In Quebec, the largest flea infestation comes from the cat’s flea. It infests humans and about fifty animal species.
Fleas invadeus, causing itching, disease, and even the death of our animal.
How do I get rid of fleas? By contacting a professional exterminator!
How do I recognize one? What means does he use? What can be taken to avoid the problem? Are these fleas fleas from flea bites? These are all questions to which here are professional answers.
| Nom français | Puces |
| Nom anglais | Fleas |
| Classe | Insectes |
| Ordre | Siphonaptères |
| Famille | Pulicidés |
What do they look like?
Do you really suffer from a flea infestation?
Fleas are 2 to 9 mm insects without wings. They have a laterally flattened body; which makes it easier to move between the animal-victim’s hairs. Their color? Reddish brown or dark brown.
Fleas have long, powerful hind legs. Thanks to them, the fleas leap 20 cm in height and 40cm in length to invade their victim’s fur and consume his blood.
Call 514-830-40
Know the life cycle of fleas to get rid of their presence more efficiently
This cycle has four steps:
Step1: Egg laying.
Fleas jump on the animal-victim and mate on it. The female must consume blood before mating. She then lays 20 eggs a day, 500 eggs in her victim’s fur during her lifetime.
These eggs will in turn become fleas, with females laying new eggs. And so on. This is how you experience them: they move into your own home.
Step2: Turning eggs into larvae
Theinvader’s eggs fall to the ground where the pet is left: your bed, floor, cushions, etc.
Their appearance is smooth and translucent, their white color, their ovoid shape and their length of 0.3 to 0.5 mm.
The larva that comes out has an elongated, cylindrical shape. Its head has crushing mouth parts. She has no legs, just two small hooks at the end of her abdomen that allow her to move.
It remains in cracks, cracks and along baseboards. She lives in dust and rubbish, fleeing the light. It feeds on organic waste: adult flea droppings, hair, dead skin, etc.
Step3: Turning larvae into nymphs
The larva is placed in a “U” and then makes a silk cocoon.
This cocoon is quickly covered with debris and dust, providing additional protection for the flea larva that turns into a nymph.
Step4: Turning nymphs into fleas
The nymph stays in the cocoon, waiting for a stimulus to quickly complete its maturation in flea and get out.
This stimulus can be a vibration of the steps of humans or animals, of the carbon dioxide (CO2) released by breathing or the heat released by its potential victims.
The lifespan of the adult chip varies by species. In the cat’s flea, it is 7 to 14 days.
Before dying, the chip will have had time to reproduce and thus allow the cycle to continue, gradually and in greater numbers invading your home.
Why are flea invasions so harmful to us?
Once out of the cocoon, the adult chip must immediately find a host to host itself. It’s the condition of his survival.
The chip also looks for a sexual partner. Mating takes place 8 hours after the first blood meal. The first egg-laying takes place within 36 hours… reproduction and a really fast life cycle!
A flea eats 3 to 4 meals a day, consuming up to 14 microlitres of blood daily. She will go after humans if she can’t find any animals to establish herself.
A flea invasion is so harmful to us because:
- Adult fleas settle permanently on your pet, absorbing his blood daily. If this presence is too large, your pet will suffer from anemia. It is then in danger of death if you do not consult a veterinarian very quickly.
- Flea saliva contains allergens that cause allergic dermatitis. Consequences: skin lesions on your body or that of your pet.
- They transmit diseases and parasites to humans.
- Take for example the disease of the cat scratch. If a cat – with claws filled with flea waste – injures a human, the latter may suffer from swelling of the local lymph nodes.
- Another example? Lonely worms. They are transmitted when animals lick and swallow fleas. And they are passed on to children when these animals lick their faces.
- Fleas cause large red buds, often in the shape of a plaque, causing irritation and itching.
- unwanted rodents(mouse and rat) also carry fleas
Their bite leaves a small red, hard spot on your skin or your pet’s skin. It causes inflammation and itching.
Appeler René Gélinas Votre exterminateur local, Expérience et intégrité dans la gestion parasitaire
Tel 514 830 2819
Hantavirus, definition and mode of transmission
Hantavirus is a severe lung syndrome caused by a virus. It is secreted in the urine, feces and saliva of infected animals. Most often these are rodents. When humans come into direct or indirect contact with these secretions, the virus is transmitted to them. Ditto when they are bitten by infected rodents.
