While fleas are most active during the summer months, indoor infestations usually worsen as the temperature drops because these blood-sucking pests are attracted to the warmth of your home during fall.
Read our tips on getting rid of flea infestations in your home, yard, and pets.
How to Eliminate Your Pet’s Fleas
The telltale signs of fleas on your furry companions include hair loss, excessive scratching and licking, scabs, red patches of skin, small bumps especially around the neck, and skin infection.
If you suspect that your dog has fleas, do the steps below:
- Wash your pet using a specially formulated flea shampoo and apply oral or topical remedies. Ask your local vet or pet store for any recommendations.
- Wash your pet bed and bedding in hot water and dry them on the highest heat setting. Do this every few days until you eliminate the infestation.
How to Eliminate Fleas in Your Home
The fleas on your dog are just the tip of the iceberg since they just account for about 5% of the infestation that also affects your home and yard. In fall and winter, adult fleas, cocoons, larvae, and eggs are mainly found inside the house seeking warmth and shelter.
If you want to eliminate flea infestation for good, it is important to treat not just your pet but also your home and yard.
Follow the tips below to remove the fleas in your home:
- Vacuum your carpets, floors, upholstery, and beddings. Make sure that you pay close attention to cracks and crevices where adult fleas, larvae, and eggs often seek shelter. Ideally, use a vacuum bag so that the blood-sucking pests cannot escape.
- Use a steam cleaner for upholstery, carpets, and pet beds. The combination of soap and high heat can destroy these blood-sucking critters.
- If there is a severe infestation, homeowners are generally advised to hire pest control companies rather than resort to DIY treatment. Remember, many chemical treatments for fleas are harmful to people and pets unless they have dried completely. Additionally, infestations typically require multiple treatments to make sure they won’t come back or experience population boom.
- Wash all your beddings, including your furry companion’s, in hot soapy water. Also, dry them to the highest heat setting to make sure that you kill the fleas and their eggs.
How to Eliminate Fleas in Your Yard
Fleas don’t like sun-exposed areas because they are sensitive to high temperatures. By contrast, they prefer shady and humid environments such as a pile of leaves and twigs, debris, and overgrown shrubs and plants.
Follow the guidelines below if you want to get rid of the flea infestation in your yard:
- Remove all debris such as dead leaves and woods, empty containers, and get rid of any junk in your yard. The idea is to eliminate anything that can provide shade and protection to fleas.
- Prune trees and shrubs to expose the shady areas to sunlight, which fleas are sensitive to.
- Observe where your pet likes to lie down, then spread cedar chips on these areas to deter flea infestation.
- Go to your local gardening center and ask for nematodes, which are small worms that actively hunt down and kill flea larvae and pupae that hide in the soil. Nematodes are macro-organisms that are safe around people, plants, and pets.
- Because fleas like to hide in tall grasses, make sure that you regularly mow your lawn.
If you have a severe flea infestation, your best bet is to hire a licensed pest control company that uses environment-friendly and low-hazard treatments.
At Rocklin Pest Control, we use and apply environment-friendly chemical treatments and baits so that they will not cause harm to non-target animals and beneficial insects. To learn more about our natural pest control Sacramento treatments (and in Placer County), call us at (916) 884-6114.