Pest control can get rid of all manner of unwanted creatures, but do they get rid of fleas?
Pest control will get rid of any type of flea infestations, but you will have to follow their instructions before and after a service to make sure the fleas are eliminated.
Following the guidelines for getting rid of fleas to a tee will be critical to solve your flea problem with a service such as pest control or by yourself, so if you want to rest easy and be flea-free, continue reading.
Pest Control’s Pre-Visit Guidelines for Flea Infestations
If you want pest control to completely exterminate a flea problem from your home, you will have to take some measures before they arrive for your scheduled appointment.
On your service date you will have to:
- Strip beds of blankets and fitted sheets
- Wash all bedding and throw blankets
- Remove all things from the floor
- Vacuum or mop all floors in your house
- Clean all surfaces, including furniture
- Empty your vacuum bag outside the house
- Remove all pets from the house
- Cover food and put open food in the fridge
Only after these measures are taken can pest controllers do their job well. If you leave places for fleas to escape to, you’ll be looking at more frequent visits from pest control, a larger chance of being exposed to flea-born diseases, and additional hits to your wallet.
If you aren’t thorough in cleaning areas from the list above but you’re fortunate, pest control might move things for you or direct you to fix possible problem spots in your house before they begin your service. Most likely than not, however, exterminators will leave it up to you to make sure you’re ready for your flea removal service, so don’t leave it to chance! Set yourself up for success.
Once pest control arrives on your specified date, you will have to stay out of your house for up to 4 hours. This would be a good time to run errands or get a flea treatment for your pets from your family veterinarian.
After the designated 4 hours is up, you can enter your house again, put everything back, and open your windows if there’s any unpleasant leftover smells. Don’t breathe a sigh of flea-free relief just yet, though! Your flea removal journey isn’t completely over after this appointment.
Pest Control’s After-Visit Guidelines for Flea Infestations
After a visit from a pest controller, you’ll have to take some measures to make sure the flea procedure is effective. First and foremost, you will want to refrain from cleaning your floors until two weeks after your service date. This is due to the fact that most anti-flea services require fleas to come in contact with whatever substance the exterminator uses.
Also, to keep reinfestation from happening, you’ll want to keep up with pet flea medication all year long, not just until the fleas are gone. Ask your veterinarian for the best flea medication to use on your pet; most over the counter flea medications from the grocery stores are not recommended.
If you can’t keep up with the cost of flea medication all year long, try to keep pets inside, especially during peak flea times.
Furthermore, keep an eye out for any fleas you may see after your treatment from a pest controller. Most flea control methods can kill adult fleas but can’t kill fleas in the pupae stage. The pupae will have to grow into an adult flea and land on your treated pet and floors, so don’t freak out if you see a couple fleas here and there.
If you continue to see fleas after a few weeks, call up your pest controller for a follow-up appointment.
Ways Pest Control Fight Pests
So what is pest control doing to your house? Pest control can fight your flea problem in a number of ways.
Which pest control option is the best? Well, that depends on what you’re looking for! Let’s discuss the different types of pest control in more depth.
Biological pest control is a form of pest control New Zealand has used heavily in the past. Biological pest control is the method of introducing a pest’s natural enemy into its habitat. This has been a well-liked method due to its low to no negative effect on an area’s ecosystem.
This version of pest control, however, would only work for areas outside of the house in areas like your lawn and garden since you wouldn’t want to release loose animals or insects inside.
Chemical pesticides are what most exterminators commonly use to rid a house of fleas. Pesticides come in three forms:
- Liquid
- Solid
- Aerosol
Chemical pesticides are harmful to humans and animals, so when pest controllers are servicing your house, you have to leave it until hours after the fact. Chemical flea control is the most effective form out of all four methods.
Organic pest control is on the other end of the spectrum. There are some natural ways to repel fleas. Such as:
- Using diluted essential oils
- Using neem plants and products
- Using geraniol
- Using boric acid
- Using calcium carbonate
- Clean your house with organic products
There is a thread of thought, however, that organic methods of pest control aren’t the most reliable.
