Fleas | Treatment |Prevention
Flea bites are a growing concern for many households, especially where the homeowner has a pet or living in high rise homes where homes have carpeted landing which makes it easy for flea infestation escalate from a single point and spread all over neighboring homes or backyard.
Why Get Rid Of Fleas?
Flea bites have been known to cause serious ailments which include Papular urticaria. This particular infection is one that is pervasive and consequential if left untreated.
The trouble for fleas is that they can infest even homes believed to be clean and spotless. So, if you have a home you believe to be spotless, do not take your chances and assume that back yard fleas will not come into your home.
Papular urticaria is, in fact, a very common and often annoying disorder manifested by chronic or recurrent papules where a person with heightened skin sensitivity usually following fleabite can cause a hypersensitivity reaction.
With Papular urticaria, the bites do not only have to be those of fleas, but they can also be from bedbugs, mosquitos and other insect bites. If you have never seen or know how individual papules look like, they may surround a wheel and display a central punctum.
Though, fleas can easily be prevented if not completely eliminated from infested houses, the road to getting rid of fleas is not easy and can cost money to finally get rid of fleas from your house forever.
How do you treat your house for fleas?
Treating fleas from a home that has been infested is actually a lot easier than you think! In fact, there’s more than a handful option to treating your home from flea infestation and making sure that the flea eggs do not resuscitate the fleas when they hatch into a papule.
From treating your flea infested house with homemade flea treatments where the house is fitted with Carpets, to treating flea infestation with flea bombs, pet collars with flea repellents and top to down flea spray that can be extended into your backyard.
Homemade Flea Treatment For Homes With Carpet.
Homemade flea treatments for homeowners with carpet do not get any easier than using readily available kitchen products like salt, vinegar, and tea tree oil.
And if you think making the homemade flea spray is going to be challenging, then think again! These flea basting home sprays can be made in as simple as 123!
But don’t just take my word for it! here’s how to make your very own flea treatment spray, using readily available in your home.
- Start by sprinkling salt. Salt is flea eggs’ worst nightmare.
- Make an eco-friendly spray solution. Fill a spray bottle with water, vinegar, and a few drops of tea tree oil.
Spray the solution over your salted carpet. This will take care of the fleas in your carpet in no time.
How to get rid of fleas on dogs
Getting rid of fleas on dogs is a process which in many cases begins with use of over the counter flea treatments that are known for being potent enough to kill all fleas.
Now, it also must be pointed out that there are plenty of flea bite treatments for dog owners that can be used by applying their choice of medication right away, when they notice flea eggs on dog beds.
For years, pet owners have successfully used over the counter flea killers, such as Frontline, Advantage or Capstar Flea Killer.
All these products will get rid of fleas on your dog while also keeping their infestation at bay within 6 hours from the time of application.
While all these flea spray medications are potent enough, they are not the same when it comes to how effective they are when it comes to getting rid of fleas from your dog.
Take Frontline and Advantage for example, they are both amazing products to use when getting rid of fleas on dogs and cats. But, what most people won’t tell you is how different they are in their ability to kill both fleas and ticks or bedbugs.
Really, Frontline Plus is a true darling for most feline owners out there, understandably Frontline is a potent flea spray killer, yet it is also slightly cheaper than what you get for Advantage II.
When pitted together, Frontline vs Advantage flea killer, they both are excellent at offering protection against fleas (in their varying development stages) and frontline will also kill ticks. Whereas Advantage will only treat fleas even though it is more expensive to purchase a full dose needed to treat a dog or cat). …
The great news is that both products are pretty much easy and their similarities in application or shelf life are undeniably close, except that if you are going to use Frontline Plus, then you get a double whammy as it has the added value of killing both ticks and fleas.
The takeaway here is that when using all these flea treatments to get rid of pesky fleas off your dog, always make sure that you give them about a week from the application date, before you can give your dog a bath with flea killing shampoo.
I mention using the best shampoos for dogs to bath your pet dog long after a flea spray as most pet owners have been noticing that their dogs still had fleas long after treatment. Remember, fleas are parasites that bite and suck blood, assuming that one-off treatment is going to get rid of your dog from fleas is elementary.
Why Do Dogs still have fleas after treatment?
As with many of the popular brand treatments for fleas, they are fast acting at killing fleas that are at an adult flea cycle. While all this is good for faster results from getting rid of fleas, but chances for fleas continuing to emerge for months after you thought an infestation has ended are higher than you might think.
Naturally, fleas are aggressive at reproducing and if you leave them unchecked, the flea infestation can be devastating. Surviving eggs of fleas often hatch and when all these newly emerged female fleas find a host, in this case, it might be your dog or feline.
