The Burden of Dog Fleas
Getting rid of fleas is a burden of pet ownership.
Unless you are extraordinarily careful and extraordinarily lucky, all pet owners will be faced with some degree of flea issues.
Flea infestations can be minor or can quickly develop into something major.
The treatment of the problem differs depending upon on quickly you catch the problem.
The first steps involve ridding your pet of fleas.
The next steps involve ridding your pet's environment of fleas.
If you do not get rid of fleas in your home, your pet will quickly get re-infested.
Once you have gotten rid of fleas on your pet and cleaned your home of fleas, you should take some preventative steps.
These last steps will minimize your pet's chances of getting fleas in the future.
Thankfully, ridding your pet of fleas has gotten easier.
There are now readily available products that can be applied to your pet's coat.
These products, including Frontline and Advantage, can rid your pet of fleas within 2-3 days.
You simply apply a small amount of the solution to the back base of the animal's neck.
With natural scratching and licking your animal will spread this solution around their entire body.
The solutions are non-toxic and very effective.
There are also ways to get rid of fleas naturally.
More common methods include rubbing olive oil on to your pet's skin.
Working from the head to the tail, the olive oil drowns the fleas.
Of course, this method can prove to be expensive for larger animals.
A similar method uses baby powder or talcum powder.
As previously mentioned it is critical that you also get rid of any lingering fleas in your house.
The extent of house cleaning will depend on the extent of the infestation.
At the very least all areas were the animal sleeps must be vacuumed or even stem cleaned.
All bedding, blankets, and linens that have come into contact with the animal must be washed.
Once your pet and home are free of fleas you can take some steps to prevent future infestations.
There are a number of ways to avoid future infestations.
Some people add small amounts of garlic to their pet food.
Other people like to douse a bandanna in citronella oil and tie it around the animal's neck thereby creating a natural flea collar.
There are also commercially available flea prevention medications that your pets can ingest once every few months.
For more information on getting rid of fleas or flea prevention speak to your vet.
Unless you are extraordinarily careful and extraordinarily lucky, all pet owners will be faced with some degree of flea issues.
Flea infestations can be minor or can quickly develop into something major.
The treatment of the problem differs depending upon on quickly you catch the problem.
The first steps involve ridding your pet of fleas.
The next steps involve ridding your pet's environment of fleas.
If you do not get rid of fleas in your home, your pet will quickly get re-infested.
Once you have gotten rid of fleas on your pet and cleaned your home of fleas, you should take some preventative steps.
These last steps will minimize your pet's chances of getting fleas in the future.
Thankfully, ridding your pet of fleas has gotten easier.
There are now readily available products that can be applied to your pet's coat.
These products, including Frontline and Advantage, can rid your pet of fleas within 2-3 days.
You simply apply a small amount of the solution to the back base of the animal's neck.
With natural scratching and licking your animal will spread this solution around their entire body.
The solutions are non-toxic and very effective.
There are also ways to get rid of fleas naturally.
More common methods include rubbing olive oil on to your pet's skin.
Working from the head to the tail, the olive oil drowns the fleas.
Of course, this method can prove to be expensive for larger animals.
A similar method uses baby powder or talcum powder.
As previously mentioned it is critical that you also get rid of any lingering fleas in your house.
The extent of house cleaning will depend on the extent of the infestation.
At the very least all areas were the animal sleeps must be vacuumed or even stem cleaned.
All bedding, blankets, and linens that have come into contact with the animal must be washed.
Once your pet and home are free of fleas you can take some steps to prevent future infestations.
There are a number of ways to avoid future infestations.
Some people add small amounts of garlic to their pet food.
Other people like to douse a bandanna in citronella oil and tie it around the animal's neck thereby creating a natural flea collar.
There are also commercially available flea prevention medications that your pets can ingest once every few months.
For more information on getting rid of fleas or flea prevention speak to your vet.
