Did you know that a single flea could mean your home is infested with hundreds more?
A flea problem can quickly get out of control. Just 10 female fleas can multiply to 250,000 in a month if left unchecked. And they can get into all parts of your house, including your rugs, carpet, furniture, bedding and even infest your backyard.
Out of all the 70 species of fleas in Australia, the two most common are the Cat Flea (Ctenocephalides felis) and the Dog Flea (Ctenocephalides canis). The cat flea is the one that is found mostly on both dogs and cats, and also attacks humans (usually the lower legs), in some cases, causing allergic reactions.
Brisbane is an ideal environment for fleas to flourish in as they like temperatures between 20C and 30C and humidity of around 70 percent. Winter may not be as much of a problem as fleas can exist in the larvae and pupal stages for months and even adults can remain dormant until the conditions are more favourable. But spring and summer months can bring on seemingly instant eruptions of fleas as the temperatures warm up.
Even though you can have fleas in your home without any pets, pets do make ideal hosts for fleas to feast upon and lay eggs. Here are some signs that your pet may have fleas:
- They scratch excessively
- There is reddened skin and fur loss
- You can see fleas visibly moving in hairs and on skin
- There is flea dirt (black specks) in their fur and bedding
Most people will try to contain fleas by using flea bombs or home remedies, and wonder why two to three weeks later the problem is not getting better but is actually worse! This is because DIY treatments only deal with around 5% of the adult flea population, and don’t treat the other 95%, which are the other three stages of the lifecycle – eggs, larvae and pupae.
To properly deal with a flea infestation, you have to deal with all stages of the lifecycle, which is made even more difficult as fleas have become resistant to many of the over-the-counter DIY treatments.
Cure All Can Help
Before we treat a home for fleas, we ask homeowners to vacuum floors and furnishings that your pet has been in contact with, especially around their areas where they sleep. Vacuuming has the effect of stimulating adult fleas to emerge from the pupae as they detect vibration, noise, heat that makes them think a ‘blood meal’ is close by.
Then discard the vacuum cleaner bag immediately afterwards to reduce the risk of fleas spreading. Pets bedding should also be put through the very hot cycle on your washing machine as fleas perish in high temperatures. You should de-flea pets too to kill any existing fleas.
We then apply a high quality but low toxicity liquid spray to the areas where your pets rest or sleep to eliminate the resident flea populations.
Cure All can treat your home successfully for fleas, so give us a call today before the numbers get out of hand.