Hygienic is the last form of pest control. This is the method enacted by you when you clean around the house. If you leave no way for fleas to get into your house and stay, then the chances of them infesting your place are slim to none.
Fighting Flea Infestations Yourself
If you’ve had to book your local pest control service several weeks into the future due to peak infestation times, you’ll want to take some steps to limit flea population until your pest controller can help you out.
You’ll want to:
- Use pet flea shampoos
- Use flea powders
- Do laundry more often
- Mow overgrown lawns
- Vacuum regularly
- Bath your pets frequently
- Invest in a flea comb
- Be patient
A quick note, flea bombs can be used, but they aren’t very effective as they don’t settle into areas fleas hide. If you do go this route, you’ll need one flea bomb per room.
To fight fleas on your own, you will be doing all of the pre-visit steps for an appointment with supplementary aids often. Shampoos, powders, and flea combs can help kill fleas as well as bathing your pets. The problem, however, is it’s not as effective as chemical treatments. Remember, only about 5% of fleas live on your pets. The remaining 95% will live somewhere in your house.
Vacuuming and doing laundry will also help get rid of some fleas as you are quite literally picking them up and dispatching them. Though vacuuming doesn’t kill fleas, it can help reduce the flea population hopping around in your shag carpet. Washing laundry in hot water can kill attached:
- Fleas
- Eggs
- Larva
Lastly, don’t lose hope. These measures might take a while, but they do help you and your lovely critters. Going through these measures on your own might even get rid of the fleas altogether! If that’s the case, congrats! Feel free to cancel your pest control appointment!
Signs of a Flea Infestation
There are some apparent signs of flea infestations, and if you want to fight against them, you’ll have to look out for these things:
- Pets scratching themselves frequently
- Red itchy bumps on your body
- Finding eggs or larvae
- Seeing jumping bugs on your carpets
- Finding fleas or flea dirt in your pet’s fur
Some items on this list can be attributed to various other things; I’ve had cats that itch themselves a lot for no reason. And I’ve had itchy bumps from many different types of bugs. The key, however, to knowing if you have fleas for sure is finding flea dirt.
Flea dirt is not actually dirt. It’s a flea’s droppings. A way to tell if your pet has flea dirt on them is to wet the debris you find or rub it between some toilet paper. If it turns red, you can be sure it’s flea dirt. The red color of the dirt is remnants of blood the flea digested.
Fighting Fleas on Your Pets with Medication
When you get flea medication from your vet, it’s important to follow the instructions on the label carefully so you can mitigate any future flea problems. Improperly applied flea medication will be less effective or not work entirely.
While you can get generic medication from a pet store, it’s best to seek a medical professional’s advice because they’ll be more familiar with:
- Your pet’s allergies
- How to apply the medication
- Drug interactions from other meds
- How much medication your pet needs
A thing to note, sometimes small dogs will need to have a different amount of flea medication due to their size and weight, so have that information on hand if you’re buying over the counter meds.
Flea medication works on contact. When a flea touches a treated area on your pet, the medication interferes with their body chemistry, leaving them unable to move and finally die. These medications work fast, so your pet can get relief fast.
Can I Use Flea Medication for a Different Animal on My Pet?
With different types of flea meds on the market, you might be wondering, is it okay to use dog flea medication on my cat? Or vice versa?
No. Only use flea medication for its intended animal. Do not use dog flea medication on cats. It’s toxic and can kill them. If you accidentally put flea medication for dogs on your cat, you will need to act immediately to save them.
Keep reading for instructions on what to do in this emergency situation.
What to Do if You Put Dog Flea Medication on Your Cat
Dog flea medication is deadly to cats, so if you unintentionally put it on your kitty, time is of the essence. Use the below info depending on when you notice your mistake.
