The day has come, huh? If you are serious in your intention to get rid of fleas in house, arm
yourself with patience and knowledge: the enemy CAN be destroyed! –
Military language, yes, I know, but that’s pretty much the mindset you
need for this kind of fight: you will need to plan your activities
carefully and to perform them in a timely manner.
Obviously, it’s easier to call an exterminator, but you can actually do it yourself, if that’s what you want. You will need a couple of hours, a vacuum cleaner, an insecticide and a product for your pet’s treatment.
Simply put, you need to break their life cycle. To do that, you will need to treat your pet, your house and your yard all on the same day, because there are probably all four forms of flea in the surroundings. You HAVE to hit them all at once, this isn’t negotiable!
When you finish, dispose of the contents of the vacuum cleaner, and wash it if possible.
(photo by Flickr)
There are many products that contain IGR, but this one is what professionals use, so I wouldn’t search any further: Precor 2000 Plus (the
link will take you directly to Amazon, it costs about $14). Now, you
may not like using chemicals in and around your house, but there are no
effective home remedies to kill fleas in all stages, they simply won’t
work. After all, you will only need to do it once.
Now, spray everywhere you can reach. If you can’t reach a corner, then move the furniture or do what ever it takes so that the spray reaches under beds, rugs, furniture; fleas in all stages of their life cycle avoid the light, so what ever crack you see on the floor – spray it.
Then go outside, to the yard, and repeat the process. You can use the same insecticide that you used inside the house, and spray the places where your pet spends time, particularly where it sleeps. You can skip the sunny parts of the yard, it’s highly unlikely that any form of flea feels happy there.
Another option are tablets, if you prefer that, equally effective, but they can produce side effects and can be quite expensive.
Ok. Get rid of fleas in house, check. Once you’re
done, try not to let your pets get in contact with other animals. A
single flea might be enough for the infestation to start all over again,
and I’m sure you don’t want to go through this again.
Before we begin: Know your enemy
The Flea life cycle is its biggest weapon. The stage that bothers your pet, adult flea that sucks its blood, makes only about 5% of the entire flea population in the environment, and not the most resilient one. Simple math: if you kill 5 adult fleas, you can count on another 95 in other forms, specifically: 50 eggs, 35 larvae and 10 in pupate stage (providing the 5 you’ve killed are the only ones in adult stage). See where’s the problem? Getting rid of fleas in the house is possible though – so many have done it, and so can you!How to get rid of fleas in your house – the “do-it-yourself” way
Obviously, it’s easier to call an exterminator, but you can actually do it yourself, if that’s what you want. You will need a couple of hours, a vacuum cleaner, an insecticide and a product for your pet’s treatment.
Simply put, you need to break their life cycle. To do that, you will need to treat your pet, your house and your yard all on the same day, because there are probably all four forms of flea in the surroundings. You HAVE to hit them all at once, this isn’t negotiable!
Remove any living creature from the house before you start – that includes fish aquariums too.
First step: Vacuum
I suppose you do this regularly, but this time you have to give your best: use an electric pressure washer to vacuum carefully every corner of your house, use the nozzle attachment of the vacuum cleaner where needed, and pay special attention to dark crevices, corners, under furniture, rugs, pet beds. Besides from vacuuming up eggs, larvae and pupae, the vibrations from vacuuming will act as a calling to the fleas that still hide inside the cocoon, to come out of it, which will make them vulnerable to the insecticide that you will use in the next step.When you finish, dispose of the contents of the vacuum cleaner, and wash it if possible.
(photo by Flickr)
Second step: Insecticide
When buying one, read the label and look for the ones that contain IGR = Insect Growth Regulator. This is the protein that stops fleas in stages of eggs and larvae from developing to maturity – they won’t be able to lay eggs, so the cycle stops.
You shouldn’t use your vacuum cleaner for another two weeks, because of the insecticide sprayed.
There are many products that contain IGR, but this one is what professionals use, so I wouldn’t search any further: Precor 2000 Plus (the
link will take you directly to Amazon, it costs about $14). Now, you
may not like using chemicals in and around your house, but there are no
effective home remedies to kill fleas in all stages, they simply won’t
work. After all, you will only need to do it once.Now, spray everywhere you can reach. If you can’t reach a corner, then move the furniture or do what ever it takes so that the spray reaches under beds, rugs, furniture; fleas in all stages of their life cycle avoid the light, so what ever crack you see on the floor – spray it.
Then go outside, to the yard, and repeat the process. You can use the same insecticide that you used inside the house, and spray the places where your pet spends time, particularly where it sleeps. You can skip the sunny parts of the yard, it’s highly unlikely that any form of flea feels happy there.
In the stage just before
hatching, pupa, fleas are protected by the cocoon, practically
impenetrable by insecticides, so vacuuming is the safest bet against
them. However, it’s possible that you will not be able to vacuum every
single pupa in the house, and you may expect another set of fleas in two
weeks.
Third step: Pets
Flea collars and flea powders – forget about them. The new generation of products is much safer for both pets and humans, and much more effective. Frontline is top spot product for this – there are several kinds of this product for dogs and cats, you can use the link above to the Amazon store to check them, just type “frontline” in the search field.Another option are tablets, if you prefer that, equally effective, but they can produce side effects and can be quite expensive.
