How to kill fleas in an apartment

If you seriously decide to take on the destruction of fleas in your apartment or house, then tune in in advance that this is a complex and rather complicated process. Catching and crushing a couple of fatty fleas from a cat or dog, popping Dichlorvos in the apartment, even the new version, will be extremely insufficient to reliably remove parasites from the premises.

In addition, you will have to destroy not only the fleas themselves, but also their larvae, which can often swarm in large numbers under the bedding of pets, behind baseboards, in carpets, in rodent cages. But in addition to the larvae, there are also eggs and pupae of parasites ...

The presence of worm-like larvae, which, unlike adults, do not feed on blood, as well as the ability of fleas to stay for a long time both on the fur of a pet and outside it, these are perhaps the main reasons that it is not always easy to destroy fleas in an apartment , and usually the processing is carried out in at least two stages. Here are some pitfalls that are useful to know about in advance:

• If fleas are poisoned only on a pet, then some of them are in the apartment at that moment and quietly survive.
• If the destruction of fleas occurs only in the apartment, then those of the parasites that are on the cat, dog or hamster survive safely.
• If you poison fleas in an apartment and leave an animal in it, then the pet may get poisoned (this is especially true for cats).
• Flea larvae do not live on animals and do not stay where adult insects usually catch the eye. This means that when fleas are destroyed in the house, it is likely that their shelters will be left untreated. Especially considering that the larvae hide in the most inaccessible places.

As a result, the most effective approach to destroying fleas in an apartment is as follows:

1. First of all, fleas are poisoned on a pet with the help of special insecticidal preparations. If the remedy for the destruction of fleas in an animal does not have a prolonged action, then a collar is put on the pet, which protects it from the attack of the fleas remaining in the apartment until they are completely exterminated.
2. Then (preferably on the same day) the fleas are destroyed indoors. In this case, such methods and means of their extermination are used, which ensure the death of both adult parasites and their larvae, regardless of their location.

It should be borne in mind that many even modern insecticides have a very weak effect on flea eggs and pupae. Therefore, for the final destruction of fleas in an apartment, in most cases, it is necessary to re-treat the premises 1-3 weeks after the first, when new larvae hatch from the eggs, and adult insects from the pupae.

Review

“I never thought that fleas could be such a big problem. Well, I saw them a couple of times on Barsik, put on a collar and forgot.And this summer they ate us right! Moreover, they poisoned them once with Dichlorvos, it did not help, the second time they bought Tetrix in the sanitary and epidemiological station, it helped, but not for long. It ended up that they called a special service, they processed the apartment in such a way that not a centimeter was left without poison. But even before that, the manager said that the guys would go for processing only after we had rid Barsik of fleas.

Svetlana, Yekaterinburg

And now let's analyze the individual stages of the procedure in more detail.

 

Means for removing fleas

Means for the destruction of fleas in general can be divided into two types.

The first includes drugs designed to kill fleas on pets.

Despite the rather high efficiency, these products are relatively safe for the animal and humans themselves, however, they are not suitable for treating an apartment from parasites - this is both inconvenient and very expensive. Yes, and the concentration of insecticides in such preparations is too low - it is just selected so that the animal does not suffer upon contact with the agent.

Let's note some remedies for fleas for pets:

• Drops at the withers - perhaps one of the easiest to use and effective means. The most famous of them are Stronghold, Hartz, Bars.
• Insecto-acaricidal shampoos - for example, Lugovoi, Phytoelita, Rolf Club. These shampoos are well suited for animals with delicate skin and hair.
• Flea sprays - for example, BlochNet, Hartz, Frontline.
• For kittens and puppies, special flea powders are also sometimes used.

