Flea treatment is performed if there are signs of a parasite in the room: itching, red dots on the legs. Fleas can jump high, therefore it is recommended to process the object at the level of 1-1.5 m from the floor. Insects hide in crevices, they are not constantly on the body of a pet. To eliminate pests, complex treatment is needed: both premises and animals.
It is imperative to treat fleas from an apartment if you have a pet.
Reasons for contamination of residential premises
When a person is faced with such a problem, it is very important to find the reason for the infection in order to prevent the reappearance of the parasites.
The most common reasons include:
- Pets that bring parasites on the wool off the street. In order for a pet to be attacked by blood-sucking animals, it is not at all necessary to contact a sick animal, they can fall on the wool from grass, ground.
- A person can independently bring them to his home. On the street, most often, flea eggs fall on shoes, which a person brings to his house.
- They can also come from neighbors, for example, when they disinfect.
- The reason may be basements, in which flea colonies very often live.
- Birds are also carriers, so penetration from attics or when the nest is very close to the window is not excluded.
Are cat fleas dangerous to humans?
When a cat has fleas, you definitely need to get rid of them. And this must be done quickly, because if the process is delayed, you will have to treat everything around with poison. Firstly, they can harm the animal itself, in the form of dermatitis, helminthic infestations and other diseases transmitted through bites. Secondly, fleas that live on a cat are dangerous to humans.
In the meantime, the infection has settled on a furry friend, it is better to avoid close contact with him. Because I noticed red itchy marks on my skin several times after the purr slept for a couple of hours on my lap. Such a reaction occurs due to a short trunk, therefore, in order to snatch the insect, it is forced to immerse its head in the skin, plus there is no anesthetic in the saliva.
Here is the answer to the question that interests all owners: "Do cat fleas bite people?" And how! At the site of the bites, allergic dermatitis can develop due to a substance that is in the saliva of this jumping creature. There is also a chance of contracting dipylidiosis (helminthic infestation), hepatitis, salmonellosis, typhoid and Bartonella infection (cat scratch disease).
Signs of a flea infestation
It can be quite difficult to detect parasites immediately after infection, especially if there are pets in the apartment. These are rather small insects that grow up to 2-6 mm. They move very quickly and jump long distances. It is almost impossible to notice crawling insects in open spaces.
Most often, the first signs are the consequences after bites. When it comes to animals, it is very easy for their behavior to understand that they need help. The bites are painful enough for them, the pet does not behave calmly, and at night it cannot sleep normally. After the bite, severe itching appears, so the animal itches constantly.
Not only pets, but also people suffer from bites. Since the bites begin to itch strongly, this symptom becomes the first sign .. Often it is the legs that attack the fleas, the affected areas turn red, and with an allergic reaction, bumps may appear.
These parasites often live close to a potential food source. It is necessary to inspect the bedding of the animal, as well as the places where they spend a lot of time. Where fleas live, small black grains appear, which are the waste product of insects. The same grains can be seen on the skin of animals. You can put sheets of white paper or a white cloth on the carpet and observe; when infected, small black dots will be visible on the surface, which move.
They hide in hard-to-reach, dark places. Favorable environment, places with high levels of humidity. Females do not choose special places for laying eggs; they can leave them throughout the room where they move. One female can lay up to 10 eggs daily. It takes 7-10 days to move from egg to larval stage. Then they go through the stage of nymph development and are reborn into adults.
It should be understood that the fight against these blood-sucking insects includes a set of actions. It will be necessary to treat animals, carry out pest control and take preventive measures that minimize the likelihood of re-infection.
What to do if a cat does not breed fleas
My cat's fleas did not come out with drops, so I bought the spray, but history repeated itself. In the end, I bought a collar, but a month has passed, and the flea brethren are returning again. This state of affairs began to strain me, as a result, I began to look for more effective methods of how to get rid of cat fleas once and for all.
Going deeper into the topic, I realized that now I need to poison insects in the apartment. I sincerely hope that my experience will help others in their difficult pest control.
Are fleas from cats transmitted to a child?
Can fleas go from a cat to a child or even to a person? Unlike lice, no, but they can bite. These parasites use humans only briefly as a food source.
