If you have a pet (or pets) in your home, you know how much affection, warmth, and fun they bring into your Fort Valley, GA, home. Unfortunately, they can also bring in one of the most persistent and dangerous pests: fleas.
Even without considering some of the dangerous diseases these tiny jumping insects can carry and transmit, a flea infestation can make life unbearably uncomfortable for the people and animals living in your home. And once fleas have moved in, evicting them can be a serious chore.
Below, we’ll take an in-depth look at fleas: what they are, why they choose our pets and homes as their nests, and what you can do to find effective flea pest control in Fort Valley, Georgia, to get rid of the hoppy little pests for good.
What Are Fleas?
Fleas are tiny insects from the order Siphonaptera. There are about 2,500 species of fleas around the world, and they all have a few things in common:
- All fleas are parasites that live on the blood of warm-blooded creatures (mammals and birds)
- All fleas are small insects, not usually any larger than about 1/8” long.
- All fleas lack wings but have long and powerful back legs that they use to jump incredible distances – up to 50 times their body length.
Fleas also tend to be highly specialized – many species prefer one particular type of host, and a few will only feed on one specific species. The most commonly experienced flea in the US is the cat flea. Despite its name, the cat flea is more than happy to infest dogs and other warm-blooded creatures.
Are Fleas Dangerous?
In the absolute best-case scenario, a flea infestation can be a significant annoyance. The bites can cause humans and pets to suffer from itchiness and irritation. In the worst case, a flea infestation can be dangerous or even life-threatening, as fleas are known carriers of a number of diseases:
- Cat scratch disease is a bacterial infection that causes fever and swollen lymph nodes. In some cases, it can develop into a dangerous infection of the eye, liver, spleen, brain, bones, or heart valves.
- Tapeworms, a parasite that lives in the host’s intestines. Tapeworms can cause no symptoms at all or can cause significant gastrointestinal issues, depending on the severity of the infestation.
- Murine typhus is a bacterial infection that causes symptoms including fever, aches, nausea, vomiting, stomach pain, cough, and rash.
- Plague, the bacterial infection responsible for the Black Death in the Middle Ages, is still spread to humans from infected fleas. Most cases of plague in the US occur in the western states.
How Do I Know I Have a Flea Problem?
Many things can indicate that your pet or your home is infested with fleas:
- The most common sign of a flea infestation is seeing your pets scratching, biting at themselves, or over-grooming. Flea bites cause itchiness and skin irritation, so seeing your dog or cat chewing, scratching, or licking their skin can indicate fleas.
- Finding flea bites on the animals or people in your home will also indicate an infestation. Flea bites typically leave itchy, red bite marks that may also swell or present with a hives-live bump.
- Adult flea feces, commonly known as flea dirt, is another indicator. Flea dirt looks like coarsely ground black pepper and can appear in carpets and pet bedding.
- Finding fleas on your pets or people in the home is the most direct indicator of an infestation.
What Can I Do for Effective Flea Pest Control?
Getting rid of fleas once they’ve moved in can be a challenge. Fleas are inherently resilient creatures, and their eggs and larvae are so tiny that they can hide in the tiniest of cracks, rendering them difficult to kill and remove. Even the cracks between the individual planks of a wood floor can harbor thousands of flea eggs.
Flea Pest Control Tip 1: Prevent a Flea Infestation
The best way to have a flea-free life is to avoid an infestation in the first place. If you own pets, make sure to take steps to prevent them from becoming carriers of a flea infestation:
- Use oral or topical flea treatment. These treatments are given as tablets or as a topical solution applied to the skin at the back of the pet’s neck. The active ingredient in the treatment circulates through the pet’s bloodstream and quickly kills any fleas that try to feed on the pet’s blood.
- Flea collars remain an effective means of preventing fleas from settling in on your cat or dog.
- Giving your pet regular baths and combing it with a fine-toothed or flea comb can help remove fleas from its fur before they become a major infestation.
- When your pet goes outside, make sure it does not spend significant time in deep brush or extremely tall grass where fleas congregate. If your yard has areas of deep cover, consider clearing the brush or cutting the grass. You can also use an outdoor flea-control spray regularly to kill fleas in the yard.
- Vacuum, sweep, and dust your home regularly to remove flea eggs and larvae from your carpets and floors. Wash your pet’s bedding regularly to remove any pests that may have moved in.
Flea Pest Control Tip 2: Call the Professionals
Unfortunately, once fleas have established themselves in your home, getting them out is a significant task. While it is possible to clear out a minor infestation with commercially available flea treatments, a more substantial infestation will require professional help.
Your Fort Valley flea pest control company has a variety of tools and products that target specific phases of the flea life cycle. By using a careful combination of these different techniques, a licensed exterminator can attack the entire infestation at one time, wiping out the existing fleas and killing off any eggs and larvae that remain.
Your flea pest control professional can also provide you with guidance on how to prevent fleas from re-infesting your pet and your home, allowing you and your furry friends to enjoy a safer, less itchy future.
Stop the Scratching! Let National Exterminating Eliminate Your Flea Threat. Call Us: 478-922-1410.
If your pet and home are suffering from a flea infestation, National Exterminating can help. Call us today at 478-922-1410.
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