The second type includes funds that can be used to independently destroy fleas in an apartment. These include:

• Simple household aerosols such as Raid, Raptor, Clean House, Combat, Dichlorvos Neo, Dichlorvos Eco, etc. These insecticides also contain fragrances in addition to insecticides, which allows you to somewhat reduce the unpleasant smell in the room during the procedure.
• Insecticide concentrates for dilution and spraying - many of these products, due to their high efficiency and cost-effectiveness, are even suitable for professional use. For domestic use, preparations such as Get, Delta-Zone, Lambda Zone, Executioner, Xulat, etc. are specially adapted and produced in small packages. The first three of them are practically odorless (this is very important, since some people sometimes had to throw out furniture only only because it retained the smell of an odorous insecticide for a long time after treatment).
• Special powders that are occasionally used to kill flea larvae (for example, they are scattered in basements). Here we can note such drugs as Phenaksin, Fas-Dubl, Feverfew, Clean House. However, with the right approach, it is possible to completely destroy fleas in an apartment without their help.
• And, of course, it is worth mentioning the obsolete folk remedies for fleas - kerosene, turpentine, denatured alcohol. They are inexpensive, but you should not count on the complete destruction of parasites in an apartment with their help - insects die only when these substances come into direct contact with them. In addition, they smell strongly and are highly flammable. It is also unlikely to scare away fleas with wormwood or tansy.

As practice shows, with a significant infestation of an apartment, basement or other room with fleas, it is better to use the aforementioned insecticide concentrates adapted for domestic use. With a small number of parasites, you can try to limit yourself to the use of household aerosol products.

 

Destruction of parasites on a pet

To kill fleas on a pet, it is best to use products that have a prolonged effect - drops on the withers or some sprays. After they are applied to the animal's fur, parasites will not touch it for several more days, during which it will be possible to process the apartment itself.

If, for example, shampoos or other preparations without prolonged action are used, then after applying them, a flea collar should be put on the pet.

Each tool is used strictly according to the instructions for it. If it is a spray, then it will be useful for them to spray the animal's bed at the same time.

Generally speaking, it is not so important where exactly the treatment of the animal from fleas is carried out. But in general, it is better to do this on the street so that parasites escaping from the animal do not remain in the apartment.

 

Apartment processing

Before processing the apartment, you must first properly prepare it. To begin with, you should remove the garbage wherever it is, including spaces under the bathrooms and shelves on the balconies (flea larvae can live in the garbage, eggs and pupae can also be in large numbers here). The furniture is moved away from the walls, the approaches to the skirting boards are freed along the entire length.

All people and animals must leave the premises before processing. The handler himself wears a respirator, gloves, goggles and a long-sleeved gown.

If a concentrated preparation is used, then it is diluted with water according to the instructions. After that, the agent is applied by spraying to all surfaces in the room, including wallpaper and upholstered furniture.

Carpets are rolled up after processing, and the floor under them is also processed.

Particular attention should be paid to shelves in pantries and on balconies. Here, too, larvae often develop, and these places must be treated as diligently as other areas in the room.

After processing, the apartment should be left for several hours to “infuse”, and after that, ventilate and carry out a thorough wet cleaning. Clothes and bedding after treatment should be washed at the maximum temperature.

 

Calling exterminators

All work on the destruction of fleas in the apartment can be shifted to the shoulders of employees of professional pest control services. However, it should be remembered that this approach is more expensive and guarantees reliable removal of insects only when contacting well-established companies.

The average cost of processing a one-room apartment in such companies is about 1500-2000 rubles.

 

Protecting your home from fleas

It is advisable to find out before removing fleas how they got into the house. After their successful destruction, all ways of possible penetration of parasites must be blocked.

If fleas infect pets and get into the apartment on their fur, then you should wear a flea collar on your pets while walking.

If parasites enter the room from the basement or from the street through windows and doors, it will be useful to hang sections from insects (for example, from moths) in the openings or lay out and constantly update bunches of certain herbs - tansy, wormwood, insecticide.

All cracks in the room and on the balconies must be sealed.

If the apartment has old parquet, then the gaps between the boards are an ideal refuge for fleas and their larvae, and it is better to replace such flooring with a more modern laminate. And the owners themselves, after walking with animals on the street and in nature, should carefully examine and thoroughly shake out their clothes - even one flea, accidentally lost in the folds of a jacket, can give rise to a new population of parasites.

 

Video note: an example of how fleas spread from the filed up to the 6th floor of the house

 

The main mistakes of the owners made when processing an animal from fleas