How often do you think about where your furry friend was all day before you let them into your home?
Indoor pets such as cats and dogs can come into contact with many questionable things outside of your home, most frequently, the dreaded flea. While you may simply see them as a nuisance, fleas can actually be harmful to your family’s health, bringing flea borne parasites such as tapeworms into the home.
Identifying Fleas in the Home
Fleas live off the blood of their hosts in order to survive and reproduce. One of the main ways that fleas enter our homes, are from our pets picking them up from outdoors or from other animals, and bringing them directly into the home.
One of the first indication of a flea infestation in your home, are animals who frequently scratch, or are more restless than usual. Another obvious sign of an infestation are human flea bites. In humans, flea bites can create red marks on the skin which can be unbearably itchy. Children and babies tend to be even more sensitive to flea bites and are especially at risk if they play on the floor on carpet and rugs where fleas can hide.
Treatment for a Flea Infestation
Getting rid of fleas is a highly difficult process simply due to the long lifecycle of the average flea. Particularly bad infestations can sometimes take months to control, and may require multiple steps to eliminate.
First off, any successful home treatment must be carried out at the same time as pet treatment. Thoroughly bathe pets with soap and water, and then comb carefully with a flea comb to remove both adult fleas and larvae/eggs.
In the home, thoroughly clean the areas where fleas are found and can easily breed. This includes washing bedding, rugs, mats, and pet bedding, and thoroughly cleaning floors and carpeted areas as well as the edges of walls.
As an alternative home treatment, professional flea spraying is also a quick and highly effective solution to eliminate any flea infestation. At House and Home Pest Control, we can conduct a thorough inspection of your home to understand the extent of the flea infestation. Then, we carefully apply spray to any areas these pests like to inhabit.
By choosing us, you can also rest assured that no matter how many times we have to return to your home, that we’ll get the job done at the price we’ve quoted, with no hidden fees.
Preventing a Flea Infestation
One of the easiest ways to help prevent fleas occupying your home, is to ensure that your pets are treated for fleas with a flea collar or regular flea treatment – readily available from your vet or any local pet store.
It’s worth remembering that at some stages of their life cycle, fleas can be resistant to insecticides and other flea control products. So, in order to get rid of fleas at all stages of their life cycle, sometimes two or more follow-up treatments within 5-10 days after the first application are needed.
If you’re located in the northeast (Dublin, Meath, or Louth) and think you may have a flea infestation in your home, contact House and Home Pest Control as soon as possible for an effective, lasting solution.