000 feet? The mighty flea. Many owners may think flea treatment is only important when they see visible fleas on their pets. This is a myth; most times owners may never detect fleas due to the thick fur of their animal. Even if your pet is strictly indoors, flea control in Florida is necessary year-round as fleas are very resilient in the environment and can remain dormant for many weeks until an adequate host is nearby. A few fleas can quickly turn into an infestation, as they can lay up to 500 eggs over several months. Florida makes a perfect environment for fleas given our high humidity and warm temperatures year-round to support them.
And yet, many owners do not administer consistent monthly flea control. Fleas are the most common external parasites of companion animals and are still the most common skin disease (“flea allergy dermatitis”) in cats and dogs. Not every animal exposed to fleas will develop flea allergy, but it is one of the curable allergies we can treat in veterinary medicine. Clinical signs may consist of itch, hair loss around the tail base and rump, and red bumps (papules) on the skin; there also may be no clinical signs! A positive response to flea treatment can support a diagnosis of flea allergy dermatitis even in the absence of live fleas on the animal.
Remember, prevention is the best medicine. There are many products out there targeted for flea control; talk to your veterinarian about recommendations. Solely treating adult fleas only addresses 5% of the problem; the other 90% consists of the eggs, larvae, and pupae. Indoor and outdoor flea treatments that consist of adulticides, sterilization, and repellants of the fleas are important for effective flea control. Ensure that all animals in the household are on a consistent monthly flea control, otherwise they may serve as carriers and contribute to the flea problem. If you do have a flea infestation at home, it is important to repeat flea control every 3 weeks when eggs may hatch.