A word about fleas today

Ok, I've wanted to write about fleas for a while. Why? Because this is something that a lot of non-pet owners fear. We've all heard horror stories about homes being infested by little hopping insects that are very hard to kill. Well, I'm happy to say that, in today's age, that is no longer a reality (as I found out recently).

The first flea I saw was 15 years ago. My girlfriend had an orange tabby that was an indoor/outdoor cat and she had fleas jumping around her carpet, on her socks, and biting her ankles (and mine). One day, I found a flea in my bed, no doubt from that orange tabby.

That year I was at the animal zoo at the Pacific National Exhibition and there were two companies offering to rid your residence of fleas. So I spoke to one company and one of the young men there asked if I had furry animal pets. I told him I didn't, so he deferred his services saying that fleas can't live on human blood because of the lower protein content. The other company was staffed by old (old) ladies who were hungry to make their commission, so they told me that the first company was lying, that I had to buy their product or else my place would be in trouble. I didn't feel that the old ladies knew what they were talking about – why would the first company lie to me to not get my business?

Soon, it turned out that the first company was right. I didn't have a flea problem. It was probably just the one flea at my place.

I did look into other means of flea treatment. The flea collar was popular in those days, although they really only work around the neck and the fleas would just run to the tail. There was the rumour that if you submerse the cat in water (up to its neck) that the fleas would run to the neck to avoid drowning, and thus were easy to pick off. Somehow, I doubt it is that easy.

The last alternative is to fumigate. That's something I not a fan of, I don't need toxic fumes in my place of sleeping.

So, a few weeks ago, armed with this (limited) knowledge, I took in the cat and kittens for fostering and found that they had fleas. I got a flea comb and starting picking them off the cats, hoping that I would get them all. I think I only found one flea egg, but there must have been more. Fleas can lay ten eggs per day on the animal. Perhaps I couldn't see them, I was looking for the wrong thing, or they all fell off onto the floor. Was I in danger of a flea infestation?

Thankfully, in today's day and age, fleas are something that come be avoided.

Before they left, the women from VOKRA put some Revolution fleas drops on the back on the neck of all three animals and by the end (I stress, "the end") of three days, all the fleas had died.

This is a revolutionary (pardon the pun) new product in my opinion. There are others like it, called Advantage, and Frontline, and they are similar in practical use. The way that Revolution works is that the formula is absorbed into the skin, goes into the cat's blood and then into the subcutaneous glands of the cat, where the fur grows. This formula is paralyzing to fleas, and the fleas eventually die off if they jump on the animal and try to feed. It's like 99% effective or something.

That's awesome. It's also expensive, it can be $30 per dose, which is good for one month. I have seen cheaper formulas, which are sold for $10 per does, but I wonder if they are just as effective.

Nonetheless, with proper care and management, I've discovered that fleas are something that we don't have to worry about in the future.

Videos posted tommorrow!