Treating the House:
Vacuum the floors thoroughly in the corners, along the wall edges, under the furniture and other low traffic areas. Flea larvae survive best in low light low traffic areas. Vacuum the floors, carpets and furniture frequently using a vacuum with good suction and discard the bag after each time. Flea eggs and pupae can survive and hatch in a vacuum bag. Discard or frequently wash your pet’s bedding. Steam clean the carpets possible, which will slow down flea development and allow flea larvae to dry up. Regularly wash your pets bedding and rugs that they lay on. Use KNOCK KNOCK OUT Premise Spray to treat the carpet after everything has been cleaned.
Treating the Yard:
Use Virbac® Yard Spray once a month in the shady areas of the yard. Apply in the evening and allow to dry overnight before allowing your pets to back into the treated areas. This may be more than anyone wants to know, but…The difficult concept for many pet owners is that the fleas they see on their pets and in their homes came from flea eggs laid 3 to 8 weeks previously. Those initial few fleas came from flea eggs deposited by neighbor’s pets, feral dogs and cats or possibly flea infested wild mammals. Those eggs deposited in the outdoor premises developed through to the adult stage and jumped on their dog or cat or even occasionally the pet owner. Most pet owners never see the first 2 to 3 fleas their pets acquire. What they are reacting to is the second or third generation. Those initial few fleas (trickle infestation), mate within a few hours and females start laying eggs within 24 hours and in a few days are producing up to 40-50 eggs/day. These fleas deposit their eggs into the haircoat of the pet with the eggs then fall out of the haircoat into the premises where they ultimately develop in a few weeks to the adult flea. By the time the pet owner reacts and take their pet(s) to the veterinarian there are already flea eggs, larvae, pupae and emerging fleas in the home and protected outdoor source points. Pet owners need to be educated to these biologic realities so that they understand where the fleas are coming from and why it may take several weeks to get complete flea elimination. The over-riding concept of flea control today is to force fleas to “extinction” in a localized environment (home or yard) by preventing the flea population from reproducing. Currently this may be theoretically accomplished by 1) killing newly acquired fleas with a residual on-animal adulticide before they can initiate reproduction (24 hours) or 2) directly affecting the viability of the eggs (insect growth regulators or other ovicidal compounds).