Advice: Fleas in the Home

If you have a flea infestation, it is important to know that fleas will be all over the house, wherever the pet has been fleas will be, treat the pet but let it have access to all the house so it acts like a flea ‘hoover’.

Our instant reaction is to prevent our pets from going upstairs or other areas of the home, but if they have already spent time in these ares, then chances are the fleas are already there. If you then stop your pet going there, you will slow down the process of killing them. A treated pet will ‘hoover them up' (fleas want to jump on your pet to feed), the flea bites and 24 hours or less later it dies.

Vacuum the home more than usual, making sure that you move all furniture. Concentrate on skirting boards, carpeted areas, wooden floorboards and laminate floors. This will remove some of the eggs before they develop into larvae and pupae. Remember to empty the hoover - a bag full of fleas, eggs and pupae will be in there.

Wash your pet's bedding at 60°C to kill eggs or larvae.

Thoroughly spray all floor space in the home with a household insecticidal spray (one that contains an adulticide and an insect growth regulator is important - we can provide this). Depending on the size of your home, you may require more than one can. Home sprays kill flea eggs and larvae but they do not kill pupae. So you may still see some new fleas hatching out for a while after using the spray. Encourage the remaining flea pupae to hatch out into new adult fleas so that they can jump onto your treated pets and be killed before they lay more eggs and be killed by the household spray adulticide. You can stimulate the hatching by providing warmth, vibration, CO2 and humidity.

• Ensure your treated pets have access to all parts of the home - let fleas bite them and die.
• Turn up the heating in your home - spray household spray, turn on the heating and go out for an hour or so. Seems an alien thing to do in the summer month but trust us, fleas love it!
• Place damp towels on warm radiators or boil the kettle in each room to create a humid environment. Flea heaven!
• Vacuum to generate warmth and vibration.

Fleas will be visible on your pets while the infestation resolves - this is normal and lasts one to three months on average. However, as each flea is killed before it can lay eggs, the flea population in the home will start to decline.

Once the home infestation has resolved, you will need to continue applying your chosen flea treatment products at the recommended intervals throughout the year. We can advise you on the most suitable treatment interval based on the number of pets you have, their exposure to outdoor flea populations and local conditions.

Remember that you may still see occasional ‘hitchhiker’ fleas that jump on when pets go outdoors but this won’t result in a home infestation.

Spread the cost of regular flea & worm treatments and vaccinations with free health checks with our Pet Health Club.