Flea Control


If fleas or ticks are a problem you need to do more than buy a new flea collar. If fleas are on your pet, you can be sure they are in your house. In fact, while adult fleas spend most of their time on animals, the eggs, larvae and pupal stages live in your carpeting, rugs, your favorite chair, along baseboards, in floor cracks and other areas of the house and yard. They can be found wherever your pet goes.

To really control fleas-keep them from constantly re-infesting your pet and affecting your family--you must get rid of them on your pet and eliminate the fleas in your house and the outdoor areas your pets frequent.

Flea Life Cycle

The female flea lays a few eggs daily that total up to 300 to 400 in its lifetime. The eggs are laid on the pet and most drop off where pets spend most of their time. Pet bedding, floor crevices, carpeting, along baseboards and areas near their favorite sleeping and napping sites are especially likely places where eggs will be found.

These eggs hatch into legless larvae. The larvae spin a cocoon and, depending on environmental conditions, emerge as adults in as few as five days. The adult fleas then mate (after a blood meal from your pet) and then lay eggs. The life cycle is then repeated--until control measures break the cycle.

The total life cycle can last from 25 days to several months. Your technician can explain the life cycle to you and tell you what to do to break it.

Fleas can transmit diseases. Typhoid fever and bubonic plague are the worst of them (and thank goodness there's not too much of that around to transmit). But they can also transmit tapeworms to dogs, cats, and even small children !

Get Professional Flea Control

At Dallas Ft. Worth Pest Control, our technicians are trained to inspect and treat your home for fleas. They can also treat outdoor areas where your pet lives and plays and can recommend practices to follow to minimize flea infestations from happening again. But more importantly, our professionals know what products to use inside and outside your home, and how to apply them to control fleas and not bother you. They get the job done and they do it right.

How We Control Fleas - Pet owners can spend a lot of time and money trying to control fleas on their pets. But, if they do nothing about the pet's environment, fleas will continue to be a problem. That's where we come in. We will incorporate one or more of the following methods in a flea control program.

Habitat Remedies - This includes sanitation and the elimination of flea "hot spots" inside and outside the home.

Mechanical Remedies - Screening of foundation vents and other access areas to keep mice, rats, squirrels and other flea carrying wild animals out.

Insecticide Remedies - Insecticide application to parts of the structure and outdoor areas, paying close attention to areas frequented by pets. What you do is critical for a successful flea control program. When you decide to use our service, there are important things you need to immediately before and after we treat your home.

Before Treatment

1. Observe where pets spend time--inside and outside the home.
2. Take your pets to a veterinarian to be checked and treated for fleas. To help avoid reinfestation don't let freshly treated pets back into your house or yard until it has been treated.
3. Vacuum carpets, floors, rugs, drapes, upholstered furniture, mattresses and cushions. Use a vacuum with a disposable bag and dispose of it by incineration or sealing in a plastic bag.
4. Wash or destroy all pet bedding.
5. Clean or vacuum wood and tile floors with special attention to grooves, cracks and baseboards.
6. Sweep porches, steps and decks.
7. Cut the lawn and remove debris and clutter prior to yard spraying.
8. All unwrapped food should be covered or placed in cabinets or the refrigerator. Food preparation surfaces and utensils should be covered.

After Treatment

Once your home and yard have been professionally treated, there are important things you need to do.
1. All occupants and animals should stay off treated surfaces until they are dry.
2. Vacuum carpets every day for 10 days and remove the vacuum bag outdoors and dispose of it properly. Don't be alarmed if you see adult fleas when you are vacuuming. These fleas were in the pupa and egg stages which aren't killed by the insecticide application. However, there is enough residual control to last up to four weeks. That's enough time to kill adults as they emerge and give good control in most situations.
3. Wash food preparation surfaces and utensils that might have come in contact with the insecticide.
4. Do not allow flea infested pets in your home. If this happens, the house may get re-infested and re-treatment will be necessary.
5. Don't forget to talk to us about treating the yard !