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How to Prevent Dogs From Fleas?
Fleas can make your dog itchy, lose all hair, as well as lose lots of blood. In addition, if your doggie eats a flea that is carrying tapeworm eggs, it can get tapeworms. The peak of flea season is April-August, but fleas can cause problems all year round.
An effective flea control programme includes treating the environment as well as your pet. This includes:
- Remove fleas from indoor environment.
- Remove fleas from outdoor and surrounding environment.
- Remove fleas from dog
- Stop immature forms of fleas (eggs, larva) from maturing.
Indoors:
- When treating the indoor environment it is important to wash all bedding in soapy, hot water especially if your dog spends time on your bed.
- All carpeting should be thoroughly vacuumed and the vacuum bag thrown away. Steam cleaning the carpet can kill some of the larvae as well. Some chemical treatment (insect growth regulators which kill adult fleas and other life cycle stages such as Methoprene) is also necessary.
This means lot of hard work!!!!!!
Outdoors:
- As for outdoor control, sprays and pelleted insecticides are generally used after dog houses are cleaned thoroughly.
- An insect growth regulator is a good choice here as well. Certain non-toxic nematodes (tiny worms) can also be spread in warm, moist areas (such as organic waste) which are frequented by fleas. The nematodes feed on the flea larvae.
- Discourage entry of stray dogs, cats, mice into your garden as they are potential flea carriers.
Your dog:
- To eliminate fleas from your dog, a number of flea control products are available like once-a-month topical products, sprays, shampoos, collars, powders, oral, and injectable medicines. You need to follow a flea control/removal programme for a pretty long (weeks to months) time to get rid of all of the fleas, in all life stages.
- Flea combs are a good option in removing fleas. They are non-toxic and are the best method to use on ill, pregnant, or infant pets. Comb your pet and then throw the fleas you comb off in hot, detergent water, which will kill them. Flea combing takes lot of time, and will not be effective in pets that have flea-bite sensitivity.
- A badly infested dog needs to be bathed, so use a medicated dog shampoo. Rinse the dog off very thoroughly and in the final rinse add a few drops of Tea Tree Essential Oil or Lavender Essential Oil . Pour this mixture over the dog. Do not rinse off and allow the dog to dry naturally. This will take care of the fleas.
Some useful tips:
- Give your dog garlic to eat once a day. The smell is let out through the dog’s skin making it less likely to be the flea’s paradise.
- Yeast tablets will also help to make your dog less attractive to fleas because the smell is excreted through the skin.
- Add a spoon of white vinegar or apple cider vinegar to the dog’s water bowl. This will make the skin more acidic and unpleasant to fleas. If your dog does not like its taste, dilute it 50/50 with water and spray it on the skin instead.