However, the virus is not transmitted from human to human, only from animal to human. This type of disease is called zoonoses because they can only be transmitted to humans through an animal. It has been found that domestic animals (apart from the domestic rat) and livestock cannot contract hantavirus so there is every reason to believe that only rodents can carry it.
Symptoms of hantavirus
Being a lung disease, one of the characteristic symptoms of hantavirus is difficulty breathing. At the beginning of the disease, the infected person begins to feel fever, chills, headache and muscle pain.
It is about two weeks after the appearance of the first symptoms that they are usually accompanied by a feeling of shortness of breath. Nevertheless, this last manifestation of the disease can be observed after two days as after six weeks; it depends on the organism of the individual.
Hantavirus can also lead to kidney disease or infection. And although they are rare and very few people are prone to them, there is currently no treatment to combat these ailments. It is therefore better to be careful not to contract them.
8 Exterminator Tips to Avoid Flea Infestation
With a little discipline and prevention, you can avoidflea invasion:
- The sun kills larvae and eggs. Aerate your home frequently.
- Every day, vacuum everywhere. Then burn the vacuum bag; or put it in an airtight container.
- Clean the undersides and backs of furniture, cracks, entry points (such as door frames), floors and baseboards. Also think of your pet’s favourite places: kennels, bedrooms, armchairs, etc.
- Steam your carpets or treat them with a boric acid solution.
- Clean the yard frequently. Cover unused sandboxes.
- All canine educators will tell you,keep your pet indoors. Do not allow them to access certain rooms.
- From May to October, use flea control products as a preventive measure:
- Spread silicon oxide on the ground. This powder is not toxic to you or your pets. But it causes the death of the adult fleas that crawl there.
- Use insect growth regulators. They prevent eggs (present in the animal’s fur) from becoming adult fleas.
- Put a few milliliters of an adulteicide on the animal’s back once a month. The product then disperses into the skin, stays there for several weeks, and kills the vast majority of fleas.
But beware, respect the vet’s recommendations regarding the choice of flea control product. Also follow the instructions on the labels of these specialized insecticides.
Otherwise, you will endanger your pet’s life. Read Health Canada’s recommendations here.
- Every two to three weeks, wash all the family and pet bedding with hot soapy water. Then dry them in the dryer at high temperature.
How to get rid of fleas: the means used by the professional exterminator
Today, exterminators use biodegradable products.
If they are forced to use insecticides, they will have to – as required by the Quebec Ministry of the Environment – be limited to Health Canada-approved products.
To get rid of fleas,exterminators have several ways to combine:
- Extermination by spraying insecticides. It eliminates an invasionlocally, and limits the access of fleas to certain places,
- Extermination by wall injections. Here, the invasion of fleas is eliminated by injecting an insecticide by pressure into the interior of walls, frames and other contaminated places.
- Extermination by boiling. Here, the insecticide is applied by fine droplets on the surfaces to be treated. Example of attics.
- The treatment of your pets by the use of insect growth regulators and adulticides adapted to your specific case.
- Deep cleaning of your entire home.
But beware, not all exterminators are flea specialists.
As Adrien Sansregret of the Montreal Municipal Housing Authority so a good way says:
Many are poorly trained and misuse insecticides, so the problem comes back quickly.” Christian Beaulieu, president of the Quebec Anti-Parasitic Centre, added: “Anyone can start a parasitic management business after a few days of training.
The true professional chip exterminator:
- A permit from the Quebec Ministry of Sustainable Development with the inscription C5: Extermination. This means that it exterminates pests in compliance with Environment Canada regulations.
- Has a very specific working method:
- Use of certified certified extermination technicians,
- Rapid movement to the scene to identify the type of parasite, the degree of theinfestation and its source,
- Proposal of the appropriate treatment for your.
- Training and educating residents on what to do to never suffer from these bloodsuckers again
- Remains discreet in his interventions. For example, it uses unidentified vehicles.
- Offers you a written guarantee on the effectiveness of the fleainvasion treatment.
And you, have you ever had an infestation of this jumping insect? How did you get rid of it? Share your experience with us in the comments below.
