How to get rid of fleas in an apartment, in a cat and dog once and for all

Fleas are small, agile insects that live on the blood of animals. They are very prolific, they have painful bites, after which there can be serious consequences. Therefore, having discovered these pests, we proceed to their immediate destruction. But, before embarking on a fight, one must surely identify the insect with which we enter a duel. Why is this important, because we will destroy any pests anyway? That's right, but each insect has its own control methods. And if you poison bugs with poison from fleas, the result will not be and vice versa. Therefore, we will identify several signs by which it is possible to distinguish fleas from other insect pests:

Fleas jump high enough.
Mostly these insects bite their legs.
Appearance. If possible, try to catch the pest and compare with the image or description.

Once you have determined that this is a flea, study all the possible and affordable methods for controlling insects. Getting rid of any parasites requires thorough preparation, a comprehensive and very quick operation. Then, you need to find out how the insects got into the room. Either on an animal, then it must be treated accordingly, or from the street, which is more suitable for private houses. Then it is necessary to take all precautions to avoid re-penetration of parasites. Or maybe fleas appeared in both ways. In any case, it is necessary to process the animal and the entire apartment. This must be done, as has already been said, in stages and quickly.

Two parts:

Treatment of your apartment for fleas.
Treat your pet for fleas.

Here are a few different ways to deal with fleas.

Part 1: Treating Your Flea Flat

1. Botanical dust mixed with borate powder or boric acid

The easiest way to kill fleas is in the egg and larval stages of their development, during this period they are most vulnerable. Adult individuals live only about a week if they do not feed on the host. And flea larvae can live up to several months, so you need to start with the extermination of the larvae. This mixture will help prevent the transformation of larvae into fleas.

Botanical dust acts as a poison for the stomach of fleas.

Care must be taken not to inhale botanical dust and borate mixtures. Wear a mask when using dust and a mixture.

Use botanical dust on your carpet, all furniture, beds, and places where your dog or cat sleeps. After treatment, it is best not to be at home for at least 24 hours. You need to give the mixture a day to settle. When you return, vacuum the carpet, furniture, wash the sheets.

2. A mixture of water and dishwashing detergent

it's like a toxic pool for fleas. Once in this mixture, they die. Fill shallow bowls with detergent and water.

Place this mixture of water and detergent in a very shallow bowl and place it on the floor so that fleas accidentally jump into it.
You can also place the mixture near the nightlight. A flea attracts light. Approaching him, many of them will fall into the mixture and die.

3. Use lemon in the affected areas

Cut one whole lemon into thin slices and place in half a liter of water. Bring the water to a boil. Let it brew overnight. Pour into a spray bottle and spray the affected areas.

4. Use cedar slices in affected areas

Pieces of cedar can be found at the pet store or in industrial departments. Fleas hate the smell of cedar; they shun it in every way.

It is important to make sure that the pet is not allergic to cedar. Many dogs may have such an allergy. Thus, even if the cedar drives the fleas away, you should not use it if it harms your dog.

If the animal is not allergic to pieces of cedar, then pour them in the corners of the rooms, to the place where the dog is sleeping and under the furniture.

With the help of cedar you can protect your bed. To do this, wrap the pieces of cedar in a cotton cloth and place it under your pillow. This ensures that your bed remains free from pests. Plus, it will give a good aroma.

5. Salt your carpet

Salt is a desiccant, that is, it absorbs moisture from things and dries them. When salt crystals adhere to a flea, this leads to rubbing and curettage of it, and as a result, to a significant bleeding and death of a flea when it moves.

For this it is worth using a very fine-grained salt. The thinner the better: the salt should be small enough to cling to a flea.
After 7-10 days, vacuum the salted area very carefully, making sure to remove all the salt and flea carcasses from the carpet. Repeat the process one or two more times.

When you are finished vacuuming, throw out the old vacuum bag and put in a new one and continue vacuuming.

6. Vacuum, vacuum, vacuum

Walk through all the affected areas, especially in those places where your pets are most often found. Most fleas cannot survive in a so-called tornado in a vacuum bag.

People often take powerful, super suction vacuum cleaners, but an average power vacuum cleaner can do just fine.
Sprinkle moth poison on the carpet or inside the vacuum bag and vacuum again. This will help kill fleas.

After vacuuming, always discard the vacuum bag. This will help avoid re-infection.

7. Flea traps

They work in much the same way as the mixture of water and detergent described above. Fleas attract heat and bright light, and they fall into the trap.

