With their flat bodies, incredible jumping ability and rapid breeding rate, fleas are frustratingly difficult to find and even more difficult to get rid of. Usually, the only way they’re discovered is through the symptoms of their bites or the “flea dirt” (defecated blood) that they leave on fur.
Many pets are allergic to flea bites, which can also transmit a variety of bacterial diseases, viruses and parasites such as tapeworms. Professional extermination is significantly cheaper than vet bills for flea-related diseases, not to mention less traumatic for your pet.
As dog owners ourselves (our rat-catcher Kimba is a core part of our team), we take flea infestations very seriously. We know how upsetting it is to see signs of fleas on your pet and how difficult it is to get rid of them for good.
Don’t waste your time with DIY treatments. Call us now or request your call back to book a visit from one of our BPCA-certified pest controllers or click here to request your callback.
People often assume that if they have a dog, they have dog fleas, and if they have a cat, they have cat fleas, or they believe that dog fleas are bigger than cat fleas (perhaps because dogs are bigger than cats).
However, cat and dog fleas can infest either animal and are indistinguishable to the naked eye. The only important difference between them is that cat fleas are far more adaptable and will happily live and breed on a range of animals, while dog fleas more typically stick to their host.
In terms of our treatment, it doesn’t make a difference whether you have cat, dog or even bird fleas in your property. Their lifecycle and our methods to exterminate them are the same across all common species.
Many people have reoccurring flea infestations in their home because they only treat the adult fleas that they discover on their pet. When the fleas come back, they think their pet caught new ones, and the cycle continues.
But adult fleas only make up around 5% of the flea population. If your pet keeps catching fleas, there’s a high chance it’s from an established flea population inside your property that you haven’t fully addressed.
You might think adult fleas are hard to spot, but the other 95% of their population is even more elusive. Flea eggs are microscopic, their larvae avoid light and their cocoons have a sticky surface which quickly becomes camouflaged by dirt, dust and hair.
The most challenging part of the flea lifecycle to treat are the pupated adults, who can stay dormant for up to two years until they sense heat or vibrations that cause them to emerge and seek a potential host.
Within seconds of emerging, an adult flea is capable of jumping 50 times its body’s length and sucking blood with its piercing mouthparts. It just a couple of days, female fleas will be able to breed and lay 20-30 eggs a day.
Our flea extermination is effective against fleas at every stage of their lifecycle through the use of carpet powders, residual sprays, foggers and – in severe infestations – fumigation.
This treatment is far beyond what you will be capable of doing yourself as we have access to professional-use-only pesticides which are only available to pest controllers with BPCA licenses.
At least three treatments will be provided spread a few weeks apart so we can target any fleas that have hatched between visits or any fresh eggs that have been laid. Beware of pest controllers who promise to treat fleas in a single visit – this will not be effective.
We will assume if you have fleas that the infestation has spread across all soft furnishings. It is best to be thorough, as it only takes a small number of survivors for a flea population to reestablish itself.
Our pest controller will ask that you thoroughly hoover your property every two days between our treatments to trigger the emergence of pupated fleas so that our pesticides will be more effective against them.
It’s very important that you follow our post-treatment recommendations for at least a year to prevent reinfestation from occurring. If you have pets that leave the house, you should consider our recommendations a set part of your housekeeping routine.
As fleas are often tracked inside the house by mice, rats and squirrels, we may also recommend rodent proofing if we discover evidence of a rodent infestation when we treat your property for fleas.
Sick of you and your furry friends getting bitten? Call us now or request your call back and we’ll get rid of your fleas – for good.
Request A Callback