Fleas can lay eggs at a faster rate so much that within one day, flea eggs laid can equally escalate into another full-blown flea infestation.
This is why having a dog shampoo that kills fleas as your regular treatment is the key to keeping fleas at bay, however, it all must begin with the use of a potent flea killer first followed by regular baths of your dog. Otherwise just bathing your pet does nothing to get rid or prevent fleas.
How to get rid of fleas on cats
When it comes to getting rid of fleas on Cats, there is a whole lot of feline flea treatments beyond the use of known flea treatments like Comfortis, Frontline or Advantage which are all effective forms getting rid of fleas.
Cats also enjoy a plethora of oral flea treatment for cats. Whether you are using topical flea bite sprays that are typically applied on an area of your feline, or you are using oral cat flea medication where a suspension, tablet is administered, just make sure that you are aware these forms of flea treatments are only meant to last for a month before you can replenish them by having to reapply every other preceding month.
Good news is that the majority of these cat flea medications are formulated as fast acting flea treatment that are capable of beginning to kill off fleas in as little as 12 hours.
What you will love about topical flea treatments for cats like Revolution, Cheristin for Cats and Advantage II is the fact that you do not have to second guess their application or need a learning curve.
Is There An Oral Medication For Fleas For Cats?
Yes! medicine for fleas like Frontline plus, Advantage or Comfortis are best known for their ability to kill fleas in record time.
There is no doubt that some topical flea and tick treatments, such as Frontline for cats and dogs or Revolution for dogs may not kill all the fleas with one treatment.
This leaves your home of the pet at the risk of further harm that could lead to a recurring flea infestation. And this is where oral medications for fleas like Comfortis and Nexgard provide protection for your pet’s entire body.
A quick glance online and you will notice that there is no shortage of pet owners who once treated their pet from fleas, only to see the fleas repopulate all over again.
Cats and Dogs needing rapid relief from a nasty flea population, usually begin with a fast acting oral medication that deals with fleas at all stages of their development, which is the best way to go.
Your local vet will probably recommend that the best oral Pills for feline flea treatment like Sentry Capguard, PetArmor FastCaps, and Capstar tablets are merely just the begin of killing fleas in as little as 30 minutes.
The beauty of using fast acting flea treatment is that there is really no time to waste. Now, the majority of pet owners who stop here after wiping off the fleas off their pet are likely to see the flea population that was wiped gradually come back.
Home remedies to get rid of fleas
The Idea for opting to choose getting rid of fleas naturally is borne from the desire to stay away from chemical flea treatments which are predominantly made from pesticides and other harsh products which may be ok for dogs and humans, yet poisonous to cats.
Make no mistake, there is no shame is avoiding the use of harsh chemicals when there are safe ways to get rid of fleas, and I think this is where opting for the homemade herbal spray to rid your home of fleas come in.
While some herbal sprays may sound complex to make at home, there is more than a handful of herbal flea sprays anyone can make with one of two readily available kitchen condiments we use daily at home.
Imagine the mix of one gallon of vinegar, a half-gallon of water, 16 ounces of lemon juice, and eight ounces of witch hazel which creates an amazing solution, which if after using it over time, coupled with vigorous vacuuming of your home, it actually rids it of errant fleas every time you spray!
Luckily for you, there is no shortage of homemade flea remedies you can put to work without spending an arm and a leg when trying to prevent and get rid of fleas.
Do you think you’ve got what it takes to make your own homemade herbal flea spray? Well, here are some of the best home remedies to help you get rid of fleas off your home and pet sleeping area:
- Washing up liquid.
- Herbal flea spray.
- Baking soda.
- Salt.
- Lemon spray.
- Diatomaceous earth.
- Rosemary.
- Flea repelling plants.
How to get rid of fleas naturally
The likelihood of having Fleas in your backyard is quite higher than you might think. And if you haven’t considered better Natural Ways To Get Rid Of Fleas In Your Yard, you are risking a huge bill when those fleas find their way into your home.
Natural WayS To Getting Rid Of Fleas In Your Yard do not cost an arm and a leg, and I know this too well simply because fleas hate the taste and aroma of vinegar which is harmless to your backyard as well as when it is used to bath your pet.
So bathing your pet in distilled white vinegar doesn’t only keep them away from your home, but white vinegar for fleas also will help rid them off your pet.
Another handy Natural Way To Get Rid Of Fleas is to bath your pet in a combination of tea tree oil or lavender essential oils. What I love about essential oils like tea tree and lavender oils is that they will keep fleas off of your pet, while also giving your pet’s coat a pleasant smell.
This is also why every time I am shopping around for best dog shampoos, I always choose ones with essential oils in them.