Immediately | When Symptoms Occur |
Wash your cat with soap and water | Rush to vet |
Rinse thoroughly | Call vet en route |
Then follow “When Symptoms Occur” | Be patient as the vet attends to your cat |
Symptoms to look out for:
- Seizing
- Shaking
- Muscle twitches
- Vomiting
- Foaming at the mouth
Dog flea medication is deadly to cats due to them not having the ability to swiftly filter certain chemicals out of their body. Medications from your vet could help your cat from processing these toxins.
Dogs on the other hand, aren’t well known for having serious reactions to cat flea meds depending on what’s inside them. Regardless, it’s best not to risk it.
To keep an emergency like this from happening, make sure you do the following:
- Always use the correct medications for your pets
- Double check your medication
- Keep medications for different animal types separate
Finally, it’s recommended that you keep dogs away from your cats for at least four hours after they’ve had a treatment, so there’s no cross-contamination.
The Life Cycle of a Flea
The best way to keep fleas from entering your life ever again is to know the stages of their lives and how they operate.
Fleas have four stages in their life cycle. The stages are as follows:
- Egg
- Larva
- Pupae
- Flea
It all starts with the female flea. She and a male flea have a blood meal and mate. The female can then lay up to 50 eggs a day on your pet or around the house. If laid on your pet, these eggs can easily fall off and land in every corner of your home.
In about a week, the eggs will hatch and become larva. These new tiny larvae will look for dark and damp areas to prepare for their next stage in life. In a little less than two weeks, the sticky, wriggly larvae will weave a cocoon and enter its pupae stage.
Pupae can stay dormant in this stage for months as they wait for the perfect time to feast on nearby hosts. Once a pupa is awakened by the warmth of a potential meal and vibrations from human or pet movement, it will hatch by tearing out of the cocoon with its milk tooth.
This newly hatched flea is now considered an adult, and if it’s a female, she can start the process all over again by laying some eggs herself. Or the flea can jump 150 times their body length into the air and find a meal with their tube-like mouth.
Once the flea finds a host, it will bite and then prevent the blood from clotting with blood thinners. These blood thinners are the reason the area will be itchy for days after the bite.
Flea Types of New Zealand
The most common flea to occur in infestations is the cat flea as it has a wide range of hosts it likes to choose from. This isn’t the only flea New Zealand has to offer.
The most common type of fleas in New Zealand are the following five:
- Cat fleas
- Dog fleas
- Human fleas
- Rat fleas
- Bird fleas
But, you can still find a human flea on a dog and so forth.
Besides certain fleas enjoying distinct animal hosts, these flea types differ in the following ways:
- Shape
- Size
- Color
- Lifespan
These different flea types, however, can all be killed in similar manners, so if you find any type in your house, pest control can take care of them for you.
Diseases Carried by Fleas
Another reason fleas are irritating to deal with besides causing horrible itchiness is they can cause a host of diseases and problems for humans and pets alike.
Fleas bites can cause:
- Allergic reactions
- Weight loss problems
- Typhus
- Lyme disease
- RMSF
- Seborrhoea
- Anemia
- Bacterial skin disease
Fleas have even been known to be hosts for tapeworms. If you accidentally swallow a flea you can get infected and must go to the doctor.
Fleas have even been known to carry the plague in dark historic times!
Where Fleas Come From
Fleas can come from infested areas outside of your property. Pets and even humans can bring fleas in from the outside. Areas you can pick up fleas from are:
- Pet parks
- Lawns
- Other pets
- Pet stores
- Other animals stuck in your walls
The most important thing to know when you’re out and about where fleas can be found is infestations occur more frequently during dry rainless times; this is because they tend to get washed away or drown in rain.
Fleas are especially active in late January; therefore, be especially careful to take measures to prevent any awful flea hitchhikers.
Conclusion
Fleas are tricky, annoying, and can spread dangerous diseases, so the best way to fight them is to have the knowledge to defeat them and spring into action as soon as you see any signs of an infestation. Furthermore, make sure to follow flea-repellant instructions to the letter so you can save yourself time, money, and heartache.