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Flea eggs and late-night novels
Jul. 19th, 2016 11:54 amI was able to get a good look at some flea eggs this morning when I vacuumed Emma's perch, because the perch is made of dark micro-suede and flea eggs are opalescent white. Flea eggs are maybe a quarter of the size of harvester ant eggs, and according to Wikipedia, fleas basically indiscriminately pop out 20-30 eggs per day, and release them out into the environment everywhere. This, in a nutshell, is what makes flea control challenging, especially when you consider how many different porous egg repository materials we have in this house (floorboard cracks, couches, bedding, seat cushions, carpet).
Unfortunately, the current vacuum cleaner options here aren't great because they are all bagless vacuums without all that much suction, so anytime we vacuum we aren't doing much good unless we immediately remove the vacuum cleaner from the house and keep it out. Bagless vacuums have a lot of internal nooks and crannies that are difficult to clean out, so I'm going to have to think some more about optimal methods on that front.
So I broke down and bought a 2-pack of Advantage-II and applied a dose to the nape of Emma's neck this morning. I gave her another dose of lufenuron about 2 weeks ago, but we have been continuing to find 3 or so live fleas on her every day. I was reading somewhere that flea infestations may be on the rise due to evolved resistance to the more commonly used insectidices, and in addition, the lufenuron pills I've got are probably 4 years old at this point. All the insecticides used to treat fleas and ticks on pets are broad-scale compounds that are routinely applied to crops, too.
I'm not happy about having applied yet another neonicotinoid to my cat.
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I also stayed up until 1 am last night finishing a novel. It's so satisfying to rip through a piece of fiction in comparison to dragging my way through academic nonfiction.
Unfortunately, the current vacuum cleaner options here aren't great because they are all bagless vacuums without all that much suction, so anytime we vacuum we aren't doing much good unless we immediately remove the vacuum cleaner from the house and keep it out. Bagless vacuums have a lot of internal nooks and crannies that are difficult to clean out, so I'm going to have to think some more about optimal methods on that front.
So I broke down and bought a 2-pack of Advantage-II and applied a dose to the nape of Emma's neck this morning. I gave her another dose of lufenuron about 2 weeks ago, but we have been continuing to find 3 or so live fleas on her every day. I was reading somewhere that flea infestations may be on the rise due to evolved resistance to the more commonly used insectidices, and in addition, the lufenuron pills I've got are probably 4 years old at this point. All the insecticides used to treat fleas and ticks on pets are broad-scale compounds that are routinely applied to crops, too.
I'm not happy about having applied yet another neonicotinoid to my cat.
-
I also stayed up until 1 am last night finishing a novel. It's so satisfying to rip through a piece of fiction in comparison to dragging my way through academic nonfiction.
