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Treating Flea Infection

Fleas are among the most common health problems of dogs and cats. Not only are they an annoyance to both people and pets, but they cause health problems as well.

Fleas will bit your pets, causing an itchy allergic reaction, which can become quite severe. They carry viral and bacterial diseases. In small animals, especially puppies and kittens, the anemia they cause from feeding on the animal’s blood can be fatal. They also carry tapeworms.

Tapeworm segments in the stool or around the rectal area look like small grains of rice. If your dog or cat has fleas, chances are good he has tapeworms – and vice versa.

Wildlife, as well as other cats and dogs bring fleas into your yard. Pets and people then can bring the fleas into the house. Birds nesting in the attic or mice seeking shelter can also bring fleas into your home.

Fleas also travel on their own, as much as a mile an hour. They will hop inside through an open door or window and are often small enough to come through a window screen. Once inside your home there is no place a flea cannot get to.

Adult fleas spend most of their time on your pet, but the remainder of the time they are roaming your house and laying eggs – thousands of them!

TREATMENT OF YOUR HOME IS IMPERATIVE TO CONTROL FLEAS!

Fleas have a four-stage life cycle. Adult fleas lay slippery, pearl-like eggs which fall onto the floor or into the pet’s bedding.

Flea eggs hatch into larvae, which are very tiny and feed on microscopic debris and the droppings from adult fleas. The larvae don’t like light so they will crawl under furniture and into closets. They need some moisture to survive and will live longer in carpeting or upholstery, which trap moisture, than on wood or linoleum.

The larvae feed for a while and then form cocoons or pupae, which remain dormant for days, weeks or months, until conditions are right and vibrations from movement stimulate them to hatch out into adult fleas.

To treat fleas effectively you need to break their life cycle in more than one place.

You may elect to have your house professionally exterminated, or you can treat your house yourself with a pump sprayer or an area spray and foggers. Before doing this, or before the exterminator arrives, vacuum your house thoroughly to remove as many eggs and pupae as possible.

Vacuuming does not kill them, so dispose of the vacuum bag after use. Also put all your washable bedding, especially your pet’s bedding, in the wash.

After vacuuming, use your area spray or pump spray according to label directions. When pump spraying, spray all floor surfaces, and beds and cushions as well. Don’t forget to spray under furniture, the closets, and the attic and in the basement.

If you use foggers ("bombs"), you’ll also need to spray closets, hallways and under furniture and cushions beforehand. Then use one fogger for each room in the house. Don’t forget your basement and attic. Remember that fleas can hop anywhere in your house.

Set one fogger in the center of each room, off the ground on a box or stool. Put some newspapers under each can to catch any drips. Then set the foggers off one by one as you leave. All people and pets must be out of the house for several hours after fogging.

Foggers are not as convenient to use as other methods but they do a good job of spreading insecticide evenly and thoroughly. The most effective foggers contain growth regulators as well as insecticide.

SEVERAL FACTS YOU SHOULD KEEP IN MIND WHEN FOGGING AND SPRAYING YOUR HOUSE

Please remember that only insecticides can kill the adult flea and the larvae stage. Eggs and pupae are in protective shells. Fogs and sprays have a residual effect, so they will continue to kill fleas and their larvae as they hatch from eggs and pupae. However, cleaning, mopping, vacuuming and just walking around in your home all slowly remove the insecticide that you have put down. Retreating may be necessary. We usually recommend repsraying high traffic areas with an area spray one month after your original treatment, and again every month thereafter until a hard freeze kills off the flea population outside for the winter. If you live in a warm area of the country, year ‘round control may be necessary.

Also remember that the residual insecticide can take up to 48 hours to kill newly hatched adult fleas. Fleas can continue to hatch out daily for weeks after spraying and fogging. During this tow week hatching period, additional hand fogging or spraying may provide more immediate relief against the newly hatched fleas.

