Spring Is Here and Fleas Are Hatching
When you have k9s and felines in your home that are indoor and outdoor furkids, they are bound to bring in unwanted “guests” in the form of fleas.
It’s spring where we live and fleas are hatching.
I’ve noticed more than the occasional itchy-scratchy obsession from the furkids. That can only mean it’s flea season.
It’s important to treat the full life cycle of this parasite.
The first thing
The first thing to do is to purchase some new flea collars. Yes, I’ve done the drops in the past but I don’t like the potential side effects of them. Also, they only last 30 days and they cost 80$ or more for my pack for one month.
So I use old school flea collars that have a 7-month life span. Yes, 7 months of coverage for my pack. I’ve found that the extra-large collars are the most cost-efficient and the smaller sizes cost more. I get everyone the extra large and cut them down to the size that fits each furkid. I get them for about 3$ each on chewy.com. Here’s what they look like.
Cost-Effective Flea & Tick Collars
Next
The next thing I do is vacuum the house, furniture, beds and under the beds. This removes any eggs that may have been hanging out there waiting for warmer weather to hatch.
The next step is to get some kind of aerosol flea spray.
This year I choose black flag flea and tick aerosol because it has a 7-month residual feature. It also treats the full life cycle. So I’m using it once in the spring and once in the fall and the house and furniture are protected for 7 months. Plus, then I can keep the collars and the spray on the same schedule. 7 months. This makes the schedule twice a year and it’s done.
Kennel care
Next, we remove bedding, wash the kennel pans and spray them with the black flag flea tick spray, then toss the bedding into the washer for the furkids.
The yard is the next stop.
For other yard care tips click here,
How To Sanitize Your Dog’s Potty Area
Sevin Dust kills on contact all kinds of crawling critters. As long as it doesn’t rain after application, it stays on the ground for a while and continues to do its thing.
Bath Time
Flea Shampoo for dogs and cats
Then it’s bath time. Now, not everyone is a fan of bathtime. We make it work over a period of a few days by doing 2 each day until they are all clean and smelling fresh.
Additional flea elimination support
I found that for those in-between times if an outbreak of fleas hatching happens outside and makes its way back inside on the k9s, I use cat flea powder on everybody. I chose cat flea powder because the dog flea powders’ active ingredient will make cats have seizures. The dogs don’t have any issues with the active ingredient in the cat powder.
