Family living
Focus
by
Alletta Schadler
Lebanon Co. Extension
Help! Everyone has fleas!
Tis the season for fleas.
It is never too early to be in
specting your dogs and cats for
fleas and if the animals come into
your house even briefly you need
to be inspecting the premises very
carefully to get control of the
problem before it gets out of hand.
I am a veteran of several Fleas
Wars. I have indoor cats and twice
I have had the fleas invade
through the screens or from visit
ing aniamls. The first time I ig-
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norcd the early signs because I fig
ured it couldn’t possibly happen in
my house with indoor-only cals.
WRONG! It went on for
months and even I had flea bites.
It ultimately took two visits from
the exterminator and washing my
weekly for three weeks to
break the cycle and become flea
free.
In order for you to defeat the
critters it is important for you to
understand how and where they
live and breed.
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Fleas feed on animal or human
Mood. They cannot live or breed
without it. They live on animals or
in areas where they can get on and
off the animals easily. The life cy
cle of the flea is in four stages:
The eggs are laid by the adult fe
male mi the pets, in the pet bed
ding or in cracks and crevices
where the animals hang out Eggs
laid on the pet are not firmly at
tached and soon fall off. In about a
week, the eggs hatch into imma
ture fleas called larvae. These are
very different from adult fleas.
They are very tiny and worm-like,
lack legs, and do not feed on fresh
blood, but live on organic matter
including dried particles or blood
and excrement voided by the adult
fleas.
If you have a heavy infestation,
this might look like salt and pep
per scattered in the areas where
animals spend a lot of time. For
example, if your dog spends time
on the sofa and you have not va
cuumed the cracks and crevices
recently, the larvae might be ma
tureing there! Really!
. In about 12 days, the larvae are
(fully grown and change to the
pupal stage which then changes to
adult fleas. Adult fleas feed more
than once a day on fresh human or
animal blood, if they have a
chance. They have strong legs and
can jump amazingly far, consider
ing their size. They can live under
ideal conditions for a year or
more. They can live several weeks
without a meal if they have to, by
Dairy Council Receives Grant
SOUTHAMPTON, Pa. Agricultural Product Promotion
Dairy Council today annn..nf«| Grant from the Bureau of Market
that it has received funding for its Development matches funds gen
school assembly project. The erated by state agricultural organi-
Marvelous Machine, from the 23110,18 for projects to increase
Pennsylvania State Department of consumer awareness of Pennsyl-
Agriculture. The Pennsylvania vania-grown agricultural prod-
Leese Receives
Scholarship
UNIVERSITY PARK (Centre dent in Penn State’s college of
Co.) When April J. Leese. the Agricultural Sciences and major
daughter of Vcmon E. and Bar- in environmental resource man
, ban J. Leese of McConncllsburg, agement.
arrives at Penn Stale’s University Leese was the salutatorian of
Park Campus this fall to study the her graduating class at McCon
agricultural sciences, she’ll be one nellsburg High School and was
of only three Penn State students active in a wide variety of aca
to receive a Competitive Edge dcmic and community-service or-
Scholarship. ganizadons. She is a member of
The scholarship, sponsored by the National Honor Society and
Wal-Mart, recognizes some of volunteered with the Fulton Coun-
Penn State’s brightest students, ty Conservation District.
Leese, who attended the Penn- Wal-Mart’s Competitive Edge
sylvania Governor’s School for scholarship will $5,000 a year for
the Agricultural Sciences in 1994, four years to Penn State to cover
pian« to enroll as a first-year stu- Leese’s tuition and fees.
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which time they are very hungry.
What often happens is that when
you come home from vacation
you and the animals are devoured
by these very hungry fleas that
matured while you were away.
What a surprise! Some people are
more attractive to fleas than
others. In my fondly I am the flea
bait they don’t bite my hus
band.
Flea biles can transmit a num
ber of diseases to man and in addi
tion some people and pets are al
lergic to die bites beyond the ac
tual bite itself. You should
aggressively wage war on fleas in
your environment It is a war that
will need to be planned and car
ried out over a period of weeks.
You must heat the animal and the
house or the environment at the
same time and repeatedly to get
rid of the various stages of the
fleas. One shot of spray or one dip
for the dog alone will not do the
trick.
Treat the animal by insecticidal
flea shampoo or dips for the dog
or cat. Be sure to read and follow
the directions carefully, especially
for cats. You need to lather the cat
and leave it lathered for as much
as 10 minutes for the flea stunning
effects to take place. (This is not a
happy time for the cat or the hu
man! A friend said she put her cat
in a mesh bag to lather up. I lather
the cat up and put her in a pet taxi
box for 10 minutes so she doesn’t
escape.)
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Meanwhile, you need to va
cuum every place the animal fre
quents to pick up the eggs and lar
vae. Bum the vacuum bags im
mediately or fleas will hatch in the
sweeper. Spray the area with a
product labeled for fleas. Follow
the precautions on the label. You
can also close windows and use
flea bombs to fumigate a room. Be
sure to use the correct amount for
the space to be treated. One time
will usually not do the trick. Re
peat about 10 or 12 days later to
catch any hatched insects.
If you seem to have a whole
house infestation, you may want
to consider a professional exter
minator. By the time you add up
the cost of bombing your whole
house a couple of times plus the
aggravation, it may well pay you
to have it done. They guarantee re
sults and will redo at a reduced
cost if needed. You will still have
to do the vacuuming and animal
washing, however. It must be an
all-out war. Rewash the animals.
You may consider using one of the
new systemic flea treatments
available from the veterinarian.
Be sure to read labels for over-the
counter products when treating
kittens and puppies.
And, yes, you can get fleas in
your house even if your animals
don’t go outside, especially if
there ate animals in the neighbor
hood. Humans can bring them in
when fleas hitch a ride. It is a real
ly frustrating experience. Hope
you never find out.
ucts.
As a result of the grant. Dairy
Council will use matching funds
for dairy promotion messages to
enhance its nutrition education
programs for the 1996-97 school
year. The grant, for $14,669, will
provide funding for Dairy Coun
cil’s new school assembly pro
gram, including lessons which
will be provided for teachers to in
tegrate the program into their
classrooms. Duet Productions, the
assembly production company
that will perform the assembly
program, is a recognized leader in
the field of educational children’s
theater.
Dairy Council’s school assemb
ly program. The Marvelous Ma
chine, targets elementary children
with nutrition and health mes
sages. Research has shown that as
semblies are a popular and suc
cessful way to expand classroom
learning by incorporating curricu
lum-related information into an
entertainment format. The match
ing funds from the grant will en
able Dairy Council to offer as
semblies at no cost to low-income
school districts. The premier per
formance of The Marvelous Ma
chine assembly is set for Septem
ber 19%.
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