Fleas are one of the biggest concerns for pet owners, both dogs and cats alike. They multiply like crazy and it is just plain hard to rid your home of them. There are, however, a few basic steps that you can do to help keep your home and your pet flea-free.

The first is to examine the areas where your pet picked up the fleas, which is more than likely anywhere in your yard. So if it’s impossible to keep your pet out of the yard, you can consider using a yard treatment, such as Siphotrol Yard Spray or Virbac Yard Spray Concentrate. By keeping your yard mowed and raked, you can also help control flea breeding grounds.

Fleas can also hide anywhere your pet goes, your home, your car, your neighbor’s house, that is why the most important thing to do is treat your pet for fleas on an ongoing basis.

One of the easiest ways to control the flea population is to use a flea control product, such as Frontline or Advantage. These are a monthly treatment that not only kills adult fleas, but helps prevent the growth of flea larvae. Once your pet is treated, the fleas are attracted to your pet and will die upon contact with the flea control product.

So, while your pet is doing most of the work getting rid of fleas, what else can you do?

To help remove fleas from the house, you should vacuum regularly, as well as wash your pet’s bedding in hot water. This will help to physically remove any fleas. You can also increase the humidity in your home, which encourages the flea larvae to hatch, which helps your flea control product to work better and faster by eliminating the new fleas.

If you want to go even further, you can treat your home and vehicle with an area treatment. Virbac KnockOut E.S. treats 2100 square feet and will prevent infestation for up to 7 months. Most area treatments contain an Insect Growth Regulator (IGR), which prohibits the fleas from reaching the adult stage of their life cycle.

Additionally, bathe your pet with a flea shampoo or use a flea dip, such as Adam's Flea & Tick Shampoo or Bio-Groom Flea & Tick Dip. These products contain pyrethrins, which are derived from crysanthemum plants. This extract affects the nervous system of insects and paralyzes them, which makes removing them easier. Once the fleas have been paralyzed by the flea shampoo or dip, you can brush them out with a Flea Comb.