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Newsletter
10.11.2011

Can my dog have fleas in the winter, too?

Dear dog owner,

As the temperature goes down many dog owners skip their monthly flea prevention treatments. While this may work in some situations, it actually makes sense to protect all dogs from flea infestation year-round:

When the temperature falls below about 50 degrees F outside, fleas enter a winter hibernation period. However, inside your home, conditions remain ideal for fleas all year round.

Fleas develop from eggs by maturing through three separate larval stages before they become fully mature adult fleas. When an animal become infested with fleas (at any time during the year), these fleas will go on to lay thousands of eggs in your carpets, in cracks in the flooring, in pillows, blankets, etc. These eggs MAY then develop into a new generation of adult fleas within 11 days – but they do not HAVE to develop into adults. Instead, fleas have the ability to persist for a number of months in their pupal stage, which is the last larval stage before they become fully developed adult fleas. That is why you may suddenly find adult fleas, in the middle of the winter, on your pets.

Some dogs suffer from allergies to flea saliva. In such cases, a single bite may be sufficient to result in weeks of allergic symptoms. For these pets, it is essential to never skip preventive measures against flea infestation!

You can find more information and many additional tips about preventing flea infestation by reading our article on fleas!

All the best!
Your enpevet team.