The moment you observe your dog scratching his/her skin, you become skeptical about the health condition of your pooch. You immediately guess that there is a chance that a flea is probably troubling your pooch and unfortunately, in most cases, your guess can be true as the reason behind itching could very well possibly be flea infestation.
Fleas are the blood-sucking freeloaders that live on your dog’s skin and suck blood. They not only suck blood but also transfer worms like Tapeworms and cause skin allergies. Hence, not even in your right mind, you would ever think of ignoring flea infestations or underestimate them.
Therefore, to keep fleas a mile away from your pet in addition to protect your pooch you’ll also need to protect and treat your house and the lawn or backyard because fleas thrive in these types of areas.
Here’s how you can get rid of fleas on dogs, your house and your backyard.
The Flea Cycle And How To Break It
A flea has four life stages starting from the egg stage in which the eggs hatch to deliver larvae which then wrap themselves up to become a pupa and then eventually mature into an adult flea. The adult female gives thousands of eggs in her lifetime. These eggs are projected out like a ball to the surroundings in the house from a host’s body whenever the host stands up or shakes itself, thus infecting the house with eggs, and larvae, pupae and fleas in near future. The eggs are 0.02 inches long and mature into larvae (0.06 to 0.16 inches) within 2-7 days or more through the summers and hatch in or around August. These larvae love living in damp and dark place hence they can be easily found in beddings, under the mattresses, carpets feeding on any animate substance available even their fellow eggs that haven’t hatched yet.
Only after they have had a sufficient amount of feeding they wrap themselves in silk like sticky thread. The material is moist and sticky enough to adhere to debris and dust from the surrounding to make the cocoon more safe and hard like an egg.
The pupa stays dormant till some changes in the environment activate it. The pupae molt to emerge as an adult flea after they feel the presence of a potential host, increased level of carbon dioxide gas, increased temperature or vibration.
As you can see flea has a distinct and smart life cycle so even if you kill the adult fleas on your pooch, the shredded eggs in the surrounding are still there to trigger a new flea attack.
So, to break the flea life cycle, start with your Fido or the carrier that brought the fleas inside your house.
Treat The Cause And The Carrier
Fleas can be brought inside your house by your beloved dog, you yourself (if you have handled a dog or cat infested with fleas then you can bring flea eggs or fleas to home) or by any other wild animal that has taken shelter in your property.
Dogs can be treated with the IGRs (insect growth regulators) like Fipronil and s-Methoprene (Frontline plus), Imidacloprid (Advantage) and Indoxacarb (Activyl)
These treatments not only eliminate the fleas before they can lay eggs but also treat the flea larvae.
If the infestations in the house are because of a wild animal then professional animal specialists or pest control specialists should be hired to deal with these sort of wild animals and extradite them.
Humans can use insect repellants to deal with these sort of infestations. DEET (N, N-diethyl-m-toluamide)
Recognized by the WHO can be used as an insect repellant. Also, Permethrin can also be used, but before using, consult your doctor.
Treat Your House
If the fleas have entered the house then as said earlier they can be anywhere because the eggs are spread everywhere by the vector. That’s why you need to clean the house and make flea free to break the flea cycle and completely eradicate the fleas from yours and your furry companion’s life.
Clean the damp and dark areas, especially, all the places where the vector i.e. your dog or wild animal host or you have walked, sat, slept or even stood a for a while. Vacuum clean and wash the beddings, carpets, cushions, curtains, and rugs.
People also opt for foggers also known as flea bombs but the major disadvantage of these treatments is that you will have to leave your house for the duration the treatment is carried out. Added to that these pesticides don’t reach every dark and damp place where the flea larvae and pupae are actually thriving.
Moreover, the effect of pesticides abates after the vacuuming and cleaning of the house is done.
It would be great if you vacuum clean your house before it is treated professionally, it will displace the hidden larvae from their position and bring them into a more exposed place.
Vacuum cleaners and Steam cleaners are widely accepted and the most effective flea removal techniques, you can put flea treatment pesticide in the bag so that if any of these bloodsuckers still survive and reach the bag, they get treated inside the bag itself. However, steam cleaners are more effective than vacuum cleaners.
Treat Your Backyard Or Lawn
Your backyard, if infested by the fleas can bring a lot of trouble for you because from there the fleas, flea eggs, larvae, and pupae can just stick on you or your pooch and get an express entry to your house.
Use flea sprays or DE(diatomaceous earth) to treat the flea infested backyard. As a vigilant pet parent, you will also need to maintain your yard in such a way that there are no dark and humid holes or leave piles that can encourage flea larval growth. Keep the grass bit short and always fence the compost heaps if you have one.
Hope you take good care of your Fido, to keep your house flea-free you will have to take a step ahead and be very cautious because these tiny nasty creatures will infest your beloved pal and you won’t even know.