So you treated your pet for fleas, now what? You don’t want a flea problem again, so you’re more than willing to take the next step to rid your house of these pests. Since your dear pet was wandering the house with fleas, it is likely that a few stray fleas jumped off your pet and laid their eggs in places like the cracks of floor boards, under carpet pads and naturally in your pets bedding.
To start off the process, wash all your pets bedding and any other bedding etc. that may have been infested (turn the washer setting to HOT.) This will kill fleas in all stages of life. Then vacuum the rooms in your home, making sure to get all the crevices and corners. This will suck the stray fleas, pupae and eggs into the canister of your vacuum. After vacuuming, be sure to empty the canister outside into a plastic bag that can be sealed. Because fleas may not be killed instantly and can escape the vacuum cleaner, we suggest the simple trick of placing a flea collar in the vacuum bag.
After all the washing and vacuuming, now is a good time to set off the flea bombs you picked up at you local hardware store to kill any remaining fleas. Each flea bomb is designed for different square footage so be sure to buy enough for all the rooms in your house. You and your pet will need to leave the house for a few hours while the flea bomb does its magic. This is the perfect time to bring your pet to us for a flea bath. The hardware store also carries flea traps that may help identify if you have a flea problem in your house. These flea traps provide a non-toxic alternative to flea bombs because they use a light bulb as a warmth sensor to attract the fleas and then they are trapped at the bottom on a sticky circle of paper. The product we use can attract and capture fleas within a 30 feet radius.
If you have tried all these methods and still find you are fighting fleas in your home, consider hiring an exterminator.
Here at HOTD, we have a very strict flea management regimen that we adhere to everyday. Because so many dogs come in with fleas, we are careful to get the pet into the bath tub right away to get started on their flea bath. Then as we blow dry the pet, we use a towel to capture as many fleas as possible that go airborne. After the blow dry, we put all the towels into a plastic bag and spray the surrounding floor, as well as the finishing drying kennel, with a flea spray to kill any fleas or eggs that may have fallen off the pet. We take out the trash and dirty laundry daily to be sure no fleas escape into the shop. In addition to using the flea traps nightly, we also flea bomb the shop weekly.
We understand that treating a flea infestation takes a lot of time, effort, and money, which is why we recommend staying on a set monthly flea treatment schedule for your pet. In the long run, spending money for the flea treatment products monthly is much cheaper and easier than treating an infestation.
If you have any questions at all about fleas on your pet or in your home, please feel free to call us – we are here to help!
Stay tuned for the next addition of our blog: Heather and Amy are going to their first grooming conference in Pasadena and will have lots of great information to share!