Fleas in a cat photo
I attach thematic photos to know what fleas look like, as it is very important to be able to identify these insects.
Self-processing of apartments
So, as mentioned earlier, there can be several reasons for infection, so it is necessary to find out how they got into the apartment. When pets become the cause, then treatment is necessarily carried out in the same period as pest control. If these parasites got from the basement, the right decision would be to contact specialized services that will carry out pest control. In order to achieve the maximum result when processing the premises, it is necessary to start with the preparation of the apartment.
Apartment preparation
Specialized means that are designed to combat fleas act only on adults, the eggs remain intact. For this reason, 2 treatments are carried out with an interval of 10-14 days. But before pest control, we can independently get rid of most of the eggs, for this, general cleaning is carried out.
Of course, a lot depends on the degree of contamination of the apartment. When the apartment is not heavily infected, it may not be necessary to re-treat it. In fact, the eggs of parasites can be anywhere, which greatly complicates the situation, but at the same time, knowing that they do not lay eggs, but scatter them where they live, the largest accumulation of offspring is on the carpet, upholstered furniture , on the litter of animals.
It should also be borne in mind that parasites love moisture, so they can choose habitats near domestic plants, under shells, etc.They make their way into hard-to-reach places, behind baseboards, cabinets, crevices.
With a large accumulation of insects, you will need to move the furniture away from the walls. Next, you need to thoroughly vacuum carpets, upholstered furniture, corners and all textiles. Next, wet cleaning is carried out, it is necessary to get rid of all the cobwebs and dust.
Soft toys must be washed at high temperatures, in winter they must be hung out in the cold, in summer in the sun. It is also necessary to wash bed linen, bedspreads, animal bedding and hang out on the street. Remove all clothing and other things from surfaces so that no poisonous insecticide gets on them.
Important!
Be sure to hide food, dishes and kitchen utensils from surfaces. Hide towels, personal hygiene products.
Pest control
Remember that insecticides are used during processing, which are dangerous not only for fleas, but also for people and animals. Be sure to follow the instructions for use that come with each product. Also observe safety measures, it is necessary to use clothes that completely cover the body, rubber gloves, a respirator, and goggles.
There should be no people or animals in the apartment during the procedure. If you have an aquarium, you need to take it out, also take out the cages with birds, rodents and other animals. Only one person remains in the room, who uses protective equipment.
During the procedure, the windows and doors in the room must be closed. The drug is applied most often with a spray bottle, so you can easily process hard-to-reach places, in addition, when spraying, the substance evenly lays on the surface. A room is processed at a height of up to 1 meter, you need to apply the substance to the walls, back walls of furniture, baseboards, floor, hard-to-reach places.
Depending on the selected insecticide, it is necessary to leave the room after treatment for a certain amount of time, from several hours to several days. Here it should be canceled that it would be correct to leave the room for a few days, since then you can ensure the maximum effect of the insecticide and achieve a positive result.
Upon returning to the apartment (one person returns first), it is necessary to ventilate it well in order to get rid of toxic fumes. Further, it is imperative to carry out wet cleaning. First, the surfaces with which people and animals come into contact are thoroughly washed out. The drug remains only in hard-to-reach places, where children and animals cannot reach. General cleaning is carried out in a month.
Possible flea habitats in the house
Fleas live in large numbers:
- under and on carpets;
- on the bedding of pets;
- in upholstered furniture and bedding;
- on clothes;
- in hard-to-reach places - plinths, internal non-separable parts of upholstered furniture.
Fleas prefer natural carpet pile. They live mainly on the floor, not rising above 0.5-1 meters above the floor. Insects can be found in soft toys and fur products. The warmer it is in the apartment, the greater the chances for increasing the flea family. Insects inhabit the folds of bedding and mattresses.
When a child lives in the room
Of course, if children live in the house, then first of all, complete safety should be ensured. If it is not possible to move with the children for a few days from the premises in order to carry out all the necessary procedures, you can try other methods, for example, exposure to high and low temperatures.
