A Newbie Fur Parent’s Guide To Flea Prevention And Treatment
As a new fur parent, it can be overwhelming to keep up with all the responsibilities that come with your pet. Dealing with fleas is one of the most common and frustrating issues pet owners face.
Fleas are tiny parasites that can quickly infest your pet and home. It causes discomfort and potential health problems for your pet. But with proper prevention and treatment, you can keep your pet flea-free and happy.
Keeping your pet flea-free isn’t an easy task. You must go the extra mile to keep your pets safe and comfortable. Luckily, plenty of products like Fleamail offer solutions to your flea problems. However, it’ll be better if you can find ways to prevent them from happening in the first place.
To help you out, listed below are the guides for every newbie fur parent to prevent and treat fleas:
How To Prevent Fleas
As people say, prevention is better than cure. It’s always ideal to prevent flea infestation on your pet to keep them safe and cozy. However, this isn’t a one-day job. You have to develop a healthy routine to keep your pet and home away from fleas.
Below are some ways to prevent fleas for your pet:
1. Keep Your Home Tidy
You must keep the whole place clean if your dog lives inside your home. Fleas can quickly breed through your home, especially during the cold season. They can multiply up to 100 eggs in a day, resulting in chaos for your home and your dog.
It’s best to clean your home by regularly cleaning your pet’s bedding. It’s also ideal for vacuuming your curtains, carpets, or couch, where flea eggs are most likely to live. After you clean your home’s fabrics, you should dispose of your vacuum bags efficiently. Letting them sit still can cause them to hatch and multiply inside your home.
2. Keep Your Backyard Clean
If your pet wanders around your backyard, you still need to keep the area clean. Fleas can also breed outdoors. Unfortunately, you don’t have complete control, especially when dealing with insects and fleas.
You can begin by mowing your lawn, removing brush clippings, and raking leaves. Those can help to eliminate any breeding ground for the fleas. Additionally, it’ll be best to treat your lawn with flea and tick prevention chemicals. Just ensure that they’re safe for your family and pets to be around.
3. Limit Outdoor Exposure
In addition to keeping your lawn clean, it’s best to limit outdoor exposure. As mentioned, you cannot control what could happen outdoors. It could get worse, especially when walking your dog to the park or into the woods. There might be plenty of fleas and ticks that could be wandering around just waiting for a dog to attach on. Your pets could also get them when they have a near encounter with wildlife. Even if they’re friendly, it’s best to keep their distance.
If possible, limiting your dog’s outdoor exposure during flea season is best. The flea season occurs during summer and fall. During this period, you can walk your dog in your backyard or provide them with indoor exercises.
4. Ensure Proper Pet Hygiene
While fleas don’t care if their environment is clean or dirty, you must maintain proper pet hygiene. That way, you can keep your pet clean and take the time to inspect your dog for any fleas. If you spot any, you can take them away and practice preventive measures inside your home.
Ideally, it would be best to bathe your dog at least once a week. You can also brush your dog’s hair daily to keep up with a healthy and shiny coat. As you brush your pet’s fur, you can do a quick inspection for fleas. You can check their ears, tail, and paws. Since they’re covered, fleas can easily hide in those areas.
5. Regularly Use Flea Prevention Treatment
There are plenty of tools out there that help you prevent fleas from your pet. You can use prevention treatments on your dog besides keeping your home clean. You can consult your vet about which product would work best for your pet. Alternatively, they can offer you products you can easily apply at home.
In addition, you can also use a flea collar or spray to maintain your dog’s safety. You can use a flea collar as an accessory but still use a harness to walk your dog. If you’re walking outdoors, you can use flea spray on your dog’s coat to protect it. A flea spray is excellent if you go to a public dog park or hike, where fleas can lie around.
There are plenty of ways you can prevent fleas from your dog. While they don’t come easy, they help to keep your dog fresh and clean.
How To Treat Fleas
There are instances where your pet could still have fleas, no matter how hard you try. Your flea prevention treatment might wear off, or there’s a hidden spot for the fleas to multiply. When that scenario happens, you need to provide treatments immediately. That way, you can remove them from your pet and keep them healthy.
With that, below are some ways to treat fleas:
A. Bathe Your Dog
The first thing you should do when you notice fleas on your dog is to bathe them immediately. Extensive exposure to water can drown the fleas and flow them away.
You can simply use lukewarm water and mild soap to clean your dog. If you’d like to use a flea shampoo, you need to consult with your vet first. Certain products can strip away your dog’s natural oil. Your dog might also be allergic to fleas. That’ll require a different product and treatment option.
Bathing your dog too often can actually dry out its skin, making it more prone to itching. You should limit bathing to two or three times a month at most. Putting your dog in water is just a great first step to removing fleas, but not an immediate treatment.
B. Comb Your Pet
The best way to remove fleas from your dog is to comb them thoroughly. Fleas are tiny that can range from a poppy to a sesame seed side. Removing fleas using your hands can be unsanitary and difficult since they quickly jump.
By combing your pet, you can be thorough and keep everything away from your pet. You can finish it with a quick inspection to see if your dog is 100% clean.
C. Kill The Flea
As you remove the flee from your dog, you should submerge the comb in hot water. The extreme temperature can kill the flea and prevent them from multiplying.
Never attempt to squeeze the flea. Fleas can quickly fly away, or their eggs can spread across the room, causing them to breed.
It’s challenging to treat fleas, especially with a large number. But once you spot one on your dog, you must thoroughly inspect and clean your home. That way, you can prevent them from multiplying.
Takeaway
As a newbie fur parent, the thought of fleas probably scares you. While they’re a challenge to remove, there are plenty of ways you can prevent them from happening. You can keep your dog clean, safe, and healthy with a routine clean-up and prevention treatment. Moreover, it’s best to consult your vet to know all your options and see which treatment would work best for your pet.
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