Date Posted: December 23, 2020
Category: Fleas
Portland citizens are a unique crowd. We take pride in our own twist on the East-coast lifestyle, and we blaze our own path. Everyone out here is just a little bit different, but one thing we do have in common is our love for animals. Maybe it’s all the outdoor scenery or the enjoyable climate that allows us to spend quality time with our pets, but a Portland home just doesn’t seem complete without some dogs or cats running around. While pets are one of the best parts of life for many Portland citizens, they might be bringing fleas into your house right under your nose.
Fast Flea Facts
Many people understand that their pets can have fleas, but they underestimate the ability of fleas to sneak into a house (and to cause all sorts of problems once they’re in). Fleas don’t just ride into your house on your pets. If they did, you could just give your pets a quick brush every time they were done playing in the yard. Unfortunately, rodents and raccoons also carry fleas, so they could be bringing the fleas onto your property or into the house in the event of an infestation.
Plus, fleas don’t have to ride into your house on the backs of your pets to begin an infestation. When your dog or cat is in the yard, any fleas that jump on them will immediately lay eggs. Even if the fleas hop back off of your pets before they come back inside, the eggs may already be embedded on their skin. This creates the potential for your pets to shake the eggs all over your house, beginning an infestation before anyone even realizes it.
Flea Dangers
Once fleas are in your house, or the eggs begin hatching, they can be incredibly dangerous. They carry bacteria, and their ability to transfer diseases to humans and pets is very disturbing, especially since they’ll hop all around your house. Furniture, frequently-touched areas, and food preparation surfaces are all high-risk flea contamination sites. If you allow fleas to hang around for too long, your chances of incurring a deadly disease become higher and higher by the day.
To spot an infestation early, you’ll want to keep a close eye on your pets for excessive itching and scratching. If you don’t have pets, (and yes, you still can incur a flea infestation as they’ll ride in on rodents or people), you may be able to see fleas hopping just above the carpet in areas of high infestation.
Keeping Them Out
Getting rid of fleas yourself is nearly impossible. Vacuuming may get a few, but there are always more than you think hopping around, spreading bacteria willy-nilly. By focusing on prevention, however, you might be able to avoid a problem. Here are a few quick and easy tricks for DIY flea prevention.
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Regular cleaning habits like vacuuming and mopping
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Brushing pets outside to ensure any eggs or living fleas aren’t brushed off into the house
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Eliminating rodents and flea-carrying wildlife from entering the yard by reducing factors that typically attract them
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Treating pets with veterinarian-supplied flea and tick medicines
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Clearing away debris in the yard to limit the chances for fleas to hop onto your pets (and reducing places for rodents to hide)
If you adhere to those guidelines, you might be able to keep fleas out of your house. But it’s still just a “might”. Do you want to risk your pets getting sick or you and your family incurring a deadly disease? If you value your health, you “might” just need to call in the professionals. For more flea prevention help or assistance, contact Big Blue Bug Solutions today.
