How to Prevent a Flea Infestation?

Fleas need fresh blood in order to survive. Unlike a lot of pests we see everyday, fleas couldn’t care less about stray crumbs or food scraps. instead they zero in on your four-legged friends, jumping on their warm bodies and nestling in for a nice long meal. While this walking, barking buffet is good news for any flea hoping to eat a lot and lay cache after cache of eggs – the average female flea deposits around 50 soon-to-be fleas a day – it’s less so for your dogs, cats, bunnies and guinea pigs. But we’re clean people you think, assured by how often you vacuum and sweep. Sometimes clean doesn’t cut it. It takes more to prevent a flea infestation in home or office settings – with the rise of Bring Your Dog to Work day, never say never.  What else do you need to do to stay on top of fleas?

Protect Your Pets

Fleas on dogs is a pretty common sight, despite your best efforts, Fido has a tendency of picking up a stray passenger or two every time he or she visits the dog park or takes a run by your side. That’s okay, provided you’ve been diligent with their monthly or quarterly flea treatment. Safe and consistent application is the best chance you have of preventing an infestation from the first appearance of fleas on your pet, including roaming cats or kittens who keep escaping.

Clean Bedding Often

Pets love a good lie in, lounging around on their designated bed (or yours) until they feel like moving. As your dog or cat relaxes, flea eggs usually shake off onto dog beds, cat beds, your bed, the floor and the carpet – anywhere your pet wanders, eggs are sure to fall. So while you may be on top of weekly vacuuming – breaking out the old Hoover contributes to the eradication of fleas at the pupal and larval stages – make sure you’re regularly laundering any bedding (your and theirs) and targeting any dark and protected areas like plush or heavy pile carpets. You don’t want fleas to gain a foothold in your bed, otherwise they may take a bite out of you too!

Flea 101: Can Fleas Live in a House with No Animals?

Technically, cat fleas can survive on a diet of human blood, provided they can feed for many hours uninterrupted… outside laboratories though, it’s almost impossible for dog or cat fleas to reproduce on humans the same way they do on your pets. That said, a flea can survive for up to 2 weeks without food, so while they’ll eventually die of starvation, they can still annoy you, bite you and make your life miserable. Human fleas on the other hand, prefer our blood – they can be transferred by countless other mammals, even your pet budgie!

Be Suspicious of Neighbourhood Yards

If your cat loves to get around or your dog enjoys an occasional play session with a canine friend, they could be running right into flea ground zero and bringing back a battalion of troops at the end of the day. Always check your pet for fleas post-play date, as fleas aren’t just an inside thing, they bounce around outside too, often in their hordes, waiting for an unsuspecting mammal to breeze through.

Call in the Calvary

Contrary to common thought, you don’t need to wait until you have an infestation on your hands to schedule a flea treatment. Booking a professional service through Canberra Pest Control is a sure fire way to create a hostile environment for invading fleas – we spray our specially formulated flea treatment on all carpets, skirting boards and anywhere your pet likes to frequent. Get in touch today on 62427779 and protect your family from fleas.