Flea Control Program

Flea Control Program

You’ve Got Fleas.
How do you get rid of them? First, it is a marathon, not a sprint. Because of the life cycle of fleas and the stages different products target, the problem sometimes gets worse before it gets better. This is normal and to be expected. It can take months of diligent effort to rid your pets and environment of fleas. But you can win the battle; don’t give up!

There are various ways to treat fleas, with different levels of success. Below is the treatment strategy we believe gives you the best chance for success. We encourage you to follow it. Taking shortcuts at this point can result in the infestation lasting longer and costing more. Please let us know if you have questions. We’re here to help.

For Your Pets

• To be successful, every cat and dog in the home needs to be treated (please talk to your exotics veterinarian for other animals). Regardless of whether or not they go outside, the fleas are in your home and they will use untreated animals as hosts–delaying the clean-up significantly and making the untreated pet miserable. Every cat and dog.
• Use an oral (edible) or topical (on the skin) product as directed. Missing a dose can set you back and cause you extra frustration and money.
• Once you have a flea infestation, you’ll probably want to keep your pets on effective preventatives year round. But you will need to do it for a MINIMUM of three months, probably longer, just to kill off the current infestation.
• Only 5% of fleas in the home are adults. Many products, including those you can get from your veterinarian, kill adult fleas and interrupt the flea’s life cycle (keeping existing eggs from turning into adult fleas that will lay more eggs). This is important for getting ahead of the curve.
• The doctor will recommend the product best for your particular situation. Right now, with an active flea infestation, efficacy and safety are top priorities. The products we offer are the safest, most effective available–but don’t assume that means they’re more expensive. Buying in larger quantities, they are often the same or lower than big box stores.

For Your Home

• Vacuum
  • Vacuum carpets and furniture, including hard to reach areas. Pay special attention to areas your pets frequent. When you are done, bag the contents of your vacuum with plastic and remove the bag from your home. We don’t want them jumping from the bag back into your house!
• Spray
  • To keep flea eggs from hatching, spray the floors and underneath furniture with a product that contains insect growth regulator (IGR). We recommend Siphotrol Area Treatment Spray, which we keep in stock. Although foggers (flea bombs) can be used, they are not as effective. This is because they are unable to get under beds, furniture, and piles of clutter where young fleas are hatching and feeding. Please follow all safety instructions on the product you use.
• Repeat
  • This needs to be done an average of three times for successful flea treatment. See product label for specific directions.

You can adapt this for other locations (office, porch, barn, etc) as needed.

An Ounce of Prevention…
Having a flea infestation can be frustrating, expensive, and overwhelming. It can take more than you might imagine to rid your pets and home of these pesky parasites. That is why we recommend that you keep your pets on year-round flea prevention.

There are many products on the market, each with its own pros and cons. Our staff can assess your situation and recommend the products that are best for you and your pets.

A Word about Where You Get Your Preventative Medication
This may surprise pet lovers, but there is a significant amount of counterfeit products for sale online. There is also a large black market for diverted product that has unknown origins and is stored in unknown conditions.

We care about your pets’ safety and want them to have high-quality, effective medicine. That’s why we only sell products we trust and only purchase them from suppliers we trust.

We all know we can’t believe everything we see on TV—and that includes commercials saying you’ll pay more for pet medications at the vets. We understand that cost can be an issue and work with manufacturers to offer you deals you can’t get anywhere else. Whether you purchase from our online store (with optional auto shipping) or in the office, we keep our prices very competitive!

Finally, we never recommend using cheap, over-the-counter topical products on your cats. They can be toxic, and may actually make a cat sick enough for an expensive emergency room visit.

As always, talk with us if you have any questions.

And thank you for trusting us with your pets’ health.