Effect of 0.29% w/w fipronil spray on adult flea mortality and egg production of three different cat flea, Ctenocephalides felis (Bouché), strains infesting cats

Abstract

To evaluate the effect of fipronil spray on adult flea mortality and flea egg production of three different cat flea, Ctenocephalides felis (Bouché) strains, 30 domestic short hair cats were randomly allocated into six groups of five cats each. On day 0, cats in groups 2, 4 and 6 were treated with fipronil at 5–6 ml/kg. Cats in groups 1, 3 and 5 served as untreated controls. On days −2, 7, 14, 21, and 28 each cat was infested with 50 adult cat fleas. Groups 1 and 2 were infested with fleas from the Kansas1 Colony (KS1) strain. Groups 3 and 4 were infested with a recently colonized cat flea strain from Florida (R6). Groups 5 and 6 were infested with fleas from the ARC strain. The adulticidal activity of fipronil was determined by flea comb counts 48 h after treatment and then 48 h after each reinfestation. Any flea eggs produced during the infestations were collected and counted prior to the 48 h comb counts. Fipronil spray was ≥99.5% effective against adults of all three cat flea strains when applied during an active infestation. Fipronil spray provided ≥98.2 and ≥99.5% control of adult fleas and egg production, respectively, for all strains through week 2. On days 23 and 30 control of R6 adults and egg production was significantly lower than either the ARC or the KS1 strain. On day 30, control of R6 adults and egg production was 77.3 and 87.3%, respectively. Control of KS1 adults and egg production on day 30 was significantly lower than the ARC strain. Fipronil provided ≥99.5 and ≥99.9% control of ARC fleas and egg production, respectively, throughout the entire study. The susceptibility to fipronil for the three strains was also evaluated on filter paper pesticide bioassays . The R6 strain was found to be less susceptible than the KS1 and ARC strains. The LC 95 estimates for the strains were 10.13, 4.77 and 2.62 mg/m 2 for the R6, ARC and KS1 strains, respectively.