Author: Allen Brown
If you’re a dog owner, there will come a time when you’ll need to deal with fleas. Not only are they annoying but they can also cause harm to your dog.
They can affect your dog’s skin and coat and spread diseases and parasites, such as tapeworm or heartworm which can take a toll on your dog’s overall health. It can even affect your health too as tapeworms may also infect humans.
For that reason, they need to be dealt with as soon as possible to prevent them from spreading and causing more damage to your dog’s health. To ensure that you’re able to get rid of these pesky tiny creatures, here’s what you can do.
Use Specially Formulated Products
One of the first things you can do to get rid of your dog’s fleas is to use specially formulated products that can help kill the fleas without harming your dog. These days, there are lots of various products in the market.
One of the commonly used is dog shampoo that has a special formula that can kill fleas on dogs immediately. They also come with fragrances that can help make your fur baby smelling good after each bath.
In between baths, you can also use a powder. This will keep your dog smelling good too as it helps with getting rid of fleas.
Use Natural Remedies
If you prefer natural remedies more, don’t worry, it’s also easy to make a strong solution for your fur baby. In fact, you can even find these ingredients sitting in your pantry: hot water and rosemary leaves. Just mix two cups of rosemary leaves with hot water. Allow it to cool down before you use it on your dog.
Take Your Dog to the Vet
It is safe to take your fur baby to the vet even if you’ve already got rid of the fleas in your dog’s coat. They can check your dog’s health after the infestation and you can also learn more information on fleas if you bring your pet to the vet. With this, you’ll know how you can also prevent them from coming back.
Whether or not you’re sure you’ve already got rid of the fleas in your dog’s coat, you should still bring it to the vet. This is because fleas may carry diseases and parasites, like tapeworm, Bartonella, and dermatitis. And they could get transmitted into your dog making your dog uncomfortable or ill.
Thoroughly Clean Your Home
Once you’ve got rid of the fleas from your dog’s coat and have taken it to the vet for a checkup, unfortunately, your work doesn’t stop there. This is because fleas don’t always stay in your dog’s fur. They could also hide in your home. Its eggs, larvae, and cocoons could already be spreading in your house too.
For that reason, it is also a must that you thoroughly clean your home, especially after you’ve taken all the fleas out from your dog’s coat. Make sure to clean every nook and cranny of your house to not give a chance for the fleas to turn your home into its nursery.
Utilize Powerful Tools for Cleaning
Your tools for cleaning also matter. Remember how hard it was to pull out fleas with your own hands? They can also be that hard to get rid of if you’re just using regular tools for cleaning.
To ensure that you’re able to clean even the cracks and tight spaces in your home, you should also invest in a powerful vacuum. This will suck any larvae, cocoon, or eggs hiding in the tiniest cracks in parts of your home.
Tend Your Lawn
If you have a lawn, believe it or not, but it’s also worth maintaining to prevent fleas from coming back. Because just like your home, fleas could also use your lawn as their nursery.
That said, make sure to tend your lawn too. Mow it and rake exposed surfaces. This way, fleas won’t have anywhere to hide. Double-check the shady and humid areas in your lawn too, as fleas love to hide in such places. You may also spread cedar chips or ask about nematodes from the gardening center in your area to kill any eggs, larvae, or adult fleas.
Buy a Flea Comb
To ensure that you won’t miss any spot in your dog’s coat, you can also use a flea comb. Fleas usually hide around dogs’ neck and tail, so double-check and comb those areas. It would also be helpful if you have a bowl of soapy water where you can dunk the fleas once you comb them out of your dog’s hair.
Fleas not only affect your dog’s skin and fur. It can also do worse things to your dog’s health than you can imagine. It can even transmit life-threatening diseases, such as heartworm if you’re not able to get rid of them immediately. Thus, be sure that your dog and your house are flea-free.