Fleas can be in your carpet, yard, bed and on your pets. Some people think that fleas are only on their pets but actually only 5 % of fleas are on your pets and the remaining 95% are in your yard and house. They are present in different stages of their cycle so to get completely rid of fleas you have to kill them both on your pets and in your house at the same time.
If you want to kill all the fleas from your house then decide it once and go for it because this work requires a couple of hours. You cannot leave a part of work for the other day because fleas will again start developing on the cleaned places.
HOW FLEAS GROW
Fleas on your pets lay eggs. These eggs drop off your pet and gets on the floor or carpet. When eggs hatch they become larvae. Now they are able to move with the help of hair like bristles and reach to dark places or corners. After this they create a cocoon around themselves. This stage is known as pupae stage and now the pupae begin to develop in adult fleas. Vibrations can trigger them to hatch. It can take two weeks to eight months for an egg to become an adult flea.
If they do not get the required conditions the pupae can remain dormant for more than a year.
HOW TO GET RID OF FLEAS ON YOUR PETS (CATS AND DOGS)
First of all get rid of the fleas present on your pets. Always treat your pets before going on the mission to remove fleas from your house. Take them to the professional groomer for this or you can treat your pets with top spots. Apply these between shoulder blades and pets skin. You can also use flea shampoo for this purpose but avoid those that contain DEET (diethyltoluamide) because it can cause serious adverse reactions. Always consult your veterinarian before using any flea control product except water and soap on your pet.
You can also use flea collar but use it only as long as needed because they emit poisonous vapors that will definitely kill the fleas but can also be harmful to your pets. So when not in use keep them in a sealed container.
Stay away from electronic flea collars and ultrasonic flea repellant devices. They are not much effective.
Also wash your pets bedding and every piece of cloth that your pet has been in contact with. Soapy water will destroy the eggs, larvae, pupae or the adult fleas. If they cannot be washed then you have to dispose them.
After treating your pets just keep a check that they do not come in contact with the neighbor’s pets or any other animal as they can again start flea cycle in your house.
Comb your pet’s hair after one or two days with fine toothed comb specially made for the purpose to remove fleas. If you find any flea then dispose it off in soapy water.
IN YOUR HOUSE
Vacuum your house properly especially in corners, under furniture and beds, pet’s bed, dark crevices, skirting boards and places where you find dried blood feces. While doing this keep your pet away so that any flea on them cannot jump to the vacuumed surface. After finishing the process or when the vacuum bag is full seal it in a plastic bag and tie it tightly. Take the bag outside and put it in covered garbage can.
Vacuum as much pupae as you can because they are water tight and insecticide will have no affect on them.
SPRAY INSECTICIDE
Next step is to spray insecticide. Use flea bomb or flea fogger or flea sprays on all carpets; floor, rugs etc. always use the product that contains IGR (insect growth regulator). IGR will prevent eggs, larvae to develop into a mature flea. So try to spray these insecticides in each and every corner. While spraying remove all the living creatures from the room. Do not vacuum for at least a week after spraying.
The flea inside cocoon is not affected by insecticides because the cocoon is water tight. So after a couple of weeks you will see few new fleas. These will be the fleas that were in their cocoons or in pupae stage during treatment so to avoid this, vacuum regularly for few days after the initial treatment because if by chance some pupae had left while vacuuming earlier then they can also be removed now. Vacuuming regularly is very important after initial treatment.
HOW TO KILL FLEAS FROM YOUR YARD
Spray the same insecticide that you have used for your house, in gravel, crevices and sandy areas of your yard. Areas receiving sunlight will have very few or no fleas because larvae always avoid bright places.
