Flea Exterminator and Flea Treatment for House Interiors in Central NJ

Why fleas keep coming back after the dog has been treated

Most of a flea problem is not on the pet at all. Rutgers Cooperative Extension explains that fleas must have a blood meal to complete their life cycle, and that after feeding they lay eggs on the host. Those eggs do not stay put. They drop to the floor and onto the spots where cats and dogs sleep, play and walk.

From there, tiny wormlike larvae hatch and feed on debris in the carpet and bedding. Rutgers notes that within two or three weeks they turn into blood-feeding adults, and that actual timing depends on temperature and other conditions. So a dog that came home from the vet with a fresh flea product can pick up new fleas from its own bed a week later. The house is a nursery, and the nursery has to be treated.

Telling a house flea problem from a pet flea problem

A few scratching sessions do not always mean the home is involved. These signs suggest it is:

• Bites on people, especially around the ankles and lower legs. The CDC notes that lower legs and feet are where flea bites often occur.
• Fleas hopping onto white socks. Rutgers suggests walking through suspect rooms in white knee or sweat socks and checking them, or laying a white handkerchief on rugs and chairs.
• A busy pet bed. Rutgers calls bedding one of the first areas to become infested and a good gauge of whether control is working.
• Activity in closets and basements, which the same fact sheet says often harbor large numbers of fleas.
• Fleas returning within weeks of a pet treatment, the pattern described above.

How our flea treatment for house interiors is organized

Every home is a little different, but our flea work usually follows this order.

Inspection room by room

Our technician starts where the animal spends its time and works outward. That means pet beds and the floor around them, rugs and wall-to-wall carpet, under sofa cushions, under beds, along baseboards and carpet edges, and the cracks between hardwood boards. Rutgers lists every one of those places, plus closets and basements, as areas to clean and check. We note the rooms with the heaviest activity so the treatment can concentrate there.

Indoor application, by the label

Indoors we use products labeled for flea control in homes and apply them only to the surfaces and in the amounts the label allows. Rutgers stresses exactly that point: read the label, do not treat areas it does not list, and do not use more than it specifies. Your technician will explain any steps to take before and after treatment, following the product label, including how long to stay off treated floors.

The outdoor spots pets favor

If your dog or cat spends time outside, fleas can breed there in summer. Rutgers names the base of the foundation, window wells, doorsills, garage doorways, flower boxes (a favorite with cats), and open areas under porches and breezeways as outdoor treatment spots. We check those and treat where the label and the situation call for it.

A return visit

Rutgers is candid that flea infestations are not easily controlled in summer and that repeated efforts may be required. We plan for a follow-up rather than pretending one visit settles it, and we decide on the timing together after the first treatment.

Getting the house ready: vacuum, launder, clear the floor

Your preparation makes a real difference, and Rutgers puts thorough vacuuming of pet areas near the top of its flea advice. The CDC recommends vacuuming carpets, rugs and upholstered furniture often and emptying the vacuum bag outside, and washing bedding, especially pet bedding, with soap and water. Before our technician arrives:

• Vacuum every floor, including under furniture and along the edges, and take the bag or canister contents outside.
• Wash pet beds, throw blankets and any bedding the animals sleep on.
• Pick toys, shoes and clutter up off the floor so baseboards and carpet edges are reachable.
• Plan for the pets to be out of the treated rooms; your technician will go over the label timing with you.
• Keep vacuuming in the days after treatment, as your technician directs.

Your vet treats the animal, we treat the rooms

We do not apply anything to cats or dogs. Rutgers describes protecting the pet as the first step in flea control and says the most lasting pet protection comes through the guidance of a veterinarian. The CDC likewise advises talking to your vet about flea control products and treating pets year-round to kill adult fleas and keep new ones from hatching.

In practice, we ask that the pets be on a vet-recommended product around the time of our visit. When the animal stops carrying fleas and the house stops producing them at the same time, the cycle has nowhere to restart. If you have several pets, every one of them needs to be covered, including the indoor cat that never seems to go out.

Fleas in a home with no pets

It happens more than people expect. Rutgers notes that fleas can breed outdoors in summer, infest lawns, and get carried from place to place, so homes and apartments can become infested without a dog or cat. A house can also hold fleas left behind by a previous owner's animals, and stray cats or other animals resting under a porch or deck can feed an outdoor population.

The CDC suggests mowing often, avoiding over-watering and raking up debris, since fleas prefer shade and humidity, and reducing visits by rodents and wild animals with sealed food containers, tight trash lids and closed entry holes. We can seal small openings and handle the fleas themselves. Removing raccoons, groundhogs or other wild animals from under a structure is wildlife work we do not offer; a wildlife control operator handles that part.

This matters beyond the itching. The CDC notes that some fleas in the United States can spread bacteria and parasites that cause diseases such as murine typhus and plague. If your bites look different, showing up in a line or cluster after a night's sleep, ask us about bed bug treatment instead, since the two get confused. We treat fleas in single-family homes and townhouses alike, from South Plainfield to North Brunswick.