Flea Treatment for Pets
 
 
Sharing your space with a pet makes it important that you understand flea treatment methods.  Hopefully, you have never experienced fleas, but they can occur even if your pet is always indoors since fleas can arrive with both human and animals visitors to your home.

If you move to a new living space which had pets in residence, you can also inherit a flea problem from the previous resident which will require treatment as fleas can live without a meal from your pet for more than 100 days.
 
Let’s first understand how the flea reproduces so you can plan the best treatment for your pet and its surroundings. Adult fleas live about three to four months during which time they are constantly laying tiny white eggs on your pet that look like dandruff or salt crystals.
 The eggs hatch into larvae that live in cracks and crevices where the pet roams and sleeps.  These larvae feed on the flea dirt (black specks of dried blood) that fall off the animal when it grooms or scratches. After a week or two, the fleas hatch out, find a nice warm body to hitch a ride on, bite it for a meal of blood and the process starts all over again.

Pretty disgusting isn’t it? So just treating your pet for fleas will not solve the problem. The goal is to eliminate all parts of the cycle to get a complete flea treatment solution for your pet.
 

Here are the basic steps in your flea treatment extermination plan for your pet:
 

  • Use a flea comb to trap and kill fleas on your pet. As you trap them, pull them off the comb and plunge them into a container of hot, soapy water. Be sure to cover your lap with a towel that can catch the clumps of hair and flea dirt. Flush the soapy water down the commode and wash the towel in hot water. They are products that you can buy to bath your pet in which is also an effective flea treatment for the fleas currently on our pet.
  • You also need to focus on the fleas, eggs and larvae that are not on your pet. So please include the following in your pet’s flea treatment plan.
  • Wash all bedding thoroughly in hot soapy water, and vacuum thoroughly anywhere your pet sleeps.

 

  • Vacuum carpeting daily and dispose of used bags. Vacuum the furniture using the appropriate tools to get in the hard to reach places.

 

  • Steam cleaning the carpet is effective in killing flea eggs and should be part of your pet’s flea treatment plan.

 

  • If you have a serious infestation in your home, you may want to consider a whole house flea treatment insect bomb. Pets and humans will need to be removed during this process and all food and water containers should be put away and cleaned before reuse.
  • Using a preventive monthly flea treatment medicine for pets that are in and out of doors will help ensure your pet is protected from adult fleas.

Flea treatment and prevention is so important to the health of your pet and also makes sure that you and your family stay flea free and the only thing you have to scratch is an “itch”.
   
 
Rapid Bath (Jarden Direct)