Low temperatures can affect parasites in winter. For this, all windows are opened for a sufficiently long time. You can also use steam generators that provide exposure to high temperatures.But here it should be borne in mind that not all surfaces tolerate such temperatures and can be damaged.
If the infection is not strong, you can do general cleaning, processing of animals and use safe folk remedies that are absolutely harmless to people.
Features of insects
Flea
These pests belong to the order of arthropods, are brown-black in color, can reach 1-5 mm in length, have a flattened body with hairs, thanks to which they can cling to six, tissue or skin.
In fleas, the hind legs are much better developed than the front ones, so they have high jumping ability. An adult can overcome a height of 30 cm!
The lifespan can be up to 24 months. The most comfortable conditions are a temperature of about 22 ° C with an air humidity of more than 70%. In an unfavorable environment, the life span of blood-sucking insects is reduced to 3 months, some individuals hibernate.
Throughout her life, the female produces quite numerous offspring.
Black fleas are the common name for a whole group of pests that live in human dwellings, among them canine and feline fleas, linen and bed fleas, grass and basement fleas are often found.
Contacting specialized services
Most often, services are contacted with a high degree of infection or when it is necessary to process basements, attics, and other large rooms. It should be said that such professional assistance will provide the maximum result. During disinfestation, they use potent drugs that have a detrimental effect on eggs. In addition, they know about all the features of this procedure. Such an appeal to the services will exclude independent work with toxic substances.
Remember that after processing, regardless of whether you carry out it yourself or contact the service, you will need to adhere to some recommendations. It is necessary for the first time to carry out wet cleaning every day, be sure to pay attention to hard-to-reach places.
If you have a cat or dog that regularly visits the street, take care of protection to prevent infection. For example, collars, drops, aerosols, and other forms of specialized products can be used.
Wash the bedding of the animals regularly and hang them out in the sun. Also ventilate pillows and blankets. When parasites have entered the house from the basement, from neighbors or by other means, exclude re-entry. Use insecticides, such as chalk, which is applied to selected surfaces, such as ventilation, windows, pipe joints, etc.
Where do fleas come from?
Flea treatment performed in a house or apartment may well be done independently. However, in this case, it is unlikely that it will be possible to quickly expel the parasites from the living space. And first you need to find out exactly where these pests come from. Sources of danger can be:
- pets - after talking with a fellow whose fur is infected with parasites, the pet can bring the pests home;
- basements and their inhabitants - mice, as well as rats are closely adjacent to parasites;
- neighbors' apartments and technical rooms (attics, strollers);
- from shops, service facilities located in the building;
- from the street - through balcony doors and windows, doorways.
Whatever the path of penetration of insects, their appearance in any case should be met fully armed. Treatment of the premises from fleas in combination with other disinfestation measures allows you to achieve a high level of sanitary safety and neutralize the source of danger in the shortest possible time.
Choosing a specialized tool
If we talk about substances that are allowed to be used at home for independent treatments, then they are called pyrethroids and organophosphorus compounds.For example, deltamethrin, tetramethrin, permethrin, cypermethrin and others are among the active components due to which the destructive effect on the parasites of the pyrethroid group is carried out. Chlorpyrifos, malathion, diazinon belong to the group of organophosphorus compounds.
These active ingredients are capable of acting on the insect's nervous system, resulting in paralysis and death. They can differ in the mode of action, for example, contact, through the gastrointestinal tract, respiratory tract, complex action.
The release form of the drug should be taken into account, they can be purchased in the form of sprays, aerosols, concentrated suspensions, from which a working solution is prepared. If we talk about sprays and aerosols, then due to spraying in the air, dangerous volatile components appear, which are undesirable if children live in the apartment.
Sprays, aerosols
Insecticides of these forms of release have their own advantages. When sprayed, poisonous fumes are released, which penetrating through the respiratory quickly act and lead to death.
Also settling on surfaces, fleas come into contact with the drug, and it penetrates through the shell into the body. Thus, a complex impact is carried out and thereby productivity is increased. Among the most popular means in this form of release are Dichlorvos, Raptor, Reid, Clean House, Karbofos.
