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How to Get Rid of Fleas in Your Home When You Have a Pet

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Dealing with pests inside your house may seem difficult when they don’t seem to go away. Fleas can be one of the most annoying pest problems in your home, especially when you have a pet. While they prefer four-legged hosts to us humans, they will surely target your house, yard, and furniture if your pet has them.

A sign of flea infestation on your pet is when they continuously itch and scratch themselves. Fleas are visible to the naked eye with a measurement of 2.5 millimeters long and can jump as far as 13 inches. 

Fleas thrive in areas with warm climates, which have an ideal temperature of 80 to 90°F (26 to 32 °C) with 70% humidity, and they can live for 18 to 21 days. If they can’t find a host, the larvae will remain dormant for a couple of months until a host appears. 

These pests can be harmful, so here are some tips on how to treat this problem:

Contact Your Local Veterinarian

If your pet has fleas, you should call your veterinarian and ask for a flea program. Your vet will know which program best suits your pet and which product will treat your pet’s fleas effectively. Treatments for fleas on pets would typically take one dose a month.

Use Your Vacuum Cleaner

If you regularly clean your house using your vacuum, it would decrease the number of fleas and their eggs from carpets, curtains, cracks in wood floors, and other corners of your furniture. It is also essential to vacuum your pet’s sleeping and eating area, and dispose of the collected dirt and fleas in a plastic garbage bag outside your house so that the fleas can’t sneak back in. 

When handling a flea issue, it’s best to vacuum your pet’s common areas every day, and clean the rest of your house once a week. If you think the fleas in your house are getting out of control, you should steam clean your carpets, which will kill the fleas because of its heat. The fleas’ eggs can withstand the heat, so it is advisable to steam clean again soon.

Wash Your Pet’s Bedding

As mentioned above, fleas die because of heat. You can wash your pet’s bed every week with hot and soapy water. Wash your bed sheets, blankets, and pillow covers as well to kill fleas if there are any.

Buy a Flea Comb

Using a flea comb is an effective way of removing fleas from your pet. If you don’t have one yet, buy one and comb away from your pet’s fur outside your home. Concentrate on the neck area and at the tail’s base, dipping the comb into a cup of warm and soapy water to kill the fleas.

Clean Your Surroundings

You may use chemical treatments when cleaning the surroundings of your house. Use aerosol sprays to directly spray under the beds and other furniture. Some insecticides contain adulticides, like permethrin, that can kill adult fleas. You can also use methoprene or pyriproxyfen as an insect growth regulator, as it destroys the fleas’ eggs, larvae, and pupae. Always wear proper safety gear when applying these chemicals, and stay away until it is completely dry. It would be better to spray if there are no people inside your house.

Call the Flea Experts

If a flea invasion is getting out of hand, you may consider calling professionals like Fox Pest Control Flea Treatment for help. Most of the time, you will not completely control the growing numbers of fleas in your house. Calling in the professionals would be a good idea to keep your home and pets clean, and to reduce the chance of reinfestation. 

 

Comments

  1. Mary A Ambrosino says

    Thank you for some great tips for us pet owners. Unfortunately we can all use at one time or another.

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