Fleas are the most common cause of worry in pet parents. Their mere presence on your pet’s body leads to itching sensation followed by multiple skin issues in the form of allergy and hair loss. Although pet parents have the option of treating fleas through flea preventives like Frontline Plus, it only solves half of the problem.
The flea control products that help you get rid of the fleas present on your pooch’s skin, accounts for just 5% (approx) of the total fleas present in the environment. The rest i.e. 95% fleas are living in your home environment as eggs, larva and pupa. Therefore, even after helping your pet getting rid of the adult fleas present on his body, chances are they might again catch fleas from the environment. The only solution herein lies to treat flea life cycle as a whole, which has found a safe breeding ground in your house.
The first step in achieving this objective is to understand the complete flea life cycle and follow a flea control program accordingly.
Flea Life Cycle
A flea life cycle consists of four stages- egg, larva, pupa and adult. Fleas find warm climate suitable for their reproduction process. Thus, pet parents face flea problems during summer. The life cycle of fleas starting from egg to adult would take 3 to 4 weeks to complete its total life cycle.
How To Disrupt Flea Life Cycle?
- Divide your flea control program into two parts- Treating flea infested home environment and treating a flea-infested pet.
- The home environment should be treated by thoroughly vacuuming the house regularly. Keep a particular day in a week for this task.
- Clean your pet’s bedding, his personal stuff including toys and utensils. Use hot water for effective cleaning.
- For outdoor environment including yard and kennel area, use sprays and insect regulators.
- Fleas find crowed houses suitable for hiding and laying eggs. Thus, as part of this program de-clutter your house to not give these external parasites a safe breeding ground in your home.
How To Treat flea Infestation In Pet?
- The most effective way to prevent or treat flea infestation in the pet is to opt for flea preventives in the form of spot-on and oral flea medicines.
- Spot on treatments includes product such as Frontline Plus while oral flea control products include Capstar for dogs.
- These flea preventatives provide year-round protection from fleas and thus prevent flea infestation in your pet.
- Allot some time for your pet’s grooming. Use a flea comb to detect the presence of fleas on his body or coat. The feces of the fleas on a pet’s coat are an indication of the flea presence.
Conclusion
The problem of fleas is unavoidable due to the nature of the environment our furry friends and we live in. However, these blood-sucking parasites can be kept at the distance by adopting above measures that helps in disrupting flea cycle existing in your home environment and relieving the pet from adult fleas through flea preventives.
As a pet parent, you can consult your vet to make your flea control program more effective.