Fleas can be a real problem. We can only ever see 5% of the flea population, meaning that 95% of fleas are still in the egg, larvae and pupae stages. So having said this it can take several months to get rid of a pre-existing population on and within your property.
Here are some tips for effective flea control
- Continue with (or start) a flea treatment product on your animal and be sure that all the animals in your household are also being treated. Please be mindful not to bath your animal any more than once a fortnight if you are using a topical treatment, as doing this will water down the flea products, reducing effectiveness and can also cause skin irritation (depending on the type of shampoo being used). If your animal frequents any water you may wish to consider using a systemic product, in a tablet or chewable form, as these will work better than spot-on products in this instance.
- If your animals come inside you will need to vacuum everyday being sure to get into all the little nooks and crannies, paying particular attention to areas that your animals sleep and rest in. This will help to remove any eggs, larvae and pupae, and will also help to remove flea faeces (the fleas’ main diet). This will then help disrupt the flea life cycle.
- Any bedding that your animal uses needs to be washed in hot water, then left in the sun to dry and air. This will aid in mechanical removal of environmental life stages of the flea.
- It would also be beneficial to use a flea spray for inside your home paying particular attention to the areas that your dog likes to sleep and rest in. This product can also be used directly on both dogs and cats. You can also use Flea Bombs as a quick way to break the lifecycle inside (although take particular care if you have a fish tank).
- For all outdoor areas you will also need to use a Flea, Yard and Kennel Spray, paying particular attention to any areas in the yard and under the house that your animal likes to frequent.
Limit any socialising with other animals while getting this problem under control, as you do not want to introduce fresh fleas into your environment. Do not let your friends or family bring their animals into your house or yard, as you cannot be sure that their animals do not have fleas.
Continue to follow these steps and you should start to make significant progress against the fleas.
And importantly, you will need to continue monthly preventative treatment even when you cannot see any more fleas.