Getting Rid Of Fleas In Homes

Having fleas in your house is not the idea of a good time! So, what do you do to get rid of them?

There are commercial products available, some of them are very toxic and can be lethal to cats. The best course of action is to use products that kill the fleas but are harmless to you and your pets.

How To Rid Your Home Of Fleas

1. Vacuum. Daily, throught vacuum of all carpets and furniture goes a long way to create a flea free environment. Continual vacuuming of flea eggs effectively prevent the fleas from multiplying. Vacuuming has shown to be one of THE most effective strategies against fleas.

2. Safe To Use Chemicals. Use boric acid or diatomacious earth on your carpets, upholstery and furniture. Some brand names are Flea Away (available at Whole Foods) Follow the directions on the container. The Flea Away product, (diatomacious earth) can be mixed with water into a mister and misted on furniture etc. Allow to dry and vacuum after 24-48 hours.

3. Clean Floors. Mop all hard floors with hot water and bleach. Daily.

4. Kill Flea Eggs Using Your Dryer. Put all items such as dogs beds, bed spreads, etc, into the dryer. Run on hot for 10 minutes. This will effectively kill any flea eggs or larva.

5. Cedar chips (We recommend Cedar Cide)are a real deterrent to fleas. If you suspect the fleas are coming in through a patio etc. sprinkle cedar shavings outside the patio.

6.Treat Your Pet. If your pet has fleas, your pet has to be treated as well. Sart out with using a flea comb. Submerging the live fleas into a glass with water and dish washing liquid to prevent their escape. Bathe your pet. While we avoid commercial flea preparations as much as possible since they all are toxic, if your pet is suffering from an infestation a commercial flea prep os probably in order.

Advantage seem to have less side effects than Frontline so we would start there. Remember that a flea prep designed for a dog can be lethal to a cat. Make sure if you are needing to treat your cat that you use a flea prep for cats.

7. Make a flea trap to catch live fleas in the home. Take a wide bowl, or a dinner plate. Add water and dish washing detergent. (The detergent make the water "wetter" and prevent the fleas from being able to jump out of the water)

Put a small lamp above the plate, allowing the light to shine on the plate. Place in a dark room over night. The fleas will be attracted to the light and jump towards it and then fall into the bowl and drown.

 Sounds simple but works very well. The picture above shows a commercial flea trap, but you get the idea.

An easy trap is to use a night light with a downward facing bulb. Simply place a container with the water/detergent mixture below. Easy to make one for each room. These home made flea traps are also great to use every so often in order to detect a flea problem before it gets out of control.

Remember that the life cycle of the flea makes it necessary to be diligent with repeating these steps in order for them to be effective.