Fleas can be a big problem for your pets and you. This disease-carrying pest can jump from bothering your pets to infesting the rest of your home—even biting you. If your home is plagued by fleas, it’s important to know: how do you get rid of a flea infestation?
Fleas are easy to pick up, especially in summer. Your pets might pick up fleas while outside, around another animal, at a boarding kennel, or even inside your home (if fleas hitch a ride on rodents coming into your home). Once established on your pet, fleas multiply quickly into a full-blown infestation.
Today, we’re covering how to keep this common summer pest off your pets and out of your home.
How to Get Rid of Fleas on Pets
As a pet owner, you surely want to get rid of the fleas on your pet ASAP. Not only are fleas distressing to dogs and cats, they can also endanger their health (and yours). That’s because fleas can carry diseases that affect pets and people. These include murine typhus, cat scratch disease, flea tapeworms, heartworms, parasitic dermatitis, anemia, and iron deficiencies.
To completely get rid of fleas on your pets, you’ll need to understand the life cycle of fleas.
On pets, the only fleas you’ll ever find are adults. That’s because flea eggs, once laid, fall off your pet and land wherever your pet is—the yard, your home’s carpet, and bedding. (This is also how your home ends up with an infestation.) Over time, the eggs develop first into larvae, then a cocoon. The cocoon is resilient and can survive for weeks or months, waiting for the right environment and presence of hosts in order to hatch. After hatching, the adult flea can immediately jump to a nearby host—typically your pet, but fleas can and will also bite people.
For this reason, you need to treat your pets and the home at the same time. Otherwise, you risk your pet getting re-infested again and again.
But first, how do you treat your pet?
- Kill fleas with a topical or oral medication. Under the supervision of your vet, use medication to kill the fleas. Topical medications kill the fleas directly, while oral pills or chewables get into the fleas to kill them after they bite your pet. Whatever method you use, be sure to use it exactly as directed. Medication doses are determined based on your pet’s species, age, and weight, and it can be dangerous to ignore the directions.
- Wash your pet’s bedding in hot water, then dry on high heat, every few days. Make sure that your detergents are pet-safe.
- Bathe your pet using flea shampoo. (Ask your vet for their recommendation.) If you are also using a flea medication, make sure you do not use both at the same time.
- Groom your pet using a flea comb. Keep a bowl of water handy to dunk any fleas you comb out into the water. Grooming your pet has two benefits: it helps remove fleas from your pet, and it lets you monitor the flea problem.
- Take your pet to the vet. Your vet can recommend flea medication, ongoing flea prevention, and check your pet for flea-related diseases like anemia and dermatitis.
Finally, once your pet no longer has fleas, it’s important to prevent them from coming back. There are many different options on the market, from flea collars to chewable flea and tick medication. Your veterinarian can recommend the best flea prevention for your furry family members. In addition to flea collars or medication, it’s also a good idea to bathe pets that go outside regularly. (Be sure to use pet-safe shampoo.)
How to Get Rid of Fleas in Your Home
As we mentioned above, you’ll need to treat your pet and your home simultaneously. While you kill the adult fleas on your pet, you’ll need to eliminate the eggs in your home.
To get rid of fleas in your home, you’ll need to do the following:
- Vacuum everything from floors, to upholstery, to furniture and cabinets, to mattresses. Pay particular attention to areas where your pet spends a lot of time. Be sure to get into cracks and other tight spaces where eggs may have fallen. It’s best to use a vacuum that allows you to dispose of the bag; do so by sealing it up tight and throwing it away in an outside garbage can.
- Use a steam cleaner on carpets, upholstery, and pet bedding. Again, pay attention to areas where your pet lies down. (You can rent steam cleaners.)
- Wash your bedding and other linens items (like couch covers, throws, and throw pillow covers) in hot water. Dry on the highest heat setting.
- Dust non-upholstered surfaces.
It may take days or even weeks to fully eliminate flea eggs and adults from your home. However, you can shorten how long it takes to get rid of this time-consuming pest by enlisting the help of professionals. A professional will have the knowledge and tools needed to get rid of fleas—and make sure they stay gone.
Need Help with a Flea Problem?
Contact Scherzinger Pest Control, a trusted pest control company in the Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky areas, including Dayton, OH, and now Columbus, OH. We’ve been pioneers, engineering new standards for ways of eliminating and controlling bugs and pests. Contact us by phone at 1-877-748-9888 or through our website, Facebook, or Twitter.
