What Does A Flea, Flea Egg And Flea Larva Look Like?

What does a Cat Flea Look Like

Although cat fleas are quite small. 1-3 millimeters, they can easily be seen. The best place to look for them is at the base of the cat's tail, between the legs on the belly and in spots that are hard for the cat to reach. They are hard to catch.

The adult cat flea is only one of the forms a flea can take. If you have adult fleas you most certainly have flea eggs, flea larvae, flea dirt, and flea pupa. These other forms are difficult to see and usually hidden in the bedding or carpets.

The cat flea is not restricted to cats but is the most common flea that bites dogs in North America. Raccoons, mice and rats, skunks, coyotes, opossums can all be bitten by cat fleas.

The Dog Flea, Ctenocephalides canis, is less common but is almost indistinguishable by eye from the cat flea. It can be found on cats as well as on dogs and other animals. Since treatment is similar for both kinds of fleas exact identification is not relevant. Treatment of dogs or cats differ because cats are much more likely to get easily poisoned than dogs are. Never use dog flea medicine on cats.

Flea combs are not very useful in ridding cats and dogs from fleas because you simply can't catch enough to make a difference, but they can be very useful when checking if the cat or dog has fleas. Flea combs can also be very useful if you are bathing your pet and the fleas are congregating on the head. Here is an example from Amazon: Safari Dog Flea Comb with Double Row of Teeth - 770071 You can then use the comb to remove the fleas.

Sometimes you know there are fleas around because you get bitten!

Humans vary a great deal on how they react to flea bites. Some people don't react at all. Others get huge welts that itch for days and get red and irritated. There are also various kinds of dermatitis that can become quite severe in sensitive people. Here is a Wikipedia article on Pulicosis. Most people however, just get a small red dot, not unlike a mosquito bite that may be itchy. Often the bite is on the lower legs. but if pets get to go on the bed, bites can be on the back or anywhere on the body. I remember coming back from holidays and walking in to be met by a barrage of hungry fleas that had hatched while I was away. They were desperate to feed since they need a blood meal within a few days of hatching or they will die.

What does a Cat Flea Egg Look Like?

After a blood meal female fleas will lay eggs. Cat flea eggs look like translucent oval dots. The flea eggs are about .5 mm long.