Concentrated solutions for preparing solutions
You can buy concentrated liquids that are diluted with water according to the proportions indicated in the instructions. You cannot change these proportions. The fact is that if you apply less than indicated in the instructions, then the effect on the parasites will be minimal and this will not bring good results. If you apply more than indicated, then you can harm the health of people who live in the room, as well as animals.
The prepared solution is poured into a spray bottle and applied to the surface. The difference from aerosol is that larger droplets are sprayed, which fall much faster on the surface. But despite this, they are not less effective; in some cases, on the contrary, they are considered more effective. For severe infections, it is recommended to use solutions. Such means include Get, Dalta zone, Executioner, Forsyth and others.
Application of dusts
If we talk about funds that are available in powder form, it should be noted that the form of release is not very convenient. When treating a room with powder, it is very difficult to apply it to hard-to-reach places, it cannot be applied to vertical surfaces.
In addition, it spreads throughout the apartment, and this is quite dangerous, especially when children and animals live in the room. It should be borne in mind that they act on parasites in a contact way, and it is quite difficult to process all surfaces.
Traditional methods
Often, folk remedies are used for mild infections. They also act as auxiliary during disinsection and serve as an excellent prevention.
The most popular and effective methods include:
- Wormwood, tansy. An infusion is prepared from these bitter herbs. It is required to take one of the components, pour hot water and leave for 12 hours in a dark place. Then it is filtered through cheesecloth, poured into a spray bottle and the surfaces are treated.
- Pine. In this case, sawdust is used, which is spread around the apartment. They have a deterrent effect, so this method is used in combination with others or can serve as a prophylaxis.
- Caucasian chamomile. This plant contains a natural insecticide. The tool can be used dry, as in the previous version, or you can prepare an infusion and treat the room.
- Salt, Soda.Used in dry form, such a mixture is scattered around the house, carpets, upholstered furniture, baseboards, etc., and after 12 hours it is collected with a vacuum cleaner, then the procedure is repeated.
- Garlic, brewer's yeast. These components are mixed and applied to surfaces.
- Vinegar, ammonia. Quite a popular and effective way. It is applied similarly to the previous one. Also, like the previous method, it has a rather pungent and unpleasant odor.
Flea Relief Essentials
The level of effectiveness of the drug depends on the type of substances that are included in the composition.
Possible options:
- pyrethroids;
- organophosphorus compounds.
These options are most often used in everyday life. The first group includes permethrin, deltamethrin, cypermethrin, tetramethrin, etc. Organophosphorus compounds are: malathion, diazinon, chlorpyrifos. Insecticides have a negative effect on the nervous system of parasites. As a result, insects lose their ability to reproduce, move, and eat. They quickly die from lack of food and the influence of toxic substances.
Pet handling
There is a huge selection of drugs that can rid pets of dogs, cats and other types of fleas. The drugs are presented in different forms, they can be purchased in the form of drops, tablets, shampoos or collars.
If we talk about the most effective drugs, then these include drops and tablets. They can be used at the stage of severe infection, and they retain their effect for a month, which provides protection against re-infection. Active substances enter the bloodstream, which provides a destructive effect on fleas and excludes attacks.
But shampoos and collars are prophylactic agents. The fact is that they work as deterrent drugs that can minimize the chance of infection, but do not completely exclude.
Remember, in order to cure the animal, you will need to contact your veterinarian who will advise an effective and safe drug. When choosing, the condition of the animal, weight, age, the presence of diseases and other parameters are always taken into account. The most popular drugs include Bars, Kiltiks, Advantiks and others.
How to find out if a cat has fleas and how to get rid of them
Determining if a cat has fleas is easy enough. The main symptom is that the purr is constantly itching.... But before proceeding to treatment, you need to make sure exactly. To do this, take the animal in your hands and, having parted the fur in several places, examine the skin. The presence of eggs, larvae and adults in a cat cannot be overlooked.
Second sign - the animal intensively licks itself, literally biting into its own wool. Thus, the cat tries to remove the intruders on its own.
The third - the pet begins to avoid favorite places, probably parasites are hiding there. Often shakes his head, is nervous, or meows plaintively.
Pale mucous membranes, lethargy, Weight loss is the fourth symptom of a cat's flea flock.
