Before getting acquainted with flea sprays, it is advisable to immediately divide them into two large groups and understand the significant difference between these groups.
The first group is products intended for processing the coat of animals or the plumage of birds. The composition and set of insecticides in them is selected so that the drug is as safe as possible for the animal, but would allow you to quickly and in one treatment destroy the parasites. For example, cat flea spray usually does not contain permethrin because cats are more sensitive to it than dogs.
On a note
There are even special insecticidal preparations for certain groups of breeds of dogs and cats. For example, for greyhounds and beagles, preparations are used that do not contain selamectin, a substance that dogs with a large fat layer normally tolerate, but which is toxic to thin or sick animals.
But the second group of sprays are sprays for treating premises from fleas. They should be distinguished from typical aerosols already bottled: in simple terms, sprays are usually called concentrated solutions that require dilution and spraying with household spray guns.
A typical home flea spray contains one or more powerful insecticides that can kill both adults and larvae.
In no case should sprays from the same group be used for purposes for which they are not intended. So, for example, preparations for treating animal hair can be used to eradicate fleas from a kitchen or sofa, but this will be very expensive. And treating an animal with a flea spray in an apartment can be extremely dangerous for a pet.
Sprays for ridding pets of fleas: their features and specifics of use
Sprays for animals are characterized by sufficiently high efficiency and safety of use. With proper treatment of a pet, flea spray does not penetrate into the bloodstream or gastrointestinal tract and therefore does not cause intoxication. In this case, the fleas themselves die from the insecticide or leave the animal within a few minutes.
Usually, a flea spray for cats and dogs is applied to the animal's coat for half an hour to an hour, after which the pet should be bathed. Specialized sprays for rabbits or birds are not available, but cat or dog products are quite applicable for them.
Spray for a pet should be selected based on its age and weight. For example, puppy flea sprays contain less concentrated and more gentle insecticides, greatly reducing the risk of poisoning the animal. On the other hand, cat flea spray can be used to get rid of parasites on small dogs.
When treating an animal with a flea spray, it is necessary to spray the entire body with the drug, straightening the animal's hair under a stream so that the product gets on the skin. The pet's head is not treated to avoid getting the product into the eyes and mouth.
After that, it is advisable to take a walk with the animal or to occupy it with something so that it does not have the opportunity to lick or wash.After some time, specified in the instructions for a particular drug, the product must be washed off with running water, sometimes this requires shampoo.
As a rule, it is not necessary to re-apply the flea spray - the parasites leave the animal's body after the first treatment. The experience of users who have already managed to try out different means makes it possible to single out the most effective drugs from the variety of drugs that exist today.
Flea spray Frontline
All Frontline sprays contain the insecticide fipronil, which has a nerve-paralytic effect on fleas, but is quite harmless to the pets themselves. After applying the spray to the body, fipronil concentrates in the sebaceous glands of the animal and does not penetrate into the blood. However, by constantly releasing from the skin and wetting the hair, this insecticide provides protection against fleas for several days.
The tool is low-toxic: a dog can swallow up to 640 mg per kilogram of its weight, and a cat - up to 320 mg per kg of weight without visible side effects. Sometimes when using Frontline, profuse salivation is noted, which is a normal reaction to the alcohol contained in the preparation.
Frontline flea spray can treat the animal's head, which is not always possible when using other drugs.
Review
“After several trials, we settled on Frontline. The cat had no reactions to it for the first time, but the fleas disappeared within half an hour. Once I had to process a still nursing mother, although the kittens were already grown up and ate by themselves, but sucked on it. None had any side effects."
Alina, Yerevan
A 100-ml bottle of Frontline costs about 550 rubles, and a 250-ml bottle costs about 1,000 rubles at retail.
Hartz spray range
Hartz Ultra Guard Flea Sprays contain the insecticide tetrachlorvinphos and are not recommended for use on puppies and kittens under 6 months of age. For adult animals, these sprays can be considered optimal in terms of price-quality ratio. Preparations are allowed to be used for preventive purposes, for example, spraying animals before a walk in the forest.
