Cat Fleas - The Facts On Their Life Cycle

Want to know about a cat fleas life cycle? The life cycle of fleas commences as an egg which then hatches as small, legless larvae and then transitions into a pupae before developing into the adult flea.

Adult fleas remain on their host for the length of their life, for it is here that they gain their nourishment to lay eggs. A female flea lays about one egg an hour, which easily amounts to three hundred over her life span. These eggs, which are smooth and smaller than the dot made by a pencil, fall easily from your cat onto the carpet, bedding, furniture, grass or other surface.

After 1 to 10 days, depending on environmental conditions, the eggs hatch into small, legless larvae. These larvae feed on the dried feces of the adult fleas- mainly undigested blood- that showers onto the floor through your cat's scratching or grooming. The lower the temperature, the fewer the number of larvae that will hatch. A humidity of 70% or higher and temperatures between 70 - 89 degrees F promote the eggs' hatching stage. Outdoors, they develop best in shaded soil, while indoors they favor carpets or gaps in your floor boards where organic food such as skin cells collects.

The transition stage between the larvae and the adult flea is called the pupae. A pupa is formed by the larvae spinning a sticky cocoon around itself which acts as a shield against many invaders, including your vacuum cleaner. Fibers from the carpet, strands of hair, dust particles and so on are woven into the cocoon, which sticks strongly to its surface.

It is during this phase that the maturing flea is most resistant to our actions to exterminate it. Although in optimal conditions the entire development phase from an egg to an adult flea may take only 14 days, the pupae can also lie dormant for up to 200 days, until they receive signals that a host for the adult flea is nearby. These signals include an increase in carbon dioxide (from the exhaled breath of a mammal), an increase in temperature (a mammal's body in close proximity) and vibrations (a mammal approaching). The flea can emerge within seconds of this stimulation, jump onto the mammal, and begin its adult life-span of 2 to 3 months.

Your cat has become the flea's next meal and its unwilling host for the whole fleas life cycle to begin again.

Michelle Robinson has been an animal advocate and pet lover all her life. She is particularly committed to the wellbeing of domestic pets-cats, in particular. She knows that the distress caused by cat fleas harms your cat's health. For information about cat fleas, and solutions that work for cat flea problems, visit her website at [http://www.flealesscats.com]