Pill kills pet fleas and eggs
The traditional way of ridding pets of fleas has been to use insecticides in the form of sprays or powders or impregnated in a collar. These methods kill the
fleas, but do not destroy the eggs, which may have fallen off the animal and on to carpets or furniture.
This is no small problem as a female flea can lay up to 20 eggs per day, or some 500 during its reproductive life. Under ideal conditions, it needs just three weeks for the
eggs to pupate and grow into adult fleas, but the eggs can lie dormant until the ideal conditions occur.
Ciba Geigy has found a solution: a pill that attacks the eggs before they have been laid, thus breaking the reproductive cycle within one
generation.
The active ingredient of the treatment is a chemical compound called Lufeneron that is absorbed into the blood of the pet and is then ingested by the fleas when they
bite the animal. Lufeneron interferes with a substance called Chitin Synthesis, the principal ingredient of the exoskeleton of insects. Because the substance is
not found in mammals it has little effect on the host.
Lufeneron works on three levels. The first is at the embryo stage, preventing proper formation. It then attacks at the egg-hatching stage by weakening the embryo so
that it cannot break open the egg. Third, it interferes with the natural progression of the embryo into a flea at the larval stage.
Experience in America and South Africa has shown that within 24 hours of the animal taking the pill, 95% of the flea eggs are sterile. After another 24 hours the
reproductive cycle is completely broken.
The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons describes the pill, known as Program, as ``a radical new approach'' to pest control on pets. Program is awaiting approval
from the British licensing authorities.
fleas, but do not destroy the eggs, which may have fallen off the animal and on to carpets or furniture.
This is no small problem as a female flea can lay up to 20 eggs per day, or some 500 during its reproductive life. Under ideal conditions, it needs just three weeks for the
eggs to pupate and grow into adult fleas, but the eggs can lie dormant until the ideal conditions occur.
Ciba Geigy has found a solution: a pill that attacks the eggs before they have been laid, thus breaking the reproductive cycle within one
generation.
The active ingredient of the treatment is a chemical compound called Lufeneron that is absorbed into the blood of the pet and is then ingested by the fleas when they
bite the animal. Lufeneron interferes with a substance called Chitin Synthesis, the principal ingredient of the exoskeleton of insects. Because the substance is
not found in mammals it has little effect on the host.
Lufeneron works on three levels. The first is at the embryo stage, preventing proper formation. It then attacks at the egg-hatching stage by weakening the embryo so
that it cannot break open the egg. Third, it interferes with the natural progression of the embryo into a flea at the larval stage.
Experience in America and South Africa has shown that within 24 hours of the animal taking the pill, 95% of the flea eggs are sterile. After another 24 hours the
reproductive cycle is completely broken.
The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons describes the pill, known as Program, as ``a radical new approach'' to pest control on pets. Program is awaiting approval
from the British licensing authorities.