Summertime Fleas: Getting Rid of Them!

You may think that calling your vet for some flea medicine and applying it to your animal is going to make these pesky little bugs simply disappear. Sadly, that is wrong. Once you have fleas in your home, it can take a year or longer (yikes!) for you to completely get rid of the tiny terrors.

However, there are some things you can do to speed up the process once they have worn out their welcome in your home and on your animals.

Bathe everyone.

Bathing animals, especially cats, is not high on anyone’s priority list, but getting them clean is the first step to complete flea control. Dawn liquid dish soap helps kill fleas, which makes me wonder why it is safe for dishes, but that’s another article. Lather your pets up and get them squeaky clean first.

Apply medication.

For cats, this usually means Advantage, a liquid flea medicine that comes in a tiny tube. For best results, and if your cats are as squirmy as mine, this may need to be a two-person operation with one person to help hold your kitty down and the other to apply the medication to the back of the neck.

To help things along, have everything ready before you grab your pet. Opening the tube while you’re wrestling a cat isn’t a fun way to spend a Friday night. Open everything and get it ready so all you have to do is pick up the tube and squeeze. The medicine is usually dry in an hour, but try to prevent pets from licking it off of each other if you have more than one animal being treated.

Clean Like The Queen Was Coming!

Putting on medicine is not the end of flea treatment; it’s only the beginning. You have to clean your house thoroughly to remove fleas and their eggs so your animals don’t get re-infected after all the trouble you’ve gone to (and the cost.) Vacuum all carpets and rugs; wash all bedding, pet and human along with blankets and towels that animals come into contact with.

Spray Them Away!

An all-natural secret to getting rid of fleas is to stock up on essential oils. Go into a market like Central Market or Whole Foods and head to the beauty or medicine section. The essential oils are in tiny bottles, and you can choose peppermint, lavender, eucalyptus or citrus scented oils to create a cocktail fleas won’t like.

Grab a plastic spray bottle and add a few drops of the oil you selected and fill the rest with water. Spray mattresses, couches, bedding and any corners or areas your pet likes to hang out where fleas might converge. Fleas hate these scents and they’ll leave the areas alone. You may have to repeat this a couple of times, but if you picked a great scent, like lavender, it will make your home smell nice and refreshed.

Repeat.

If you haven’t gotten rid of them, you have to medicate your pets once a month and repeat this process until they are gone. Fleas are particularly pesky during the hotter months so keep a close eye on your pet to make sure he’s flea free. Try some Skin So Soft by Avon to keep the critters from biting you as well.