Effective Flea Control – Here’s How

Get rid of fleas and keep them away!

Having fleas on your pet and in your home can be frustrating, but if you follow these steps carefully, you can eradicate fleas and keep them away:

1. Control Fleas On Your Pets – Use an effective topical or oral flea medication on ALL PETS in your household.  This must be done monthly YEAR-ROUND
2. Vacuuming Frequently – this removes fleas, eggs, larvae and pupae from the environment.  Make sure you vacuum under furniture and dispose of the vacuum bag or empty the canister and remove the contents from your home.  Vacuuming can suck up the pupae that are resistant to insecticides.
3. Wash Bedding – do this frequently in warm to hot water, weekly or more often is best.
4. Treat the Environment – This is not as important IF you follow Step 1!  If your pets are treated with a monthly flea medication it will break the flea life cycle.  However, these medications may not kill fleas in the larval stage so it may be necessary to treat the environment if you have a severe flea infestation.  It is important that children and pets be out of the house or room being treated when using environmental pesticides.

A few notes:

It is VERY IMPORTANT to treat all pets in the household for fleas.  Fleas are equal opportunity pests –your cat may not outside, but if your dog brings a few fleas into the house after going potty in the yard, they are more than happy to take up residence on your indoor kitty.

Environmental pesticides do not kill the pupae stage, therefore frequent, thorough vacuuming in combination with effective flea treatment on your pets is the most effective way to eliminate fleas and keep them out.

All flea products are not created equal! If you need recommendations for safe, effective products to use on your pet and around your home, please call us.

More posts on getting rid of fleas and keeping them away:

• Understand the flea life cycle to keep fleas away
• Flea FAQs, aka the Flea Troubleshooting Guide