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Using Flea Collars To Protect Your Dog

from: Kyle Besser

Fleas are a painful annoyance to dogs. Fleas can cause dogs to scratch and bite themselves almost constantly. Their coats become soiled and roughened, and their skin becomes irritated. Dogs in particular may develop severe flea allergies. The need to control fleas is therefore very important to dog owners.

A flea collar is a device used to protect dogs and cats from fleas and ticks. The fleas found on dogs (Ctenocephalides canis) and cats (C. felis) are ectoparasites. Fleas live off the blood of their host animal. The adult female flea lays eggs on the host or in its sleeping place which hatch into larvae. Larvae pass through a pupae stage (or intermediate stage) before reaching adulthood.

In the course of this nine month lifespan, two fleas can produce more than one million offspring. You can easily see how quickly fleas can get out of control.

Flea control requires killing both the adult fleas and the larvae with an insecticide which can be delivered via sprays, dips, powders and collars. Flea collars are somewhat less effective than the other methods because flea collars provide less direct contact. Flea collars do offer long lasting performance and ease of application.

Flea collars are an economical and useful method of flea control when used before you see fleas. If a dog is already infested with fleas, it is too late for flea collars to solve the problem. Many flea collars kill adult fleas and make flea eggs sterile. Even though flea collars aren't very effective if you already have a flea problem, flea collars are easy to use and cheap, and using flea collars is a lot better than doing nothing.

A dog flea collar is a plastic strip made by mixing an insecticide with plastic resins and molding the mixture into a thin strip. Dog flea collars are designed to deliver enough pesticide to continually kill fleas for up to 12 months. The pesticide must be safe for prolonged skin contact and non-toxic in the event the dog chews on the flea collar. The flea collar closure is typically made from a metal buckle or from a solid piece of plastic.

As with any insecticide product, sensitivities, adverse drug interaction and other side effects can occur. Many flea collars are not suitable for debilitated, aged, nursing, pregnant or medicated dogs. Some flea collars are suitable for dogs, but have ingredients that should never be used on cats. Most flea collars are not suitable for dogs three months and under.