Flea eggs look like very tiny grains of rice. They are tiny ovals, rarely bigger than 0.5 mm (1/50-inch)—about the size of a grain of sand or salt. They can be bright white, off white, or translucent.
It's quite hard to spot the flea eggs, be it on your pet, on their bedding or on the floor, due to their tiny size (less than half a millimetre long). They are oval in shape and of a whitish colour. Under a microscope, one can see that flea eggs look like rice grains.
It's also easy to mistake the eggs for flea dirt, reddish or blackish specks that are actually the faeces of the adult forms — and the larvae's favourite food.
Flea eggs are small and white and almost appear to look like grains of salt. Flea “dirt” can look like black pepper. These dark specks are the flea's feces from the digested blood. Fleas are small and dark in color and are very active.
Flea Egg Appearance
The eggs of a flea are extremely small. They are usually 0.019” long and 0.011” wide. Even though these eggs are so small, they can still be seen with the human eye. They are slightly larger than a grain of table salt.
Can Vacuuming Kill Fleas? Can Vacuuming Kill Fleas? According to extensive studies conducted at Ohio State University, vacuuming is indeed an effective way of getting rid of fleas! Through these studies, scientists discovered that vacuuming killed 96% of adult fleas from carpets and 100% of the flea pupae and larvae.
Although live adult fleas can get into a person's bed by way of their pet, it's more common to find white flea eggs in your bedding. This is because within 24 hours of starting to feed, adult fleas mate and females start laying about 40 to 50 eggs per day, which can easily fall off a pet.
Mopping and steam cleaning can help to kill flea eggs, and washing linens, bedding, and pet beds in the washing machine on the hot cycle is also advisable. If possible, declutter your home so it's easier to clean and there are fewer places for flea eggs to hide.
Flea Eggs Aren't Black
They're a semi-transparent white to off-white color.
Start by checking fleas' favorite places to hide: the haunches, the base of the tail, the nape of the neck, and between the shoulder blades. If you're having difficulty spotting the tiny white eggs on your dog or cat, use that magnifying glass to check your pet's favorite lounge areas.
These specks are called 'flea dirt' and are actually the faeces of the fleas after they feed on the cat's blood. If you're not sure whether your cat has flea dirt or dirt from the garden, try rubbing the little specks into some wet white paper or tissue – if it leaves a red/brown smudge, it's flea dirt.
The adult cat flea begins feeding within minutes of landing on its host, and the female starts laying eggs 24 hours later. They can lay up to 50 eggs per day and 24 on average. Upon hatching, the eggs are moist and stick to the animal's fur. By drying quickly, they detach from the hair and fall to the ground.
It could be feline acne, a common skin condition in cats. What looks like a dirty chin could be a mild to moderate case of cat acne. Those black specks are actually blackheads, similar to blackheads in humans. In more severe cases, a cat can develop red sores and lesions on the chin area.
One of the first solutions to get rid of fleas is to bathe your pet. Just lukewarm water, or water and a mild soap, can help get fleas off your pet's fur and skin. The dish soap can help to drown adult fleas. If you're thinking about using a flea shampoo or something similar, talk to your veterinarian first.
Symptoms of Fleas in Cats
Licking, chewing, or excessive grooming. Fur loss or bald spots. Skin redness, rashes, scabs, wounds, or other lesions. A pattern of multiple small, pinpoint scabs (known as miliary dermatitis) is common.
Within 24 to 48 hours, the female starts laying her eggs. These eggs fall off the animal, wherever it goes in your house. A typical female flea may lay 200 eggs over a period of five days. These are now in your carpets and they'll hatch in a further 4-12 days, depending on the temperature and humidity.
If you can see them, flea eggs on a dog will often appear as tiny white specks, small white flecks, or tiny grains of salt. They're usually clustered together.
Topical preventions have been shown to clear fleas on cats within 12-48 hours, and oral preventions often work within the first 2-4 hours. Never use a flea or tick medication labeled for dogs. They are not interchangeable, and a product made for dogs can make cats extremely sick, and in rare cases it may be fatal.
So even if you only find flea dirt on your pet but no fleas themselves, it could mean you've just caught the infestation early. You should still treat your pet immediately for fleas since flea dirt is an obvious sign of flea activity as the digested blood from the parasites feed on your pet.
The first thing you may be wondering is, “Can fleas live in cat litter?” Unfortunately, the answer is yes; fleas thrive in humid environments like your cat's litter box. The good news is, a flea family won't just decide to set up shop in the litter box.
If you think your cat has fleas, a bath can help kill the fleas. Adams Flea & Tick Cleansing Shampoo for Cats is a great choice. It prevents flea eggs from hatching for 30 days, and it kills fleas, ticks, and lice. The Adams Plus Flea & Tick Foaming Shampoo & Wash for Cats and Kittens is another excellent choice.
I've Got Fleas – Won't They Just Go Away? Unfortunately, no, they won't. Most fleas can live for between two and three weeks on a host organism, but some flea eggs can survive unhatched for up to an entire year. So even if the fleas you have are dying off, there will be plenty of eggs left to replace them.
Fleas generally cannot live in human hair. While most species prefer to live on the furs of animals, they can use humans as temporary vectors. In such cases, fleas can infest and bite humans. You may get infected if there is a serious case of flea infestation in your environment.
Ortho Bed Bug, Flea, and Tick Killer
This one-gallon of flea-killer spray targets bed bugs, fleas, and ticks where they're hiding around your home. We like that you can apply it around bed frames, along baseboards, and in other affected areas to kill these pests on contact and help prevent re-infestation.