It is that time of year again, I have started getting questions about dreaded fleas in and around homes.
There are very few things worse than getting a flea infestation in or around your home. Fleas can also be very hard and expensive to get rid of once you have them.
Many times, you can be trying to control fleas and still get an infestation. However, there are effective treatments to help you in your flea control efforts.
To effectively control fleas, it helps to understand their lifecycle. The flea’s lifecycle includes four stages- egg, larva, pupa, and adult. A mature female flea will lay approximately 27 eggs per day. She will also consume 15 times her body weight in blood daily.
The larvae stage lasts for 5 to 11 days. The pupa then form in a cocoon that was weaved by the larva. Here is the kicker, an adult flea can remain in the cocoon for up to 5 months just waiting for an animal or human to walk by so it can jump on for a free meal.
Now that you know a little about the flea, you need to know how to control or kill them. Treatments will consist of either slow-acting insect growth regulators (IGR) or residual insecticides.
Insect growth regulators are slow to act; they mostly kill eggs and the immature stages of fleas. For this reason, they are great preventatives, before you ever have a problem.
If you already have an adult flea problem, you will want to step up to a residual insecticide that will help to control the adult fleas. You can get both types of treatments for either your pets or premises. A combination of the insecticide and the IGR will kill the adult fleas and give you long lasting protection from future outbreaks.
There are too many products to list, but here are a few of the active ingredients to look for in an IGR: methopreneindoor and pet treatment, py r i p ox i f e n - i n d o o r, outdoor and pet treatment and lufenuron- pet treatment. In residual insecticides: carbaryloudoor and pet treatment, malathion-outdoor, pyrethrins- indoor and pet treatment, imidacloprid-outdoor and pet treatment. It is wise to check with your veterinarian for the best pet products, and always follow label directions.