Fleas Are Such a Bother

Talking about ticks means I should probably mention a more common pest to all my feline friends (and a few canines also). The pest I'm talking about is the flea. My pals at the feed store have these tips to keep me Flea Free! MEOW!


If your home is heavily infested with fleas, take these steps to get the situation under control.

Inside the Home

1. Locate heavily infested areas and concentrate efforts on these areas.
2. Wash the pet’s bedding.
3. Vacuum, vacuum, vacuum. Furniture, bedding areas, cat towers, perches, along the walls. Use that crevice tool! Focus in areas frequented by pets.
   
4. If necessary, treat all carpets with an insecticide that contains an insect growth regulator. While you might vacuum up the adults, eggs will continue to mature and more fleas will emerge. This is where the growth regulator helps out.
   
5. Did we mention vacuuming? How about a second time- and then continue to vacuum for 10 days to 2 weeks to kill adult fleas that continue to mature.

On the Pet

1. Your first job will be to eliminate as many fleas from your cat by combing and bathing.
   
2. Once the bulk of the tiny nuisances are gone, you can prevent further flea infestations with the use of a topical flea control product.

Bio Spot for Cats: Bio Spot combines permethrin and an insect growth regulator (nylar) to kill eggs and larvae as well as adult fleas. It is active for as long as three months, when used as directed. Bio Spot may also cause sensitivity to the animal, and should not be used on kittens less than twelve weeks of age, geriatric, pregnant, or nursing cats.

Outside the Home

1. Sprays are only necessary outdoors if you detect lots of fleas.Unfortunately, there have been multiple instances reported of flea infestations outdoors here in Oakhurst.
   
2. Locate and remove debris in heavily infested areas.
3. Concentrate treatment in areas where pets rest. Use a spray containing a residual insecticide and an insect growth regulator.
   
4. Open areas to sunlight by removing low hanging vegetation.

All these tips will help control a flea infestation. But remember, be sure to be on the lookout for tapeworm in your pets. Ingestion of a contaminated flea results in tapeworm.

Taz's Tip for Easy Tick Removal

Okay kitty pals (and even Sonny's Friends...) I just came across a great plan to get rid of nasty ticks. It goes like this:

1. Apply a glob of liquid soap to a cotton ball.
2. Cover the tick with the soap-soaked cotton ball and swab it for a few seconds (15-20), the tick will come out on its own and be stuck to the cotton ball when you lift it away.

This technique works every time my mom has used it (and that was frequently, and it's much less traumatic and easier on me).