Make Fleas Flee

Last week we were speaking to the owner of a pet sitting service. She had just taken on a new client and was planning on caring for the client’s animals while they were on vacation. The client lives on a farm so the animals are outdoors or are in barns. The pet sitter was very concerned about bringing home fleas from such an environment and wanted to know if we had some suggestions for how to prevent bringing fleas home to her own pets.

One of the best things we told she can to do while she was caring for the animals was to tightly roll her pants and tuck them into her boots. This will make it harder for the fleas to attach to her clothing. Luckily she continully treats her own pets for fleas so hopefully she won’t have too many problems even if one of the fleas does manage to make it home.

Fleas can be especially had to get rid of, because a typical DIY bug bomb will tend to kill fleas only in the adult period of their lifecycle. But fleas have a 4 part life cycle, so it may seem as if you have taken care of the problem, but a couple weeks later the fleas that were in the cocoon stage are now hatching and ready to feed.

Here are some ways to tell if you have fleas:

• Check your pet’s belly and their favorite sleeping place for flea dirt. This will be two of the most common places that fleas like to hang out.
• Flea Dirt – It may sound gross, but flea feces are small, black and resemble dirt. To verify if it is indeed flea dirt, rub it between your fingers with a small amount of water and it turns red you’ve got fleas.
• White Paper Check – Run the edge of of a white piece of paper along your carpet and see if any fleas start jumping on the paper.
• Sticky trap - Place a stick bug trap under a night light about 3 inches from the wall. Fleas are attracted to the light. When they jump up to the light, they will bounce off the wall and onto the trap. This may take a couple days to find proof.
• Dog Behavior – Is your dog constantly biting, itching, gnawing, or scratching at his skin, especially trying to reach the area around his tail?
• Flea Allergies – Some dogs may even have allergies to fleas. If they do, they may have a rash, hot spots, welts or small red scabs.

The most reliable way to take care of a flea infestation is to contact a professional pest eliminator. They will be able to suggest the best and safest solution to your flea problem. Plus, they use treatments that will be able to erradicate the fleas at any stage of their lifecycle.

If you do find yourself with a flea problem, give Quik Kill Pest Eliminators a call. 800-525-0505

This entry was posted on January 17, 2012 at 00:39 and is filed under Fleas, Pests. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.