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dult cat fleas (Ctenocephalides felis) feed on cats, dogs, and model provided a severe test for the treatment strategy (Table 1). In
other animals, including humans, but other flea life cycle fact, the control cats needed to be combed frequently to maintain
stages (Figure 1) develop off-host in carpets, upholstery, their flea burdens within limits acceptable on welfare grounds. Nev-
and other places that provide shade and protection.1 The domestic ertheless, apparently complete suppression of the flea population
environment thereby acts as a reservoir of reinfestation for house- was obtained in the treatment pen. This result exceeded expecta-
hold pets. Consequently, single or occasional on-animal flea treat- tion because it had been assumed that treated cats would pick up
ments often have no more than a transient beneficial effect because some fleas in the early stages of the trial while the carpeted pens
treated pets soon become reinfested from their surroundings. Envi- were still infested with off-host developmental stages. Work pro-
ronmental control is therefore a necessary component of any long- ceeding in Australia7 provided a possible explanation. Hopkins and
term flea control strategy, especially if the aim is to prevent recrudes- colleagues showed that skin debris falling from dogs treated with
cence of skin lesions in susceptible animals.2 Traditionally, this has imidacloprid possesses flea larvicidal properties. This suggested that
been achieved by direct application of chemicals throughout the imidacloprid may have a short-term direct environmental effect as
home.3 The recent development of new long-acting animal treat- well as the longer-term impact obtained by stopping flea egg pro-
ments with flea adulticidal or insect growth regulatory activity has duction. The next study6 was therefore designed to ascertain
enabled alternative methods to be developed to break the flea life whether a similar effect could have contributed to the rapid diminu-
cycle. These treatments work on the principle that if all animals in tion of the overall flea population in the cat model.
a household are treated so that no viable flea eggs ever drop to the
ground, the reservoir of eggs, larvae, and pupae in the domestic First Larvicidal Study
environment prior to the start of a control program will progres- To determine whether cats treated with imidacloprid can influ-
sively diminish and ultimately disappear (Figure 2). One such treat- ence larval flea development in their immediate surroundings, 12
ment, imidacloprid, is a long-acting insecticide that is applied as a
spot-on formulation (Advantage®, Bayer).4 This paper reviews find- On the Cat
ings from several experimental models4–6 that have been used to (5% of life cycle) Adult
investigate various aspects of the efficacy of imidacloprid on cats.
TNAVC, January 2000 Suppl Compend Contin Educ Pract Vet Vol. 22, No. 4(A), 2000
BREAKING THE FLEA LIFE CYCLE 1 00
Efficacy (%)
80
If fleas on pets in a home are adequately controlled
60
20
Reservoir of off-host life-cycle stages will be
0
progressively depleted until 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
24 hours Weeks
No more reinfestation 48 hours
Figure 2—Principle of environmental flea control by means of ani- Figure 3—Protection against reinfestation after a single treatment
mal treatments. with imidacloprid: Percentage of reduction in flea count after
repeated artificial challenge (measured 24 and 48 hours after each
infestation).
TABLE 1
SIMULATED HOME ENVIRONMENT STUDY: GROUP MEAN
FLEA COUNTS AND NUMBER OF WELFARE COMBINGSa
Flea Counts Welfare Combings
2 6 0 0 0
4 7 0 0 0
6 70 0 0 0
8 78 0 2 0
10 49 0 4 0
12 47 0 4 0
14 61 0 3 0
16 95 0 5 0
domestic shorthair cats were allocated by sex and body weight into at the end of the incubation period, indicating that the effect was
two separately penned groups: One was an untreated control group, primarily larvicidal. Adult emergence was reduced by 84% on blan-
the other group was treated with imidacloprid at recommended dos- kets used by cats during the second week after treatment and by 60%
es (i.e., cats weighing less than 4 kg received 0.4 ml of 10% spot-on to 74% on those used in the third and fourth weeks. Thus, imida-
formulation while those over this body weight received 0.8 ml). Each cloprid was shown to exert significant larvicidal activity in the
cat was allocated an individual cage where it spent 6 hours a day for immediate environment of treated cats. It is likely, therefore, that
5 days each week from 1 week before to 4 weeks after the treatment this effect did contribute to the rapid control of the flea population
date. The floor of each cage was covered with a blanket that was observed in the simulated home environment study quoted above.4
changed weekly. After removal from the cage, triplicated samples
were cut from each blanket and incubated with flea eggs and flea lar- Second Larvicidal Study
val food following standardized procedures. Larvicidal efficacy was In real life there are many situations where imidacloprid could
calculated by comparing the percentages of adult fleas developing collect over periods longer than the 5 days used in the first larvici-
from the eggs placed on the blankets used by each group of cats. dal study. A further (yet unpublished) experiment was therefore per-
No fleas were able to develop on blankets used by treated cats formed to ascertain whether such accumulations could provide
during the first week after treatment (Table 2). No pupae were seen greater larvicidal efficacy than that shown in the first study. To
Suppl Compend Contin Educ Pract Vet Vol. 22, No. 4(A), 2000 International Flea Control Symposium
TABLE 2 TABLE 3
FIRST LARVICIDAL STUDY: SECOND LARVICIDAL STUDY:
PERCENTAGE OF REDUCTION OF NUMBER AND PERCENTAGE OF
ADULT FLEA EMERGENCEa REDUCTION OF ADULT FLEAS EMERGINGa
Percentage Percentage of
Week of Reduction Period of Use Number of Fleas Reduction
1 100 Control 41 —
2 84 10 days 0 100
3 60 20 days 1 98
4 74
aFlea eggs were incubated on blankets used by untreated controls or by
aFlea eggs were incubated on blankets used by cats during the first, sec-
imidacloprid-treated cats.
ond, third, or fourth weeks after a single treatment with imidacloprid
(compared with blankets used by untreated cats). All differences
between control and treatment groups were significant (P < .001).
TNAVC, January 2000 Suppl Compend Contin Educ Pract Vet Vol. 22, No. 4(A), 2000