Any new fleas brought into the house from outside, via a person, your pet, mice, etc. can also take up to 48 hours to die. Do not think that your flea control products are not working if you continue to see fleas for several weeks after treating your house and pets. Often two house treatments 4-8 weeks apart are necessary to completely rid your house of fleas. Occasionally, flea eggs in cool corners, such as in the basement, can lie dormant for several months before hatching.

TREATING THE YARD

If your pet spends a lot of time outdoors, or lives in an outdoor kennel, you may need to treat your yard.

As with indoor pets, the animal’s bed is the most likely spot for flea larvae to hide. Spray the doghouse regularly and wash or change the bedding weekly.

The other places you need to spray are the spots your animal lays in to get out of the sun. Flea larvae die in direct sunlight but survive for long periods in dark, damp, shady spots. Do not waste your time or money treating your entire backyard. The fleas and flea larvae are lurking in the shadows!

TREATING THE PETS

Fleas can usually be prevented by treating all pets who go outdoors so they don’t bring reproducing fleas into the house. If you had fleas in previous years it is wise to spray some insecticide in the house as well, especially on the ground floor near doors and windows. This will kill the occasional flea that hops in on its own.

Some of our clients choose a long lasting flea spray to use on their pet to control fleas. New sprays are available that are waterproof for dogs who swim or are outdoors in the rain. Several different ointment type products are now available for both dogs and cats. These products are applied to a small area of skin and spread over the whole pets themselves. Some kill ticks as well as fleas and they can remain effective for 1-2 months.

Cats may prefer a flea mousse or powder. Cats often don’t like the sound of spray. For both dogs and cats, it is best to treat the face and head by spraying a sponge or cloth and then wiping the spray on, avoiding the eyes.

Flee shampoos and soaps are great for cleaning a dog or cat with fleas but they have no residual effect. They only kill fleas present on the pet at the time the bath is given. As soon as the animal dries off, fleas will hop right back on. For a long-term control you need a product that stays in or on the body for days or weeks at a time.

There are some new products on the market, which are changing the way we deal with fleas. These products are called growth regulators. They don’t kill adult fleas but they break the life cycle by preventing flea eggs from hatching.

Program is an oral medication given to your dog or cat once a month. It circulates in the pet’s bloodstream and is ingested by the flea when it bites the pet. The medication is a flea hormone, which will prevent the eggs that fleas lay from hatching out. This hormone has no effect on mammals so Program has no side effects or contraindications.

This same type of medication is also available in long lasting collars. Again, the medication makes its way into the bloodstream and affects the flea when it bites the pet. (This is a different type of collar than the insecticidal ones available in stores. It is sold only through veterinarians).

Many insecticide flea collars available in stores are not very effective and often cause dermatitis on the pet’s neck.

New on the market is Sentinal, also a combination product with an oral growth regulator and a heartworm preventative together in one monthly pill.

The pet has to get bitten by the flea for growth regulators to work. If your pets have more than just the occasional flea you will still need to use a spray or other insecticide to kill the adult fleas. The great thing about these products is that they WILL prevent your home from being infested.

Growth regulators are also present in the house sprays and foggers we sell, to help break the fleas’ life cycle as well as killing the adult fleas.

In the long run, it is much easier and more cost-effective to prevent fleas on your pets than to have to treat a major infestation of fleas in your house. Regular use of insecticide sprays, ointments or the new growth regulator products will take care of the occasional flea your pets may encounter in the yard and should prevent you from having to spend large sums of money on foggers and exterminators again next year! Treating a bad flea infestation in your house usually costs upwards of $150. A good bottle of flea spray costs about $10.

If you had fleas this year, it is wise to spray the house monthly the next year as well, especially on the ground floor near doors and windows. This will kill the occasional flea that hops in from outside. If the fleas were in your yard this year, they are likely to be there again next year.

Be sure to start using flea products on all your pets that go outdoors as soon as the weather warms up in the spring, so they won’t bring fleas back into your house and start the cycle all over again. Treat them all summer and late into the fall, until we have consistently freezing temperatures outside at night.

Please consult with us before you begin any flea control program. There are so many products on the market nowadays that it’s tough to decide which ones are right for you. We are more than happy to help!