Abstract

BackgroundA study was conducted to evaluate the effect of indoxacarb applied to cats on adult cat fleas, Ctenocephalides felis, flea egg production and adult flea emergence.MethodsSixteen cats were selected for the study and allocated to two treatment groups. Eight cats were treated with a 19.5% w/v topical spot-on solution of indoxacarb on day 0 and eight cats served as untreated controls. Each cat was infested with 50 fleas on Days -2, 7, 14, 21, 28, 35 and 42. On Days 1, 2, and 3, and at 2 and 3 days after each post treatment reinfestation flea eggs were collected from the pan under each cat cage. Eggs were counted and viability assessed by evaluating adult flea emergence 28 days after egg collection. Three days after treatment or infestation, each cat was combed to remove and count live fleas.ResultsTreatment with indoxacarb provided 100% efficacy following infestations on day -2, 7, 14, 21 and 28 and efficacy was 99.6% following infestations on days 35 and 42. Egg production from indoxacarb treated cats was reduced by 99.9% within 72 hours of treatment. For subsequent infestations no eggs were produced from treated cats from day 8 through day 30. Egg production was still reduced by ≥95.8% through day 45. Indoxacarb treatment also reduced adult flea emergence from eggs for 5 weeks after treatment. The combination of reduction in egg numbers and egg viability from indoxacarb treated cats reduced predicted flea emergence by 100% from days 2 – 31 and 99.9%, 100%, 96.4% and 99.0% on days 37, 38, 44 and 45, respectively.ConclusionsA topical spot-on formulation of indoxacarb provided ≥99.6% efficacy against flea infestations on cats for 6 weeks following a single treatment. Indoxacarb also eliminated or markedly reduced egg production for the entire evaluation period and reduced the viability of the few eggs that were produced from Day 1 through Day 38. Given indoxacarb’s effect on adult fleas, egg production and egg viability; this formulation can interrupt flea reproduction on treated cats for at least 6 weeks after treatment.

Highlights

  • A study was conducted to evaluate the effect of indoxacarb applied to cats on adult cat fleas, Ctenocephalides felis, flea egg production and adult flea emergence

  • Physical examinations were conducted by a licensed veterinarian prior to the initial flea infestation and cats were determined to be in good health and free of any preexisiting dermal lesions

  • All cats included in the study demonstrated adequate pretreatment flea retention with day −5 flea counts ranging from 16 – 38 fleas/cat

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Summary

Introduction

A study was conducted to evaluate the effect of indoxacarb applied to cats on adult cat fleas, Ctenocephalides felis, flea egg production and adult flea emergence. Once cat fleas acquire a host, they mate and start laying eggs within 24 – 48 hours [2,3]. Fleas deposit their eggs into the haircoat of the dog or cat with the eggs dropping off into the premises where within a few weeks they develop into adult fleas [3]. The primary focus of these topical and systemic flea control efforts is to force fleas into “extinction” in a localized environment (home or yard) by preventing reproduction [6,7]. In order for a topical or systemic insecticide to prevent egg production, the residual activity must be sufficient to kill or render moribund newly acquired fleas within 24 hours. A number of in-home and multicentric studies on three continents have demonstrated that this approach to flea control can be successful [6,8,9,10,11,12,13]

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