Fighting Fleas

With fall approaching, fleas begin to migrate to hotter areas. Places such as out-buildings, plants around the house, within your house, garage and on your pets are all places you will find fleas.

To correctly win the skirmish against fleas you have got to target the source first. It may be a giant tree in your yard that houses flea-infested raccoons, or maybe that friendly neighborhood dog who never scratches but is a salt or pepper shaker spreading fleas each time he walks across your grass.

Flea control must involve all areas of infestation, your pets, your home and your yard, and it must involve treatment of all phases of the flea lifecycle, adult, eggs, larva and pupa.

Flea Control on Your Pet

There are several products on the market to treat and control flea infestations on your dog. Collars and spot-ons are the most up to date for long-term control. Effective ingredients are Imidacloprid (Advantage), fipronil (Frontline) and permethrin-pyriproxifen (BioSpot). If you happen to use a spot-on it is suggested that you not wash your dog the day of or one day after application of the spot-on treatment. As well as spot-on treatments, sprays and foams are available too.

You should include your cat in your flea control program irrespective of whether or not they're exhibiting any issues because felines can easily carry fleas from your yard into your place. Cats are a lot more attuned to flea control chemicals (some products for dogs can't be used on felines ) so be sure to only use products that are totally safe to be used on cats.

Flea Control in Your Home

Treatment of your home should be focused on areas where your pets spend the majority of their time. It's smart to use an adulticide to exterminate the adult fleas and an insect growth regulator for the juvenile stages. There are plenty of yard and carpet sprays available. You want to also vacuum source points often and dump the bag, wash pet bedding in hot water and dry on extreme heat for about twenty minutes.

Flea Control in Your Yard

It is vital to treat source points in your yard in areas where your pets spend almost all their time and where immature fleas may develop. Areas to work on are shady, damp areas that contain plant, sand or organic waste like under decks or around bushes and plants.

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