Molly Rhoads asked 6 years ago
Your website is super helpful. Thank you so much. I have a dog who is and has been treated for fleas using Simparica. We moved into a new house and found a opossum in the front yard and a dead one in our pool. That being said we noticed flea bites on our ankles and a few adult fleas on our dog’s stuff and on a few rugs. We have since thrown out multiple rugs, vacuumed, steam cleaned, and had a pest control person come and spray twice.
We took the dog to the vet and he had one dead flea and one slow moving flea on him. He was given a flea bath and another flea pill. We also had him groomed a week later and they did not find any fleas or flea dirt.
The dog and family are staying somewhere else while this flea problem gets under control.
1. About how long do these infestations take to clear up?
2. Should we keep the dog away from the infested house for awhile?
3. Any other suggestions to get rid of the fleas fast? We have a 1 year old and a baby on the way in June so we need this to be cleared up and we want to prevent re-infestation at all costs.
Thanks,
molly
Adam Retzer Staff answered 6 years ago
Molly,
1. Flea infestations usually take around 8 weeks to resolve. The immature stages live in the environment and account for 95-99% of the population. They need to mature, emerge as adults, and die before the infestation ends. This is because immature stages live in protected refuges in the environment where control efforts can’t reach all of them.
Eggs reach adulthood in 17-26 days. However, adults fleas are capable on entering a quiescent (“sleep”) state inside their cocoons for up to 5 months. Most don’t but some do. This can prolong the infestation. Heat and pressure cause these cocooned adults to wake up and emerge, so vacuuming can help force emergence.
2. If the dog is properly treated, and remains treated until the infestation is completely over, then it can be let back into the home. This can actually help speed up the eradication process. The dog will return to its favorite spots, which will also be flea hot-spots. The fleas will then jump onto the dog and die.
3. If the dog is properly treated, and the home is properly treated, then the best thing you can do to speed up the eradication process is to vacuum regularly.
As a preventive measure, you may want to keep the dog on seasonal or year-long monthly flea control. Also, consider treating the home with an insect growth regulator (IGR), such as Martin’s IGR. The IGR will remain active for 7 months indoors, preventing eggs and larvae from developing into adults. The pest control specialist likely sprayed an IGR already.
Warm regards,
Adam
