A DISCUSSION OF FLEA CONTROL FOR THE ENVIRONMENT  

As far as the house is concerned, if your pet comes in the house, you do have some fleas in the house whether you see them or not, because all flea eggs are laid on the pet's coat and fall off in the environment.  Therefore, if your pet comes in the house, the house must be treated with an insect growth regulator that not only kills adult fleas, but also prevents the hatching of eggs and growth of the larvae that are in the carpet. 

What if your pet never goes outside?  They should be safe, right?  No!!  You go outside, therefore you can track in flea eggs from your clothes and shoes.   Yes, fleas, their larvae and eggs can hitchhike into the home from us.

 Begin with vacuuming your house well: floors, under furniture, and especially in the corners of the rooms.  Make sure to throw the vacuum bag away to prevent the little "buggers" from crawling back out.  Don't add anything to the vacuum bag, like moth balls, as these release toxins when heated.  Just throw the bag away.  Then apply an insect growth regulator (see below for examples) to the floors, closets, and carpet.  This product must also be applied to cloth furniture as flea eggs will also be in these areas.  All bedding should be washed in hot water and pet bedding should be replaced.  Non-carpeted areas can be wet mopped to pick up any additional flea eggs and non-cloth furniture wiped down.  Again, make sure the product you choose says insect growth regulator on the label. 

Remember, when you only kill the adult fleas, you are only treating 1% to 5% of the problem. 

External Environmental Control Includes:

1) restriction of pet from good flea breeding areas

2) sanitation - mow/rake/remove debris

3) chemicals - carbamates, organophosphates, and insect growth regulators (like pyriproxifen, methoprene, and sodium polyborate [Borax®])

 4) using biopesticides that eat the flea pupae and larvae such as Steinernema carpocapsae

Inside Environment Control:

1) Vacuuming

2) Treating the animal with a reliable flea control (ask us what works!)

3) Insect Growth Regulators Sprayed on Environment (methoprene [degraded by sunlight], pyriproxifen [sunlight stable], sodium polyborate [Borax® as an example]

There are insect growth regulator products that can be used in the household.  A few good examples include Knockout® and Nylar®.