Hasten Those Fleas Out

Fleas are one of the most common parasites caught by pet cats and dogs. Indeed, it's thought that every cat and dog will suffer an infestation at some point in their lives.

Fleas are not just an inconvenience. Their saliva is considered one of the most allergenic substances on earth, and a heavy flea infestation can even be enough to kill a small puppy or kitten.

If you haven't been practising preventative flea control, and you've found fleas on your pet, you've got a bigger problem than you might think. If you've found 10 fleas on your pet, there are likely to be another 2000 eggs, larvae and pupae hiding around your house.

The first thing you should do is visit your vet to discuss treatment of your pets. The treatment could entail something that you put in their food, or an injection. Having established your pet on a treatment program, the fleas in your house will be unable to reproduce.

At this point, there will probably still be hundreds, if not thousands of fleas living as eggs, larvae and pupae in your home. The pupae in particular are difficult to remove, because no currently available insecticide will penetrate their cocoons, and they are usually spun around the base of carpet fibres. However, once they have hatched, they can be effectively treated.

We would recommend that a pest control technician is called in if you have a substantial flea infestation, as they will be best to advise you on the ideal course of action for your particular case.

As soon as you have treated your pets, your flea population will start to decrease as they will not be able to reproduce, however for the fleas to disappear altogether can take up to three months. There are a few things you can do to help speed up removal of fleas from your house:

• Turn your heating up. The warmer and more humid the environment, the faster flea eggs will hatch, pupate and emerge as adults.
• Wash the pet's bedding, together with any removable covers used where the pet frequents (such as sofa covers).
• Vacuum the house thoroughly. Pay particular attention to areas where the pets spend most time. This will remove some flea eggs, larvae and pupae, though certainly not all. But the vibration of the vacuum cleaner may trigger more pupal fleas to hatch from their cocoons.

Article provided by Attack Pest Control