How to Get Rid of Fleas

Senator | Feb 2, 2012 |

0 Comments | Rating: 0

Biting and jumping and itching, oh my! Having a problem with fleas is a real pain, for pets and pet owners alike. Having a flea problem can go beyond having an itchy pet. Fleas can lead to tapeworm infestations, or to discomfort and damage for home owners.

In some areas, fleas have become resistant to a variety of ineffective treatments. This has created a breed of “super fleas” that require careful treatment plans. When it comes to how to get rid of fleas and eliminating them from the lives of you and your pets, there are two important things to keep in mind regarding prevention as well as treatment.

Understanding Fleas

Fleas are external parasites that live off of the blood of mammals. (Gross!) They are the most common pet parasite, and are often more of a problem between April and late August. Unfortunately, they are incredibly adaptable creatures. Although they live on their hosts, eggs can remain on both a host or the surrounding environment — like bedding, carpet or furniture. These eggs hatch into a new batch of fleas within a matter of weeks, meaning that home and pet owners may have a lot of difficulty eliminating their flea problem.

A flea’s life cycle is as follows: egg, larva, pupa and adult. It’s important to use measures that will eliminate fleas at all stages of their life cycles. Adult fleas can lay up to 50 eggs a day. If you manage to kill the adults but not the eggs, you’ll have an entirely new flea problem on your hands within a week.

Flea Prevention

The best way to get rid of a flea problem is to never have one in the first place. Most pet owners first focus on how to get fleas off of their pet. In this instance the adage “prevention is the best medicine” holds true for figuring out how to get rid of fleas. Here’s an overview of some preventative steps:

Monthly Flea Medications

Give your pets prescription-strength oral medication each month. This will help eliminate fleas, flea eggs, and tapeworms from your pet’s system. This is an affective preventative measure when it’s done consistently (most medication is just a once-a-month pill or topical treatment). However, it’s important not to use medicine with reduced strength, as this can cause fleas to become immune to the treatment.

Flea Collars

Flea collars have come under scrutiny in the pet community in recent years. They work in two ways: by emitting a gas that is toxic to fleas, and by being absorbed into the fat layer just below your pet’s skin. They are often only effective in the immediate area of the head and neck, and are not good measures for killing flea eggs.

Instead of using flea collars on your pet, try placing them into vacuum bags after performing a flea-sweep of your house. See our cleaning measures for more information on how this can be used to get rid of fleas

Monthly Flea Baths, Flea Shampoos or Dips

This is a good “first attack” measure if your pet has a flea problem, but it’s not affective as long-term prevention. Some flea shampoos claim that they can get rid of fleas and flea eggs for several weeks, but be warned: the medicine in these products is not as strong as other measures, and as a result fleas may become resistant to them. Make sure that you’re properly using the medicated shampoos.

Flea Treatment

Here’s the bad news: even with affective measures, only about 10 percent of the flea population lives on your pet. If you have a flea problem and have taken first steps like giving your pet a flea dip or shampoo, here’s what you should do next:

Initial Steps How to Get Rid of Fleas

Collect all bedding, rugs, throw pillow covers, or other surfaces that fleas and flea eggs may be gathered on. Wash these in warm soapy water, which will kill the fleas and flea eggs.
Vacuum everything, and we do mean everything: not just the carpet, but also furniture, curtains, cracks in the floor. Be sure to clean anywhere that dust collects, as flea larvae can cling to these. After vacuuming, immediately dispose of the bag to reduce any larvae or adult fleas escaping. If your home has more than one pet, daily vacuuming may be a good preventative measure for reducing the risk of future flea problems.

Steam, shampoo or powder. Use insecticidal carpet shampoo, carpet powders or have your carpet steam-cleaned. Steam-cleaning will kill any remaining eggs or larvae. Be sure to warn cleaners about the fleas, and remove your infested pets.

Use hot soap and water on any other areas where your pets are frequently found. This is a good final measure to ensure that you’re breaking the flea’s life cycle.

If Worst Comes to Worst

Flea “foggers” are an effective measure, but can also be extreme. These require pets and pet owners to leave a house for an hour or two while they are in use. They can also emit chemicals that are toxic if they touch food, utensils or other surfaces. It’s also likely to be an expensive measure, since you may need one fogger for each room. Use foggers only as a last resort.

After these treatment measures, it’s important to implement preventative measures. A few simple steps like daily vacuuming and once-monthly flea medication for your pet will ensure that you’ll never have to worry about how to get rid of fleas again.