How to effectively treat your pet against fleas

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It’s all down to understanding where fleas live, how fleas breed and how to effectively treat your pet (and your home) against fleas. Our blog explains the most effective flea treatment to help keep fleas at bay.

Read our vet’s top tips on how we can keep these pesky critters at bay.

Treatment for adult fleas

Adult fleas are easily picked up by your pet almost anywhere as they jump from animal to environment or from environment to animal.  Your pet can pick up a flea from:

• fellow dogs/cats they meet outside or on walks
• from other pets visiting  your home
• boarding kennels/catteries
• pet groomers
• cars
• vet visits

Regular flea treatment can either kill existing adult fleas or be used as a preventative measure.

If you don’t think you have a current flea problem, then a regular, preventative adult flea treatment (some of these products also kill adult ticks too) could be enough to keep the fleas at bay.

Various products exist – usually containing the same active ingredients.

Treat adult fleas, eggs and larvae

Adult fleas don’t actually live on your pet, they feed on your furry friend, but live in the local environment – i.e. in your home!

Eggs/larvae can be found in:

• your pet’s bedding
• soft furnishings/sofas/cushions around your home
• cracks around the edge of flooring

They lay completely hidden, quietly, until it warms up and the larvae hatch into adults.

There are ‘spot on’ products available that have a dual protection element. These often have ‘combo’ or ‘plus’ in the name. They’re offering a combination of ingredients which do two things:

• Kill adult fleas
• Prevent eggs from hatching/affect larvae development.

The double ingredient formula upsets the life cycle of fleas, stopping the eggs hatching, preventing them from developing into fleas and taking up residence in your home.

Their effectiveness only happens when the flea bites the treated pet.

If fleas are present in your home but not biting your treated pet straight away, they will be happily laying eggs which are not affected by the treatment and therefore, will develop along nicely. That’s where a household spray comes in.

Treat your home too

As mentioned above, around 95% of the flea population lives in the home environment.

Household flea sprays kill adult fleas (and in some instances dust mites too) on contact, usually for up to two months after.

They’re great for an instant cull of live fleas in your home.

They also affect/prevent the development of any eggs/larvae laying around too, again, for up to 12 months.

When used along with pet treatments, household sprays complete the tightest circle of flea treatments available.

If your home or pet continues to be pestered by fleas, talk to your vet for advice. If your pet seems to be overly scratching despite flea treatments, again, speak to your vet as an allergy may be present and require treatment.

You can view a full range of pet and home flea treatments by visiting the Animed Direct website.

Pet insurance

It’s always worth having a pet insurance policy in place in case of unexpected illness or injury. Why not check out the MiPet Cover policy brochure?