FLEAS

To successfully treat a flea infestation, you need to treat pets and their environment at the same time. That includes indoor and outdoor areas, bedding, kennels and anywhere the pet likes to sit or play.

Fleas have 4 stages in their life cycle:

  • Eggs – laid on a pet or animal host; fall onto carpets and floors.
  • Larvae (caterpillar) – emerge from eggs, small and blind, burrow into carpets, floorboards or soil.
  • Cocoon (pupa) – quite resistant to chemicals; can remain dormant for up to 18 months.
  • Adult – hatching from pupal stage is triggered by movement during warm, moist conditions; capable of reproducing rapidly into large populations.

An adult female flea can feed on an animal’s blood, then mate and lay eggs within one day of hatching. Each female can lay up to 500 eggs over her lifetime of several weeks.

If you have fish or reptile tanks, cover the tanks and temporarily turn off filters until after the treatment has dried.

Then be patient. Eggs will continue to hatch and die over the next five or six weeks (with normal household activity).

Do not leave flea infested areas undisturbed. In fact keeping your pet in the areas that have been treated will ensure the fleas are attracted to those spaces. Movement hatches fleas and only once they hatch can they come into contact with the chemical treatment and die.

Remember:

  • Do not vacuum for at least 7 days after treatment.
  • It is important to re-treat your pets according to the instructions on the label of the flea-treatment product.
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