How to Get Rid of Fleas (7 Step EFFECTIVE Flea Removal)

dog-fleas

Fleas have been a well-known scourge on the human population for centuries so humans, out of necessity, now have a pretty good handle on how to get rid of fleas.

Fleas can bring disease, sickness, and the famous “Black Plague” in the middle ages was caused by flea-borne bacteria.

Modern medicine can address most of the deadliest diseases that fleas carry, and for most of us, a flea bite is akin to a mosquito bite. You’ll get a red welt, it will itch, and you’ll have to deal with it for a few days until it goes away.

But your dog and cat friends will suffer more. It is important to learn how to get rid of fleas because fleas might just bite you, but they can breed on dogs and cats and make their life miserable. That’s where the main problem lies.

Once a breeding population of fleas is established, it is very difficult to get rid of them.

There are two main steps we need to implement here: eradication and prevention. So here is what to know and what to do.

How Do Fleas Get In?

Dogs and cats are not born with fleas. They have to get them from somewhere, and that’s always going to be an issue. Obviously, direct interaction with another animal pet that has fleas is very common. But even if there is no interaction at all, your pet can still get fleas.

Every time your pet goes outside, there is a chance to pick up fleas. These pests are common in the wild, virtually every animal has them, and it’s just a natural part of living outdoors. Needless to say, fleas jump off of hosts, or they fall off, or their larvae fall onto the ground, and when your pet passes over that spot, the flea will jump aboard its new home.

Granted, there are specific cat and dog fleas, but they are not very particular about which animal they can feed on. And all fleas feed on blood.

That means, every time your dog or cat goes out of doors, the potential is there to bring in fleas. You may be able to eradicate fleas from your home, but you’ll always have to practice prevention in order to keep them gone. Here’s what to do.

How to get rid of fleas in 4 simple steps

To Get Rid of Fleas, Concentrate on their Source

Now, remember, the source of fleas coming into your home is your favorite pet. That’s the first place you want to concentrate on when you have a flea problem. No matter what you do to your house or home, if you don’t control where they are coming from, you’ll never get rid of the fleas.

The initial thing to do is to give your pet a flea bath. Yes, even cats will have to endure this if the fleas are really bad. However, there are flea baths that you can spray on, let sit and then wipe off, so even cats won’t mind.

If you don’t want to go down the chemical route on a flea bath, go with white vinegar. You can dab or spray it on, it won’t harm your pet, but it will kill fleas. You may have to rinse it off, especially if you have a cat, but for an all-natural flea-killing bath, vinegar is the ticket.

After this, you can choose to put on a flea collar for continued protection. A better way to do it is to use a spot-on treatment. These types are little drops of flea killer that you place between the shoulder blades of your dog or cat. They will naturally spread around your pet’s body and kill off any leftover fleas (if any are left after a bath) and they’ll keep killing for weeks.

Of course, many people are against putting any kind of chemical next to their pet’s skin, and you can skip this step, but prevention will then be that much more important in the future.

Eradicate Living Space for Fleas

Once you get done ridding your pets of fleas, you can now concentrate on your living space. After all, you can get rid of all the fleas on your pets, but if you send your pets back to places where fleas are present, they will just become reinfested.

The Vacuum is your Friend

Here, the first step is to vacuum. Pay particular attention to rugs, carpeting and furniture. These are flea hideouts, and they will wait there to jump on any warm passing body. By vacuuming, you’ll not only be sucking up fleas, but you’ll also be sucking up their feces and their larvae too.

After vacuuming, spray a natural bug killer into the hose while the vacuum is still on. Any insecticide made of pyrethrins, which is made from the chrysanthemum flower, is a natural bug killer that will kill the fleas you have sucked up. This is important because if you don’t do this, they might come back up the hose, or jump on you when you change out the bag.

So vacuum first, and when you are done, spray a little bug killer down the hose when the vacuum is still running.

Into the Wash

After vacuuming, remove anything that you can, like blankets, pillow covers, whatever, and throw them in the wash. Use hot water and a lot of detergents, and don’t forget to dry them on hot, just in case any of the fleas slipped through.

Last but not Least

We briefly touched on bug spray, but for total eradication, you’ll need to spray particular spots. Again, you can use an all-natural pyrethrin spray as opposed to a chemical spray. If you are treating an area for fleas where chemicals are not a significant concern, you could use a flea fogger.

Spray down furniture, where your dog lays, the dog bed, and anywhere else where your dog rests or resides. These are the places that will be the most infested by fleas, and these are the places to target.

If you want to go completely natural, you can use diatomaceous earth powder. These are basically the outer shells of diatoms, or shelled algae, that have been fossilized and mined.

Spread that on places where your dog or cat has been, and minute shell fragments will chop up the fleas when they move around on it. Leave it on for a couple of days and vacuum it up. No harm will come to you or your pet, and since this is completely natural, you’ll never have to worry about chemicals either.

Make your own natural flea and tick repellent for dogs

Flea Prevention

Once you have rid your living space of fleas, you’ll have to move into the prevention mode. If your pets are regular outdoor animals, flea baths or sprays might have to be a part of a regular routine.

You can spray cushions or rugs on your cleaning days, then vacuum everything up. The same goes for diatomaceous earth powder. Spread it around on the day before cleaning, let it sit overnight, and vacuum it up the next day.

A flea collar or flea drops are always good choices for prevention, and you can even set down flea traps in the corners of rooms. Granted, you may not eradicate them this way, but if some are caught, you’ll know there is still an issue, and then you’ll be able to take the proper steps and do something about it.

Remember, eradication and prevention. If you focus on these two principles, you can get rid of fleas.

Further Resources for Getting Rid of Fleas

  1. Fleas – Cornell University
  2.  Fleas on Humans: Pulex Bites, Symptoms, Prevention & Treatment Tips – NeverPest
  3. Flea Control – CDC.gov
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Categorized as Fleas

By David Jackson

I enjoy learning about new pest control strategies and sharing what I learn at NeverPest.com. I aim to create a reliable resource for people dealing with all sorts of pest issues.

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