Fleas are external parasites of mammals and birds, but the most common damage they can cause is to humans and household pets. They can have a significant economic impact, as billions of dollars are spent in America alone, only on flea related veterinary bills, pet groomers or prescriptions for flea treatment. Preventing an infestation with this pest is crucial, as getting rid of it can prove to be a real challenge. When infesting a home, 80% of the flea population is made up by eggs and larvae of this pest, so the best way of avoiding a development of the infestation, is keeping any fleas in the stage of adults out of your house, or preventing the immature stages from maturing into adults. As with any pest you might be dealing with, sanitation is the key when it comes to preventing an infestation. Keeping your house clean and your pets healthy is the goal you need to have in mind.
Protect your property and pets
Keeping your house flea-free can be achieved with ease if your do not own a pet. However, whet a cat or dog get involved, the situation changes and the preventive measures against an infestation must be immediately applied. Your pets can catch these parasites outside in your yard, so a good lawn maintenance can help you when dealing with this problem. Knowing how this pest reproduces, what it eats and how it can enter your house is crucial, as the best way of containing a possible infestation in place is through an integrated pest control management
By mowing your lawn regularly, you can better avoid that your pets get fleas or even ticks when playing outside. However, this does not solve the problem, as they can still catch this parasite from a neighbouring pet or from a stray animal.
Check the surrounding of your house to make sure no other warm-blooded animal is nesting on your property, as these can re-infest everything you have tried to keep safe. Besides mowing the lawn, make sure you rake any other decomposing vegetation and reduce possible hiding places and food sources available in your yard. Remove tall grasses and weeds, as they can offer shelter to many animals or can also offer food to flea carrying pests such as rats, mice, squirrels. Should it be the case, you will need to remove larger animals hiding under your home, or in your garage or attic, such as mice, raccoons, stray dogs and cats. By using cedar or eucalyptus mulch spread around your yard, you can discourage the fleas from lingering in the area. You can also use nematodes, especially by spraying them on the soil, in order to eliminate any flea larvae, as this is considered an organic method of control.
Should you not own a pet, or have problems with any other wildlife animal, you can bring fleas in the house yourself. These pests are highly sensitive to vibration and movement, so just by walking through an area infested with fleas, the adults are automatically set off, and with one jump they can easily hitch-hike into your house. This is why especially children can easily bring fleas into the house, as they are not that aware which areas they should avoid.
If you have already noticed a flea infestation in your house, you can try and keep it in check by thoroughly vacuuming your house. Beside gathering the adult ones, vacuuming can also clear away other debris such as tiny particles of dirt, human hair, pet hair, fibres from carpets, rugs and furniture, which normally help in protecting and hiding the eggs and pupae of the flea. It will also clear your home of flea dirt, which actually means dries faeces of the flea, which can cause allergies to the inhabitants of your house. Thoroughly cleaning your home on a regular basis, especially areas where your pets sleep, play, eat, will greatly reduce the materials needed for the immature flea to continue its development.
Organic preventive methods
As mentioned above, nematodes are a great way of keeping in check the population of fleas you have in your yard. They will destroy the larvae, preventing new adults from emerging.
Another organic substance you can use is diatomaceous earth. You can lightly dust infested areas with this powder and vacuum the dead fleas after a day or two. This substance is not a chemical product, as it contains fossilised remains of plankton which act like sharp knives penetrating the exoskeleton of the flea and finally causes the dehydration of the insect. It will work on adult fleas, but it will not affect their eggs, so you will need to reapply this powder after one to four weeks, when the new adults emerge from their eggs. By using this method and vacuuming afterwards, you can easily avoid a re-infestation from the eggs hatching later on, and you can also apply it on carpets and mattresses as well.
In addition to DE, you can also use boric acid as an organic solution as an alternative. It can be used in the same powder form and vacuumed after it has affected the pest, however, as opposed to DE which has no toxicity level, boric acid can cause a form of poisoning if you are repeatedly exposed to it. It is better to avoid it getting ingested or inhaled in significant amounts or over extended periods of time, especially if you have children or pets in the house.
You can clean your carpet by using baking soda. Cover it and leave it at least four hours before vacuuming it, as the baking soda will dry out the eggs hidden in the carpet and kill the next generation of fleas before they even hatch.
You can also use essential oils such as eucalyptus, tea tree oil, or cedar oil. You can make a mixture with water and apply it on affected areas, however, if you have a cat as a pet, keep in mind that it can be affected, as cats have a highly sensitive sense of smell. You can also rub oils on your dogs’ neck and back, as it will kill or at least repel other fleas, but keep in mind not to do this with your cat.
Place cedar chips in the corners of rooms, in the dog pen or bed, and under furniture, as it can also keep fleas away through its potent smell.
When it comes to cleaning bed linen or your pet’s bedding, do it in hot water, as it will kill all the fleas and remaining eggs. Do this as soon as you have noticed you have any sign of a possible infestation. Wash the bedding often and also your pet. Make sure you also run a brush through its fur when coming inside the house, as this will reduce the chances of having fleas hide themselves in the fur. You can also consider grooming your pet, especially at summer time, as a shorter fur will not enable the fleas to hide as well as a longer one would.
Keep your animals healthy and well fed as fleas will not be attracted to a healthy specimen, but to a weaker one, that seems unable to defend itself from their invasion. Be careful and often check your pet for fleas, as they can also transmit disease, being a pest that feeds on blood.
Fleas are quite persistent, living up to 6 month and having millions of offsprings during this time. As mentioned before, preventing an infestation starts with a good sanitation of your home and your pets. Keep in mind to always check your pets regularly, to vacuum constantly, and at the smallest sign of an infestation, to apply as many deterring methods against these insects, as only an integrated pest management will do the trick. Avoid clutter in and around your house and make sure you keep applying preventive methods, even after you have managed to get rid of an infestation, as other generations might make their way back to you.
For more details on ‘How to get rid of fleas infestation’ visit our related article and get to work, as there is no time to waste when it comes to fleas.
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