Anyone who has owned a pet or known someone who has pets probably knows about fleas. As a pet owner myself, since I was a child I thought I was familiar with the concept. Though in my past experience, fleas just seemed like a slight nuisance that I could get rid of with some over the counter flea treatment. Boy was I wrong!
A couple winters ago, a squirrel nest blew out of a tree and into my yard. Since it smelled delightfully like squirrels to my dog, Freddy, he decided to roll around in it. I didn’t think much of it until that following week I started noticing small bites on my feet and ankles. My mind first went to fleas but since it was winter, I thought it couldn’t be that. However by the next week I was finding bites all over my body. I then remembered WHY Squirrels abandon their nests: They are infested with fleas! So I gave Freddy a bath in some over the counter flea shampoo and sprayed my house with flea spray. That seemed to work for maybe a day then I noticed all the fleas again. I couldn’t understand how they could infest my entire house so quickly!
Shortly after this happened I started working at Kirkwood Animal Hospital and I brought Freddy in because he had chewed “hot spots” from itching so much. The veterinarian informed me I needed to get him on a flea killer immediately. I found out that fleas can lay eggs 6 hours after their first blood meal and can lay 40-50 eggs a day. One female alone can lay up to 2000 eggs in her lifetime! The flea larvae often burrow in carpets or even the cracks in hardwood floors! I very quickly realized how I got an infestation so fast. The veterinarian told me the reason things like the flea shampoo, that I used, don’t work because they don’t kill the eggs or larvae of the fleas.
The veterinarian recommended Vectra 3-D. It was a topical treatment that starts to kill fleas, their larvae and their eggs in as little as 6 hours. As an added bonus it also kills mosquitoes, ticks, and biting flies. The best thing about Vectra 3-D is that it is a repellent! Which means my dog doesn’t even have to get bit for it to work. Seeing as the bite from the insect is how diseases are transmitted, I was definitely sold on this product! Within 2 weeks, the infestation on Freddy and in my house was gone has been since. Now with a once a month treatment of Vectra-3D, EVEN in the winter months, Freddy is flea, tick, and mosquito free and happy!
Sara G -Receptionist