How to get rid of fleas in the yard
Getting rid of fleas in the back yard has its pros and cons, you want to get rid of the fleas but at the same time you also want to keep your pets safe from the chemicals that are often chimed as the best remedies for killing all the fleas from your yard.
No wonder that the majority of pet owners often choose to use nematodes for getting rid of their yard from the infestation of fleas and nematodes are only able to attack and kill insects, mostly pests especially fleas. And they are safe to use since they do not endanger people, pets, or other desirable animals, even earthworms.
While the talk is about natural ways to get rid of fleas, nothing screams natural than using beneficial nematodes for fleas to keep fleas from menacing in your backyard garden.
I know what you are thinking… isn’t there any best thing to kill fleas in the yard rather than using nematodes for fleas?
Honestly, if you have a big yard where your pets always ventures, there is no better way other than to put a nematode called Steinerma carpocapsae which is a parasite of fleas borne out of spraying beneficial spray of the nematode.
If you are not familiar with the nematode, it is known for its effectiveness when killing adult fleas as well as their larvae and pupa in grass and soil off your backyard, without compromising your pets with harsh chemicals that harm felines.
I speak this from experience that as Pet owner living in a home with a large backyard, Nematodes for fleas have been a handy tool where if sprayed earnestly, they have gotten rid of the fleas in the gardens.
Thanks to a beneficial nematode solution, every time my dog is rolling in our garden, I know that our pets are safe from fleas that usually menace in the summer months.
When it comes to home remedies for fleas outside your home, Nematodes are always the best way to go. They are the beneficial type of nematodes whose job is only to kill fleas in all their stages, from pupae, larval, and pre-adult stages, all that without causing any harm to other helpful living organisms in the food chain.
So, if you have been wondering if there is any home remedies for fleas outside your home, that provides a natural way to keep the pests under control, then nematode is your only perfect match.
All it takes is order them from Amazon for next day delivery, as they are specifically sold for yard pest control in your home backyard, just mix them with water, and spray or sprinkle them on your lawn.
How to get rid of fleas on humans
When fleas bite, they burrow their tiny heads inside the human body and start feeding on the blood from their human host.
Now, I know that once you see fleas stuck to your skin you would be tempted to pluck it off, unfortunately, this will snap the tiny head of the flea and leave you having to deal with the infection that follows after flea bites.
Here’s how to get rid of fleas on human:
- Use shampoos specifically formulated for getting rid of hair mites or head lice to get rid of fleas on human.
-The other way to remove that flea on human skin is to apply tea tree oil on the area of the bite which will encourage the flea to pull out its head.
While it is very uncommon for fleas to leave on human hair, the use of certain types of head lice shampoos made specifically for hair-mites can be of great help in getting rid of fleas inside the human hair.
By nature, cat fleas will only feed on human blood anywhere between 7.5 minutes for female fleas, while the male fleas will feed on human blood for about 5.4 minutes and they will be happy to bounce off after making a meal out of their human host. What seems to be an unlikely occurrence for cat fleas is to actually break their protocol and lay their eggs in human hair.
For what they are known for, Cat fleas don’t breed on humans, and that is a fact about the natural setting female fleas would require in order to produce eggs, which is not available on a diet of human blood.
So, if you see fleas stuck on human skin, they are not there to breed, except to quickly take a blood meal and then immediately leave.
Anyone with fleas spotted in human hair, just apply the head mites shampoo all over the hair and scalp and leave it there for a minimum of at least 10 minutes.
When you are ready, go ahead and rinse off as you would do with any other ordinary hair shampoo using lukewarm water.
Amazon stocks hair mites Combs that you can use to comb the hair, this hair mites comb is a fine-toothed comb that you must thoroughly comb down the hair to remove the dead fleas and eggs.
Obviously, flea bites will leave bite areas that may get sensitized and itchy to the very least of your worries.
I recommend that you apply these home remedies that are widely used to soothe or relieve itching from flea bites.
To soothe the flea bite areas, make sure that the bite areas are carefully washed so you can keep the area clean and free from further bacterial infections while also containing the spreading of Lyme disease causing saliva when you are scratching the bite area, (scratching on bite areas is discouraged).
Apply a cold compress like:
- Ice pack,
- Aloe Vera,
- Witch hazel,
- Rubbing alcohol,
- Vinegar,
- Tea tree oil,
- Used tea bags also help.
All in all, a good way to help keep your home free from cat fleas is to Prevent flea bites from happening in the first place.
Whether it’s keeping your pets and home free of fleas by spraying your backyard with nematodes or by using a homemade herbal spray.
There are numerous homes that have used flea preventive measure both on pets, while also keeping their homes squicky clean and the use of a pet-friendly vacuum that is powerful enough to pull up any flea eggs from all the cracks and crannies around the pet sleeping areas and around the house on a regular basis.