Flea Control
The only problem about having a cat or dog in the house is that you are also going to invite undesirable house guests such as fleas. As fleas are not only tiresome bloodsuckers, that leave a small itchy red lump on us humans, and also capable of spreading tapeworms and causing fever, it is essential to control them.
If you get an infestation of fleas in your home, don’t expect to be able to get rid of them overnight. Just applying a medication to your animal won’t solve the problem, due to the life-cycle of the flea. Flea eggs can remain in your home for up to a year before hatching.
Regular use of a hoover will remove any eggs and larvae that may be in your carpets or soft furnishings, along with the larva’s food sources. There are also sprays available for use in the household that will kill both the adult flea and larvae. These are useful for areas that are hard to get at and don’t get regular hovering such as corners and under furniture.
Many people will use a household spray once, which will kill and active adult fleas and larvae, and then not use it again and return to their normal routine. After a short period of time they find the fleas are back and think that the spray didn’t work. The problem is however that these sprays don’t kill flea eggs, which will hatch out after the effects of the spray have worn off, allowing them to breed and reproduce re-infesting the home.
Always read the instructions on the spray carefully and apply at the recommended intervals, while maintaining a regular hoovering regime. By doing this you will greatly reduce the ability of the flea to reproduce itself, and over time you will rid your house of these irritating creatures.
One of the best methods of flea control in the home, is to control them at the source. As the fleas first point of entry to your home is usually via your pet, it makes sense to treat your cat or dog with a medication that will either kill the flea on the animal or repel them.
There are a number of commercial medicated products on the market that can be safely used with your pet, such as collars, spot on treatments and sprays.
Spot on treatments, such as Frontline, are a medicated liquid which are applied directly to the cat or dogs skin at the shoulder where it will absorb into the skin. These treatments tend to kill any fleas that attach themselves to your dog within 24-48 hours, and provide protection for about a month.
Flea collars are simple to apply and will go on killing fleas on your cat or dog for up to 5 or 6 months. They do have one drawback however and that is that it is easy for us humans to come into contact with any chemicals they may contain.
Flea sprays tend to coat your pets fur with a medication that will either kill or repel fleas, so you will want to check the label to make sure that the active ingredients are safe to be used around you and your family.
Before using any medication on your pet however, please check with your local vet that it is safe to do so. Just because you have safely used one product on one animal doesn’t mean another won’t have a nasty reaction to it, in the same way as some people can eat nuts whilst others will end up in hospital if they eat them.
Never mix medications or sprays on animals. If you use spot on treatments do not then purchase a flea collar for them, as you could end up giving your pet an overdose, that could be life threatening. Always read the labels and if unsure consult a vet.
By maintaining a regular flea control routine you should be able to happily sleep at night without worrying about waking up with horrible itching red spots in the morning. Just applying a treatment once won’t get you anywhere.