If your pet is scratching a lot, is shedding some of its fur or has scabs and sores, your pet may have a serious problem with fleas. And when fleas attach themselves to pets, they can move into your home, yard and even your body. Luckily, you can take steps to use synthetic chemicals and natural products to protect your pet and get rid of fleas from your home. Start at Step 1 to find out how to do it.
Step
Part 1 of 3: Handling Pets
Step 1. Start by bathing her
Bathe your cat or dog with a mild shampoo or citrus-based dish soap. You can also use factory-made flea control. Fleas don't stick to your pet's fur, and will fall into the water and drown.
- After bathing, comb your pet with a flea comb. We recommend that you always use a flea comb whenever your pet is undergoing treatment to get rid of fleas.
- Ask the pet groomer to trim your pet's hair or trim it shorter before doing other treatments. That way, the insecticide can reach the pet's skin where the fleas live, so the use of a flea comb can be more effective.
- Talk to your vet about powders and sprays you can use on your pet's skin.
Step 2. Treat all pets with oral and topical medications
You must give oral medications such as Program and Sentinel along with topical medications such as Frontline.
- Use the right dose according to your pet's special needs, because an overdose of the drug can cause serious reactions in your pet. Never use dog flea medication on cats, because the cat's nervous system can only accept cat flea medication.
- Give flea control on the same day you treat fleas in your home and yard to get maximum and effective results.
Step 3. Wash pet bedding as well as any fabric items that have stuck to the floor
The number of flea eggs and larvae on bedding and fabric items will be significantly reduced if you wash them. It also makes the insecticide you give more effective.
- Washing doesn't kill lice, but it can shed some of the nits when exposed to water. On the other hand, a normal drying process for more than 30 minutes can kill any eggs and lice remaining on the fabric.
- Do all of this at the same time, removing everything at once and wrapping it in a tightly sealed plastic bag. Wrap cleaned items in a clean cloth or garbage bag for up to 12 hours after cleaning your home and pets to prevent fleas from crawling back onto the cleaned items.
Step 4. Let the pet roam freely around the house after you have handled the house and pets
Fleas will smell the pet and will jump on the pet's fur, and the flea will die immediately after biting your pet's skin.
Step 5. For 30 days try to keep your pet in the house as long as possible
If you must take the animal outdoors, keep it out of contact with tall grass, fallen leaves, gravel or sandy soil.
- If you need to take your dog for a walk, try to walk the sidewalk for the first month. Even if your cat or dog is toxic to fleas that jump onto their bodies, remember that you're working on getting rid of the fleas. And of course you don't want new fleas to stick to the animal while you're trying to kill the old ones.
- If possible, keep pets, especially cats, indoors in winter. You can save money by quarantining your animal because you don't have to re-treat your animal once the fleas have been removed, unless you find new fleas on the animal.
Step 6. Continue to treat your pet with preventative measures every 30 days
You may be able to stop preventive measures after four months if your pet remains indoors. However, if your pet is often out of the house, you should continue to care for it.
Part 2 of 3: Treating Your Home, Yard and Yourself with Chemical Drugs
Step 1. Every day, spray a mosquito repellent containing DEET on socks, ankles and trouser cuffs to prevent tick bites
- Fleas will die when sucking the blood of pets, if you have handled the animal. However, your body has not been given flea deterrents, so your blood remains a delicacy for lice. Fleas only need a drop of blood to lay their eggs, so don't give them food.
- If a month has passed, you may no longer need to spray DEET-containing mosquito repellent on your ankles. You are completely safe if there are no more fleas jumping around. However, if you still see fleas hanging around or you're still biting your ankles, continue spraying with mosquito repellent.
Step 2. Clean the floor of the house thoroughly
This includes carpeted and smooth surfaces.
- Vacuum all carpets, rugs and sofa upholstery. Fill a vacuum cleaner bag with a piece of flea collar that has been cut into pieces. Sucking with a vacuum cleaner not only sucks in fleas, eggs and larvae, but the vibrations produced by the vacuum cleaner also make the fleas hatch from their cocoons. Since fleas that are in the pupa stage cannot be killed with insecticides, get as many pupae as possible to hatch so you can kill more fleas. When you're done, throw the vacuum cleaner bag in a trash can away from your home. Continue by turning the vacuum upside down and spraying the vacuum cleaner head with the lyse.
