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How do I
get rid of fleas in my home?
Treating the flea problem.
Do you have a flea problem? Are
there fleas in your carpet, fleas in
your yard, fleas on your pets, fleas
in your bed?
Getting rid of fleas on
your cat or dog alone does not
tackle the overall flea problem.
During the flea cycle only about 5%
of fleas are actually living on your
dog or cat. The other 95% of fleas
(in one stage or another) are living
in your house or yard. That is why
it is so important to kill the fleas
in your house and on your cat or dog
at the same time.
For example:
If you wash your cat or dog today
with a flea rinse and you kill 30
fleas that are living on your pet,
that means that there are still
approximately 570 fleas developing
in your house.
(see
the flea cycle chart)
This is a Do It Yourself method for
killing fleas, there is no need to
call in the pest exterminator. If
you have a flea problem or
infestation then you must
DECLARE WAR and KILL ALL FLEAS IN
YOUR HOUSE AND YARD AND ON YOUR PETS
Once
you have decided to declare this war
and kill the fleas in your house,
you need to set aside a couple of
hours to enter into the battle zone.
Fleas do not have to be a part of
pet ownership. Years ago it was
assumed that all cats and dogs had
fleas but this is just not true
today. Flea control has advanced so
much that no pet should ever have to
suffer one single flea again.
Getting the initial control over
fleas is not an easy five minute job
but once you have control then
maintenance will be easy. Don't get
disheartened if it seems that you
get a fresh flea infestation a week
or two after using the following
flea control method. It is explained
to you in this article why this
often happens. It has to do with
with the flea pupae being impervious
to insecticides.
Let's get on with the job of
getting rid of fleas in your house
and on your cats or dogs.
Battle Stations
How do I
break the flea life cycle?
It is important to treat all of your
pets and your house on the same day.
It is pointless to treat your house
and not your pet, it is also
pointless to treat you pet and not
your house. This is the only way you
will get total flea control.
STEP 1
- Vacuum
Your vacuum
cleaner is your number one weapon in
the war
Your first step is to vacuum vacuum
vacuum! Vacuum your entire house
paying particular attention to
corners, dark crevices, under
furniture, under beds, pet beds,
rugs and especially around skirting
boards. Put the nozzle attachment on
your vacuum cleaner and thoroughly
vacuum around all baseboards and
edges of fixtures.
The
vibrations from vacuuming also
stimulates the fleas to emerge from
their cocoons and thus they will be
exposed to the insecticide that will
be used
This
is what you are vacuuming up even
though you can't see them:
EGGS
 Fleas
that are living on your cat or dog
lay eggs. The eggs drop off your pet
and land on your carpet or floor.
LARVAE
 The
eggs hatch and become larvae. These
little worm like creature have hair
like bristles that enable them to
move around. They avoid the light
and move to crevices, corners, under
furniture, in cracks between floor
boards and along skirting boards.
PUPAE
After a while the larvae pupate.
This means that they spin a cocoon
around themselves and begin a
change. In the cocoon they are
changing into adult fleas. It is
just like a caterpillar which spins
a cocoon and then emerges as a
butterfly.
The more of the pupae you vacuum up
the better the outcome. The cocoon
surrounding the developing flea is
water tight and impervious to
insecticides.
When you have finished vacuuming
dispose of the vacuum bag completely
if you have disposable bags in your
vacuum cleaner.
STEP 2 - Spray Insecticide
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Flea Treatment For your
House & Yard
The products shown here are
for illustration purposes
only
When
choosing an insecticide read
the label. Look for the
ingredient IGR
(Insect Growth Regulator)
IGR is the most important
part of the whole flea
control process. |
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