Flea Extermination Service in Guelph

If you are an avid pet lover, you need to have access to a reliable flea extermination service in Guelph. It is because when you are keeping a pet, regardless if they are a dog, cat, or a hamster and even if they are always clean and well-groomed all the time, there is always that possibility that our furred animal companions will catch a flea at one point every year. And provided that the environment conditions are favorable to them, an infestation of unimaginable proportions could be in waiting.

What is a flea?

They are small bloodsucking insects that latch themselves onto an animal’s skin. Obviously, they are parasites that thrive by sucking out the lifeblood of these warm-blooded animals that we keep as household pets. Several times a year, there is a significant increase in the number of flea infestation cases. Flea infestation is a constant problem among many pet owners and thus has also triggered the proliferation of a wide range of flea control products as well as anti-itch powders for dogs and cats.

Flea Facts

The life cycle of a flea begins when a female flea feeds on its prey and sucks out its lifeblood through its skin. After feasting on the blood of its animal prey, it will then lay some eggs which are usually 4-8 in one go. These eggs are loosely deposited on the animal’s skin and they can be easily brushed off when the animal scratches its skin or when it makes a sudden movement. They fall off easily and will drop to where the animal usually stays in, it can be on your bed, couch, or the kitchen floor.  

These loosely deposited eggs will, later on, develop into a larva, then it will enter the next stage of its physical development which is the pupal stage. The pupal stage is the final phase of its development and it is during this period that it will envelope itself inside a cocoon. This cocoon protects the pupae inside it and is actually resistant to most kinds of flea treatment products. From inside this cocoon, the young flea will emerge to begin another cycle and so forth. A flea emerging from its cocoon can be triggered to come out either on its own or an external factor has triggered it to come out. A sudden jolt or movement from your dog or vibration from him can make the flea come out of its cocoon. Normally, this stage will last for about 20 weeks.

Once the flea is out of its cocoon, it will immediately try to find a way to latch itself into any kind of warm-blooded animal around. It might be your dog or your cat. Once it successfully latched itself onto your pet’s skin, it will begin feeding off from its lifeblood which it does by piercing the animal’s skin with its mouth. As for the female flea, it is normal for them to lay their eggs out after every meal. In their entire lifespan of a female flea, they are capable of laying as many as 400-500 eggs. This explains the reason why fleas are such a persistent pest on dogs or cats. When you apply treatment to exterminate these annoying critters, you have to see to it that it will also address their eggs, too, which I am very certain is sprawling around your house.

How Does Your Pet Acquire Fleas?

Since our household pets love to lay themselves on the floor, these renders them even more prone to being attacked by fleas. Fleas are actually capable of making extraordinary leaps and jump as high as 7 inches off the ground. With this ability they have, it is no wonder why they can easily latch themselves that fast to any warm-blooded animal. Even humans are prone to be bitten by fleas, and it is not just our pet animals that they love to infest. For as long as you are warm blooded, fleas can smell it and thus you are subject to their attacks, too.

When a flea infected animal scratches itself, the egg deposits on its coat will fall off depositing it on where the animal is frequently staying in. If your pet usually lays on your couch, most likely the surrounding areas will have a generous amount of flea egg deposits and can probably get rid of them when you vacuum clean the space. However, sucking them off via vacuum cleaner does not necessarily mean that you are exterminating flea eggs, they are still live eggs and the risk of them hatching into a larva anytime soon is still there. Therefore, you must see to it that you dispose of them after cleaning and if possible wash your vacuum filter in warm water to make sure loosely collected fleas and their eggs will die out in it. If you have a flea infested animal at home and are keeping a few others, I suggest that you isolate the infested animal from the rest first while there is no professional help available for you. They are prone to be infected as well if you let everyone else come in close contact with the flea infested animal. Isolating the animal from the rest of your pets at home will help prevent minimize the chances of further spreading the infestation.

What are the Telltale Signs of Flea Infestation?

• Dry skin
• Presence of scabs on the animal’s skin or red welts
• Animal displays excessive scratching behavior or too frequent biting at the skin
• Ears are irritated
• Flea droppings or dirt (usually tiny specs of dust-like material are deposited on the animal’s skin. They are remains of dried out blood from the animal)
• Fecal remains contain white rice-like substances (most likely they are tapeworms)

If your household pet is displaying any of the indicated signs, most probably they have an infestation already so you might as well want to double check. You can do this by closely inspecting your pet and his coat, down to his skin. Pay close attention to the paw area where most fleas could be in hiding.

In cases of severe flea infestation, your best course of action to take is to seek help from a reputable pest management group offering flea extermination services in Guelph.

The Removal And Extermination Process of Fleas

After confirming that one or two of your household pets do have a flea infestation, the right kind of flea removal and extermination measures must be laid out so as to remove them from your home and your pet’s lives.  

The initial step in flea removal process in your home is to sanitize.  Prior to applying extermination measures to fleas, it is crucial to clean and vacuum-clean the entire house as thoroughly as possible. It is indeed a huge task to do, therefore to keep it from becoming a daunting job you can focus your cleaning efforts more on the high traffic areas. These are the spaces in your house where activity is most observed and where your pet most usually stays in. It is important that when vacuum cleaning, you pay close attention to carpeted areas, furniture, pet bedding, and many other similar low-lying areas of your indoor spaces. These secluded spots are most likely to harbor the most fleas. When you vacuum to clean your house, this will pull out lingering fleas inside your house and will trigger their young pupae to come out of their cocoons, rendering them to become susceptible to whatever flea removal treatment you will use.

The next phase is to make use of insecticide treatment to extinguish fleas in whatever stage of development they may be in. While you can find an array of flea removal products  on the market today,  I suggest that you leave this to the professionals instead. Certainly, a reputable pest management team will be able to determine the right pesticide to use for your home. They usually do this after carefully assessing the extent and the severity of your flea infestation.

Finally,  the flea infected animal must also receive some form of veterinary care as much as possible. In severe cases of flea infestation, this will leave your dog or cat lacking in adequate amounts of blood in their bloodstream. In some cases, fleas can also engender infection in the blood. And for that, only a professional veterinary attention can help.

Your best line of defense in keeping your beloved pets free from pesky fleas is to keep monitoring their natural behavior. The most obvious sign of flea presence is when your dog or cat scratches itself too much. It is a clear indication that its skin is getting irritated from flea bites. If you need further information or assistance regarding flea infestation, a pest management team offering flea extermination service in Guelph would be most helpful.