The cost of a cylinder for 296 ml is about 350 rubles, and for 473 ml - about 550 rubles.
Spray Bars
Bars is a flea spray of domestic production, developed and put into production by Agrovetzashchita. Available in several versions: for cats, dogs and young animals. All preparations contain permethrin as the main active ingredient and therefore should be used with caution in the treatment of cats, as they are especially sensitive to this substance.
Judging by the reviews, for large dogs Bars can be considered a very good tool for regular flea treatment.
A 100 ml bottle of the product costs about 100 rubles.
Sprays for removing fleas indoors
Room treatments are significantly more toxic than animal treatment sprays (due to higher concentrations of insecticides and overall less balanced formulation). During their use of animals and people, it is necessary to remove their premises, and after the treatment of the apartment itself and several hours of “insisting”, a thorough wet cleaning should be carried out.
However, it is sprays that make it possible to very effectively destroy fleas and their larvae, even with a strong infection of an apartment or basement. At the same time, such processing will not be too expensive, in contrast, for example, to the use of aerosol preparations in cans for the same purposes.
Flea killer in the apartment
The executioner is today considered one of the most powerful insect repellents available on the market (there are also fakes of this remedy on the market). The drug is produced under a German license and was originally focused on the destruction of bedbugs - the most difficult household parasites.
As it turned out in practice, it exterminates fleas no less effectively, and with proper use, there is often no need to re-treat the room after a few weeks.
A bottle of the Hangman costs 70 rubles, and when ordering more than 50 pieces - 60 rubles. Usually, about 20-25 bottles are required to process a two-room apartment, so it is advantageous to order a pool of money for the owners of several apartments. One vial dissolves in half a liter of water.
Review
“I advise you to take the drug Hangman. He will remove fleas and any other infection from the house. The first time I poisoned cockroaches with them, and then a year later fleas appeared with the dog. So after one treatment, even the moth died out in the kitchen, and the fleas never appeared again.
Victor, Yelizovo
Cucaracha
Cucaracha is a household analogue of Tetrix, a very powerful insecticidal preparation for professional use. Cucaracha is adapted for domestic use and does an excellent job with fleas.
The disadvantages of the product include toxicity and a rather sharp unpleasant odor, however, with the correct use of any side effects from the use of Cucaracha, it is possible to avoid, and the smell disappears from the room in two to three days.
Cucaracha is sold in 50 ml bottles worth about 300 rubles. When diluted in the concentration indicated on the package, the contents of one vial will be enough to treat an area of 100 square meters. m.
Get and rules for its use
Perhaps Get can be considered one of the best sprays for treating an apartment from fleas. This tool has several important advantages:
- High efficiency and duration of residual action: the drug acts both when it gets into the respiratory tract of insects, and simply sticks to their body when moving. At the same time, Get will retain its effect until it is washed off the surface.
- Safety - the product does not cause poisoning in humans and animals, it is practically devoid of side effects.
- Virtually no odor (concentrate may have a slight odor of oranges).
It is not surprising that Get is chosen most often for flea treatment, even despite the relatively high price - about 750 rubles per 100 ml bottle. A properly diluted vial is enough to treat 100 sq. m. area. However, in relation to an ordinary apartment, the cost of processing the premises turns out to be comparable to that for the Executioner.
Classic outdated products such as Dichlorvos or Karbofos (the latter is even sold in the form of a powder that should be diluted with water) today cannot compete with preparations based on pyrethroids, fenthion, chlorpyrifos and other modern insecticides and are slowly becoming a thing of the past. If you can’t buy any of the drugs described, take a look at the “Fleas in the Apartment” section of our website - there you will find a lot of additional useful information on this topic.
Interesting video: comparing the effectiveness of different types of flea products
