How to get rid of fleas
You simply cannot expect to get rid of a flea infestation if you do not treat your home environment as well as your pets. Exterminating fleas in your home is a multi-step process, involving flea-bombing, as well as continual vacuuming, cleaning, and maintenance:
You are going to want to exterminate the fleas in your home using a flea bomb.
Flea bombs are good for doing most of the job of getting rid of the adult flea population in your home. They are designed for large, open spaces, and can penetrate deep into areas that are hard to reach.
Read the directions carefully on the flea bomb you buy. You want to buy enough to cover each room in your home. Most flea bombs can be safely used in your home when you turn off your heating system. You will have to vacate your home for at least 3 to 4 hours. Round up all your pets and vacate the premises. When you come back, open the windows to let your home air out for 30mins before entering.
There are several steps to take before and after you bomb. Before you bomb you should vacuum all carpets in your home thoroughly. One of the problems with getting rid of an infestation of fleas is that there is no way to destroy the dormant flea larvae.
Even after a thorough bombing, fleas can begin to turn up again. Vacuuming helps to stimulate the growth and hatching of the flea eggs that lie deep in the carpeting. You will want to vacuum again after you have bombed, and continue to vacuum your home frequently, at least once a week. Vacuuming alone can get rid of as much as 50% of the flea eggs.
Don't forget your furniture. Take off the cushions and pillows and vacuum deep into crevices. Leave them off when you bomb to allow the fogger to reach deeper. Make sure you immediately wrap up the vacuum bag in a plastic garbage bag and get rid of it right away as it contains adult fleas and flea eggs.
Open all the drawers, cabinets, and closets before you use the flea bomb.
Put away all food and drink, bowls, plates, and all your pet's food.
Cover up aquariums.
After you have bombed the house, wash and change your bedding frequently. Keep cleaning around where your pets sleep and hang out. Put all of your clothes through the laundry. Don't forget to treat areas you might not think of right away, like the garage, your car, pet carriers, clothes hampers, etc.
Flea sprays and carpet powders designed for the home environment can also be helpful products after flea-bombing your house. Flea sprays are good for harder to reach places where the flea bomb might have missed, such as cracks, moldings, baseboards, and under furniture. Powders can be used in the carpet to penetrate down where flea eggs may remain.
Even with all the steps you have taken, there is still a chance of fleas reappearing. This is why it is best to repeat the process of flea bombing your home again after 3 weeks. This second flea-bombing should greatly reduce the risk of a major reinfestation occurring. Keep your eyes out closely for any signs of the re-emergence of fleas.
· There wouldn’t be much point in treating your pet for fleas if you fail to treat your home as well. If your pet has fleas, most likely there are flea eggs and larva in your home. If you fail to treat every area in your home that the pet has occupied, you will miss more than 90% of the developing flea population.
· Wash carpet and bedding
· You’re going to need to treat any carpet or bedding that your pet uses or comes in contact with. Wash all bedding in hot water, or destroy any that seems beyond help.
· As much as possible, remove all toys, clothing, and furniture that obscure carpeting, so that the largest area possible is accessible for treatment.
· Vacuum, vacuum, vacuum!
· Vacuuming alone will get rid of many of the eggs, larva, and pupa that are hidden in your carpet. Vacuuming also encourages pre-adult fleas to leave their cocoons, making them vulnerable to insecticides.
· Vacuuming also stirs up the pile of the carpet, allowing insecticides to penetrate more deeply. After you’ve thoroughly vacuumed all effected areas, seal the vacuum cleaner bag, and dispose of it outside.
· Insecticides that kill eggs and larva
· Once fleas have established themselves in your home, you will probably need to use an insecticide to completely control them.
· As a general rule, sprays that can be directed onto the carpet by hand are more effective than the “flea bombs” that you set off in the center of a room. Hand held sprays can be used on all likely areas of flea infestation, and under beds, behind couches, furniture, etc.
· You will probably continue to see evidence of fleas for two weeks or longer after treating your home, but don’t despair. Continue to vacuum on a regular basis, as this will stimulate pre-adult fleas to leave their cocoons.
Fleas can be a big problem for pet owners. Thankfully, there are many products that can help you rid your pet of these annoying pests. Unfortunately, killing the fleas on your pet will not solve the problem. Fleas, as well as their eggs and larvae, can continue to thrive inside your home and re-infest your pet or family members. Therefore, it is very important to take appropriate measures to free your home of fleas.
To rid your home of fleas, you need to start from the beginning. That means destroying any flea eggs before they hatch. Fleas can lay up to one egg per hour. These then roll off of the fleas’ host, usually a pet or person. This frequently occurs when sleeping. Therefore, you will want to thoroughly clean your bed and anyplace your pet may sleep. Vacuuming, dusting, sweeping, and mopping are all ways to destroy flea eggs. These same methods will also remove flea larvae occupying floors and carpets. Flea larvae feed on skin cells and other organic matter. Thus, your cleaning efforts will also remove much of their food source.
In most cases, simply cleaning your house will not be enough. You will also want to use a form of insecticide to treat the entire home. There are several types of these products that you can use. Liquid treatments are one highly effective method. They use a “residual insecticide concentrate” to kill adult fleas. If you choose to use a liquid treatment, you will want to wear shoes when walking through your house for the first four to six hours after use. That is how long it takes for the insecticide to dry. Once treated, though, your house should remain free of fleas for four to six months.
Finally, there are aerosol products that can kill the fleas in your home. These work in a similar manner to liquid insecticides. However, they do have a greater risk since they will affect the air in your home. Most products are non-toxic to humans. However, if you have fish or birds you will want to remove them from the area. Ultimately, aerosols are the easiest insecticide option to use and will keep your home flea free for up to six months.
Fleas are more than a nuisance they are a very real health hazard as they are vectors of many diseases including bubonic plague, salmonella, tape worm, typhus and other fevers.
There are fleas specific to most mammals including humans. However, human fleas are rare in New Zealand and it is more often cat, dog or bird fleas that are responsible for infestations in our homes. Cat fleas are most commonly associated with biting humans. They will prefer to feed on the blood of cats but if there are a lot of fleas or the normal cat hosts have been removed they will readily bite humans.
The female lays several hundred eggs in her lifetime. These are laid just a few at a time onto host animals, very quickly falling off into dust, bedding, carpets or upholstery. They rest for 2 - 10 days before emerging as eyeless, legless worm-like larvae with 13 body segments and chewing mouth parts.
The larvae feed on dust and other detritus found in carpets and bedding around where the host (human or pet) lives. It will pupate and then lie dormant until it detects the presence of a host by heat and vibrations. The adult will then quickly emerge and hop onto the host where it will begin to feed by biting and sucking blood.
Almost all flea infestations are associated with pets, birds or other animals. Cat fleas are the most likely to bite humans.
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