Fleas can kill!

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I just heard about someone whose 10 week old puppy died suddendly; it died from fleas! Since both of us are life-long animal lovers, were were shocked to find out some details about fleas. We had always thought they were just an irritating nuisance for our cats, dogs and ourselves. Were we surprised! Here is just some of the information we were able to gather: 1) Flea dirt is that tiny black specks you see after your dog or cat scratches. It is actually dried blood excreted by fleas! 2) Fleas go from egg to adulthood in about 2 weeks. Females can lay up to 20 eggs per day. So, 20 eggs in 15 days equals 300 new fleas! Those 300 fleas, laying 20 egg each day per flea equals 4500 new fleas! YUK! 3) The average 10 pound puppy or (adult) cat has about 8 ounces of blood in their body. Any cook can tell you that eight ounces equals 1 cup. One cup of blood equals 4732 drops. One flea can eat one drop per day. Doesn't sound bad, huh? Consider this, 4500 fleas vs. 4732 drops of blood in a cup. That's one day for 4500 fleas to eat all the blood. 4) Pets with flea anemia will show lethargy and refusal to eat or drink water. This can come on VERY suddendly. The puppy was fine in the morning and sick by evening and died the next day at the vets. It was already too late. Puppies and kittens, especially strays, have less red blood that adults and their bodies can't produce more quickly enough to replenish what those nasty fleas eat. Also, strays usually have a slightly impaired immune system until they get physically strong and have a home with consistent food, water and comfort. Don't let this happen to your pet. Contact your vet immediately if you see fleas. If the vet says the pet is too small/young to treat for fleas, don't listen to them! There are products for very young pets now, so don't listen to the old-fashioned vets that say you have to wait. Waiting could kill your pet!