Fleas in a cat: how to get rid of it once and for all
How to remove fleas from a cat? Which is better to choose: collar, drops, spray or pills?
At one time, I asked myself what drugs are most effective and, having looked at a huge amount of information on the Internet, I realized this thing: there are no drugs that 100% protect our furry friends from fleas and ticks. Therefore, you need to be prepared for the fact that it will not be possible to get rid of these annoying pests the first time.
To get maximum protection from the drug, you need:
- Choose trusted manufacturers.
- Listen to the advice of your veterinarian, not pet shop sellers.
- Buy goods in veterinary clinics or specialized outlets where the risk of running into a fake is minimal.
Remember that by following simple rules, you will rid your pet of annoying parasites, while maintaining its health for many years.
So, you have found fleas in a domestic cat, then I will tell you in great detail how to get rid of them. We'll look at store-bought drugs first, then simple home remedies. I must say right away that folk recipes in most cases are devoid of a positive result, that is, they are simply useless.
Available remedies for fleas in cats:
- Drops. The active ingredient is evenly distributed under the skin and fat layer. Such protection works effectively, but not for long, on the strength of 3 months. I tried to use an inspector, the price of which bites noticeably, did not help. But Advantage from Bayer turned out to be cheap and working.
- Ectoparasite shampoo is the first thing that hit the market. But this method is more effective if fleas appear suddenly and immediate treatment is required. Washing should be practiced every two weeks until the insects are completely destroyed. To enhance the effect, my veterinarian advised to use drops or a collar 2 days after bathing.
- Spray is an effective form of fighting parasites. The active antiperspirant ingredient accumulates and circulates in the epidermis of the sebaceous glands of animals. But in this case, there is a risk of licking or getting it on the mucous membranes.
- Collar - similar in action to drops on the withers. The substance is gradually released during the entire period of wear (up to 8 months). Suitable for cats that walk outside from time to time.
- Recently, there have been products against fleas and ticks in tablet form. She gave a pill and the animal was protected for several months. In addition, upon contact with a person, there is no interaction with the drug. The only thing I don't really like is that the tablets do not have repellent properties, that is, the flea must first bite the cat, after which the insect will die within 8 hours.
Insecticides are toxic substances, so refrain from close contact with it after handling the fluffy.
Your veterinarian will help you decide which drops or collar is best. Because both options are relatively safe, but no one canceled individual intolerance and negative consequences.
Preventive actions
When walking pets, it is necessary to protect it as much as possible using collars or other types of specialized means. Inspect animals regularly and if infestation is found, take immediate action to prevent insects from breeding.
Carry out regular wet cleaning, wash the bedding of animals more often. Use safe but effective traditional methods when cleaning. When the reason that fleas appear in the house is basements or attics, then the help of specialists is needed.
Why do they appear?
The most common source of infection is cats and dogs, which are transferred to the coat. A large accumulation of debris, rags, old rags, in turn, creates quite comfortable conditions for the life of insects.
Sometimes people think that harmful insects appear exclusively in a house where there is no cleanliness, or there are pets. However, this is absolutely not the case! Of course, if there are pets, the risk of flea beetles entering the house is higher.
However, cleanliness will not protect an apartment from blood-sucking parasites, they can hide in mattresses, carpets, pillows, furniture.
Fleas can run into an apartment from neighbors. If these insects appear in one of the apartments, then there is a high probability that they will quickly fill other apartments.
Old items and furniture, especially hand-bought items, may show signs of infection. Larvae can be brought into the house from the street on shoe soles.
The entrance or basement can also be sources of the spread of pests; residents of the first floors are in a special risk zone.
Where can you find parasites in your apartment?
Fleas live on the body of animals (cats, dogs, birds), but where to look for eggs and individuals in the larval stage.
Due to the fact that the flea lays eggs on the fur of pets, and soon the eggs begin to crumble, falling on the surface in the room, it is necessary to carry out a complete disinfection of the premises.
Knowing what flea larvae look like, they can be easily found in secluded corners:
The larvae choose places where there is food, sometimes they are found in flower vases, flower pots, containers for storing vegetables, under a trash can.
