Three-Point Program Puts the Bite on Fleas

The sign in a West Hollywood pet supply store says it all: “THEY’RE BACK.” The subject matter isn’t poltergeists. It’s fleas, those nasty critters that invade Southern California homes and yards every summer, causing animals and owners to itch and scratch.

The tiny black insects--which are so acrobatic that they can jump 8 inches vertically or 13 inches horizontally--seem to be everywhere.

Actually, in Southern California, the pests never really go away. In winter, fleas are in a dormant stage. But by summer, they can reach near-epidemic form, when the temperatures and humidity are higher.

“The thing about fleas in California is that they’re year-round,” said Dr. Wayne Rosenkrantz, a Garden Grove veterinarian and member of the American College of Veterinary Dermatology. “Fleas grow best with 75% humidity and 80 degrees. Those are the major things that influence their growth. In wintertime, when it gets more arid and the humidity is below 30% or 40%, they don’t like it. In summer, they grow fast in all the heat and humidity.”

Veterinarians estimate that female fleas can lay from three to 20 eggs a day, about 3,000-4,000 eggs in a lifetime; the eggs can hatch anywhere and produce an adult flea in 10-14 days. Eggs also can remain viable for up to a year, which explains why people with no pets have moved into empty apartments or houses and ended up with flea infestations from a previous owner’s animal, Rosenkrantz said.

“We’re in for a bad summer,” Dr. Martin Small of the Animal Hospital in Burbank said recently of the flea problem. “We’re way ahead in the numbers of dogs and cats coming in with skin problems and allergies.”

Covering the Territory

What to do about fleas? Don’t just spray or powder, shampoo or flea dip those cats and dogs. Fleas also live in your house and yard. “To adequately control fleas, you have to treat all the pets in the environment, not just the ones that are scratching,” Rosenkrantz advised. “The ones scratching are having an allergic, hypersensitive reaction.”

Most veterinarians and pet store personnel recommend a three-part program--spraying the yard with an insecticide designed to kill fleas and ticks; bombing the house with commercial bombs or calling in a professional exterminator; and taking your cat or dog to the vet for a bath and flea dip or shampooing and dipping the animal yourself.

Most commercial flea remedies work if properly administered, veterinarians say. But be sure to read the directions carefully and follow them. Remember, the products contain chemicals that can cause toxic reactions in you or your pet.

Yard sprays with malathion--the chemical used in Los Angeles to combat Medflies--or diazinone are relatively safe, many veterinarians believe. It seems best to use a lighter application more often. And now on the market is a time-released yard spray, advertised to release chemicals daily to keep after the flea population.

Dr. Alfred Plechner, a veterinarian at California Animal Hospital in West Los Angeles who specializes in pet allergies and nutrition, recommends that clients with flea infestations spray their yards three times at 10-day intervals. “That usually sets them back pretty well and will contain them,” he said. “But you have to get rid of them in the house and on the dog or cat at the same time.”

In his prevention program, he tells owners to start yard spraying in the spring, when fleas come out of the inactive stage, then to spray in mid-summer and in the fall. At each spraying, he advises, “wait an hour then water everything to the roots.” You may get better results by spraying after sunset as the hot sun evaporates the spray more quickly.

Plechner said he believes that controlling fleas “takes a whole bunch of prevention. People let things go until they have a major problem. Most of it is just common sense and caring enough for your animals.”

Bombs and Sprays

He and other veterinarians favor indoor flea bombs and sprays with the generic chemical metheprine, which stops development of flea larvae into eggs; to kill adult fleas, use products with the chemical compounds called pyrethrins or pyrethroids. “The trend is to switch to pyrethrins,” Rosenkrantz said. “They’re generally considered safer types of insecticides.”

When spraying or powdering pets, be careful not to overuse products or the animals can have adverse reactions. Don’t use shampoos, sprays or dips recommended for dogs on cats and vice versa. If you have flea problems with a kitten, puppy or an older cat or dog, it might be wise to check with a veterinarian before spraying or dipping. The chemicals could be too harsh for these animals.

For very young or older animals, consider using a steel flea comb with teeth so close together they can catch the insects. Then dip the comb in hot water and detergent or in rubbing alcohol. “Combs do wonders and they also aren’t harming the pet,” said Lenny Rapps of the West Hollywood Pet Department store. “You also can fill a dog’s bed with cedar chips. Fleas aren’t crazy about cedar.”

Rosenkrantz recommends “some type of dip” for dogs once a week if they have flea problems. “Cats, on the other hand, are real sensitive to flea products, so you have to be very careful with them.”

Rapps warned: “If your cat starts drooling or foaming at the mouth, you’ve put too much on. Wash it off right away and take the cat to the vet.”

Many veterinarians downplay the effectiveness of chemical or natural-ingredient flea collars (natural models use citronella or eucalyptus). Some say they don’t work at all; others say the collars work on some animals but only to keep fleas off their head and neck. And what of the high-tech collars that produce ultrasonic sound that supposedly drives away fleas? “I’d say they work 10% of the time from what clients who’ve tried them say,” Plechner said.

Natural Remedies

Most veterinarians don’t think much of natural remedies such as feeding pets garlic, Brewer’s yeast or vitamin B. They caution that natural and chemical products can produce skin allergies in animals, showing up in symptoms such as skin redness, scaling and hair loss.

If you’re searching for nontoxic, flea-fighting pet shampoos for your dog, Plechner recommends low-suds Amway soap or Head & Shoulders dandruff shampoo, which he said “knocks . . . out fleas. Nobody tells people the more baths--not flea baths but just baths--the merrier to keep fleas off.”