- Mop your floor until clean. Use a floor cleaner like Super Pell or undiluted apple cider vinegar to remove fleas from holes and crevices in the floor so they can be killed easily when you fumigate or spray your home.
Step 3. Purchase a flea spray in liquid or smoke form, then read the instructions on the package, and make sure there is enough flea spray to cover every room in your home
To ensure that the product also kills nits, look for products that contain one of these active ingredients: methoprene, fenoxycarb or pyriproxyfen.
- Spray carpets, rugs, furniture, baseboards, as well as walls and your pet's bedding. Make sure you follow the directions on the can.
- Don't forget door edges, corners, gaps in the floor and under furniture and sofa cushions. Flea larvae like to hide in dark places even if your pet can't crawl under furniture.
- If you use a smoke sprayer, you should still spray areas that the smoke sprayer cannot reach.
Step 4. Spray the yard if your pet spends more than five percent of the time outdoors
- Remove any debris such as fallen leaves, grass debris or other organic matter before you spray the lawn. Before spraying, also cut the grass in your yard.
- Make sure you spray all areas that are dark or partially shaded. This includes inside the doghouse, under trees, and bushes as well as areas under the deck or veranda of your home.
Step 5. Re-spray your home two weeks after the first spray
Many of the fleas in your home may still be pupae, or in the pupal stage, which cannot be killed with insecticides. Fleas which in the first spray are still in the form of cocoons will die with this second spray.
Part 3 of 3: Using Natural Remedies to Get Rid of Lice
Step 1. Keep the house as cool as possible when you are out
Fleas do not survive well in cold environments. Fleas will move to pets which can kill them if you keep your house as cool as possible when you are outside.
- Purchase an electronic thermostat that can be programmed to lower the temperature or turn it off when you are at work or sleeping.
- If possible, keep your windows wide open when you leave the house.
Step 2. Cover the furniture after you have done the cleaning in your home
This will prevent fleas from hiding in the sofa cushions, under pillows or under blankets.
Step 3. Rub your pet's fur with an orange
Squeeze an orange or lemon and rub the peel on your pet's fur. While your pet will have a pleasant smell, the water and orange oil will not be harmful to the animal if licked.
Step 4. Take advantage of natural predators in your yard
You can buy "beneficial nematodes" at a pet store, houseplant store, or any store that sells organic gardening care. Beneficial nematodes will prey on the flea larvae, so the next generation of fleas won't be able to invade your home. Fear not, this is not the type of nematode that can make your pet get heartworms.
Step 5. Use table salt
Sprinkle a generous amount of table salt on the carpet. Within a few days, the lice will die. Vacuum the carpet three days later. Sprinkle table salt again three weeks later and vacuum the carpet again three days later. The results are amazing and safe for your pet!
Step 6. Use apple cider vinegar
Mix one teaspoon of vinegar for every four cups of water in your dog's cup. When your dog drinks the water, the vinegar will enter his system and make his blood taste bad for the fleas. You will see results once your dog has drunk about 2 to 3 bowls of this water. But this will give good results once the vinegar has entered the dog's system.
Tips
- Oral medications may be more effective for dogs with thick and/or curly hair, as medications applied to the skin can't reach very far.
- If you are doing a major flea removal, always consult a veterinarian. Your vet will give detailed instructions and will show you the best products to treat your pet, home and yard.
- Apply plenty of menthol on your ankles before you go inside the house. With this action, the area of the bottom of your feet will be free from tick bites.
Warning
- Some products for dogs contain permethrin which can cause seizures and death in cats. Use dog medicine only for dogs.
- Call your veterinarian immediately if your pet has a seizure due to the wrong dose of anti-flea medication.
- If your pet looks lethargic, feels cold and has pale gums, it may be that the tick has made the animal lose a lot of blood, or has a potentially fatal condition called parasitic anemia. This is especially dangerous for small animals, puppies or cats and should be treated by a veterinarian immediately.
- Don't rely too much on Frontline or other products that contain fipronil, as fleas appear to have developed resistance to this chemical.
- Oral medications such as Capstar (which contains Nitenpyram) will kill adult fleas attached to your pet within 30 minutes of swallowing the medication. Then you can follow up with topical medications.
