What Will Kill Fleas?
Nearly all cats and dogs get fleas sooner or later. Even if they are given regular preventive treatments, pets can get fleas from other animals or from walking across an area where the fleas are waiting for them. Fleas can also hitch a ride on people to get from one host to another. They spread disease and internal parasites and make your pet's life miserable.
-
It's a Flea's Life
-
Fleas go through stages of development throughout their lives. Each of these stages need to be killed in different ways. First, the flea is an egg, which can be laid in grass, furniture, carpeting or the host animal. About twelve days later, the eggs hatch into larvae. The larvae moult three times, gradually getting bigger. Larvae eat dead skin cells and the feces of adult fleas. After a couple of weeks, they spin a cocoon and transform into a pupae. They can hibernate in the cocoon for up to a year until they hatch into adults.
Killing Flea Adults
-
Adult fleas are the easiest to kill. Any liquid or granular pesticide can kill them, but many of these pesticides, such as bifenthrin, are far too powerful for home use or to put on your pet. Powders and sprays are good for furniture and bedding. To kill adult fleas on your pet, use prescription products that contain these medications as active ingredients: pyrethins, imidalcloprid, arylheterocycles and metaflumizone. Three other adult flea killing medications work on dogs but not on cats. These are pyrethroids, organophosphates, organocarbamates and amitraz.
-
Killing Flea Eggs
-
It is very difficult to kill flea eggs. They are incredibly tough. Steam cleaning or vacuuming the home and then immediately dumping the contents in the garbage can get rid of some eggs. Because of the strength of flea eggs, it's good to treat your home and pet for fleas once or twice a month for a few months until all of the flea eggs have hatched and the resulting larvae or adults have died.
Killing Flea Larvae
-
It is possible to kill flea larvae through vacuuming and steam cleaning every couple of weeks or with some medications. Many pyrethrins that kill adult fleas also kill flea larvae. Fipronil methoprene (brand name Frontline) acts to stop flea larvae from maturing. An oral preventative medication such as lufenuron IDI (brand name Program) stops flea eggs from hatching, provided the adult female takes a bite of your pet's medicated blood before she lays her eggs.
Immediate Relief
-
If you discover your pet covered in fleas, the pet needs immediate relief. Fleas can drown, but their hops are so powerful that they can hop out of a bath of just plain soap and water. Flea shampoo stuns them so that they don't hop. Afterwards, combing the pet with a fine-toothed flea comb exposes remaining fleas, which can be tossed into a lit candle, where they'll immediately die.
-
Resources
- Photo Credit The enemy. Image from Wikimedia Commons