8. Floor spray

Spray for sex and bedding with an insect growth regulator (IGR - insect growth regulator - insect growth regulator). IGR stops the development of fleas, thereby disrupting the breeding cycle. The most economical way is to buy the concentrate and mix as directed. As a rule, the mixture should be used twice at least with an interval of three and a half weeks. It is advisable to spray places where your pet is often located monthly throughout the flea season.

It is very important that IGR is not toxic to mammals. This allows you to use this spray even for those who have children or small animals, such as hamsters, reptiles, fish and others.

Part 2: Treating Your Flea's Pet

1. Clean your pet regularly

Bathing will help kill the fleas that live on it. But do not forget to use other ways to destroy fleas, such as a vacuum cleaner, borate mixture, pieces of cedar. The fact is that in the environment there can always be fleas at different stages of development, which are waiting for the moment to jump onto the animal.

To bathe your pet, use flea soap and start from places near the ears, eyes, nose, mouth, and under the tail. When fleas feel water, they immediately look for a safe place on the animal, namely: near the ears, eyes, nose, mouth and anus. Therefore, these places need to be treated with soap first of all, before wetting the entire animal so that fleas have nowhere to escape.

After you have soaped the vulnerable areas of your pet, soak it thoroughly and wash the entire body with soap. Leave the animal in soapy form for at least 10 minutes so that the soap acts on fleas. Then, when drying the pet, comb out the dead fleas.

If your pet does not respond well to flea soaps, try a soap containing eucalyptus, tea tree oil, or cedar oil. Fleas do not like the oils of these trees, so you can use this to your advantage.
You can also use flea shampoo instead of soap. The effect and method of use is the same as that of soap. The only difference in formulations and components is that the shampoo is slightly milder in its effect on animals.

2. Use flea products for your cats and dogs

These products are Advantage or Frontline, these are spot treatment drugs that are applied to pets every month. Of course, there are many other brands of drugs of this type.

Typically, these spot treatments are applied to the pet’s skin between the shoulder blades and in several places down the spine. The medicine penetrates the skin and relieves the animal of pests.

3. Special tools

Treat your skin with special preparations and always use them in tandem with IGR (insect growth regulator). This will prevent fleas from adapting to treatment. But it can also happen that treatment for fleas becomes ineffective. This suggests that insects are accustomed to a certain type of treatment, that is, to the drugs you use (including chemicals that are contained in flea collars). In this case, change the drugs, but be sure to use the tandem of the drug for targeted treatment and spray with an insect growth regulator, just take other brands. Why is it important to use a growth regulator spray? The fact is that it will stop the development of subsequent generations of insects and will prevent, to a large extent, adaptation to treatment.

4. Pills are also a great way to rid your pet of fleas.

specially designed for this purpose. Naturally, they are given in the mouth of the animal, in accordance with the instructions for use. The tablets begin to act within a few hours. Under the action of tablets, fleas die, but in dying spasms they begin to bite the owner. Bathing the animal will help relieve pain and relieve the tooth from bites of dying insects.

Under the influence of flea pills, some cats can become hyperactive, start to scream or choke. If this happens, try reducing the recommended dose, but it may be necessary to completely abandon the pills or try a different brand. But if the cat reacts inadequately to pills of another brand, it is worth completely abandoning this type of treatment. Use only drops.

5. Considering that fleas feed on the blood of animals, you can influence them, on the basis of this

Add some vinegar to the animal’s water. But this method is suitable only for dogs, in no case give vinegar to cats, as their pH is much more sensitive than in dogs. Mix in a bowl a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar with water. You can also bathe the animal using water and vinegar.

Note.

Vacuum wooden floors with crevices especially carefully. The more often you vacuum, the more likely it is to kill more pests.
Before using any products on your pets, consult your veterinarian.
Be sure to read the instructions for use before using any tool.
When using tea tree oil, be extremely careful, as it can cause nausea, vomiting, weakness, and drowsiness. It should be used in very small quantities and only 1% solution.
In general, any essential oils in large quantities are unhealthy; they can also be toxic to some animals, especially cats. Talk to your veterinarian.
Do not use all drugs at once. Try one by one gradually, so you can determine which is harmful and which is safe for your pet.
Be extremely careful with all drugs if there are pregnant women or animals in the house, as some substances may be toxic to pregnant women. Be sure to consult your doctors and read the instructions.