Flea Infestation Prevention for Pets and Homes

Fleas are a common problem in New Jersey and around the country throughout the summer months. While they primarily plague people who own pets, they can also infest homes without animals. These tiny blood-sucking insects can cause a lot of health issues as well as discomfort from the bites.

Some animals and people might get infections from scratching, as they’re allergic to the flea’s saliva. Where did fleas come from? It’s hard to pinpoint their origins, but there’s recorded data that dates back thousands of years.

Even in ancient times, they drove people mad. Records date back to ancient Egypt, as mentioned in Greek and Roman literature. Who can forget the Black Death or bubonic plague in the 14th century of Europe? Fleas infested rats, who went into the home and transmitted the disease to humans.

If history shows you anything, these tiny insects can survive through centuries and are still plaguing people today. While the threat of things like the plague is over, there’s still a valid concern when these critters enter your home.

What Causes a Flea Infestation and Safeguarding Against Them?

Why do some people have a few stray fleas on their pet and others have an infested home? Many factors can determine how bad the flea problem gets. Shockingly, much of it comes down to the conditions of the home.

Additionally, pets medicated with flea preventatives fare better than those who haven’t been treated. Here are some common reasons why we often see flea infestations in the Garden State homes we treat.

1. The Number of Pets

Even with proper treatment, controlling fleas is more challenging when you have a more significant number of animals in the home. Many homes we treat have multiple animals, such as dogs, cats, ferrets, and even guinea pigs. When animals go outside to use the restroom or roam around to explore, they are prone to picking up fleas in the environment.

These fleas burrow into their fur and come into the house with them. The more animals you have, the more fleas will go inside, so you can see how this problem can quickly get out of hand. Another thing to consider is that cats tend to be flea magnets, so it’s no surprise the most common flea infestations we treat are the “cat flea.”

2. Wildlife

Wild animals can bring fleas into your yard, which your pets will pick up. Do you live near a wooded area or water? The flea concentrations are higher in these environments. Things like raccoons, feral cats, possums, and squirrels are notorious for carrying fleas.

Another problem is that wild animals will burrow under homes or in attics. If they have fleas on them, they can quickly get into the house and spread throughout. The fleas will use you as a host even if you have no pets. So, when we can’t find the source of the fleas, one place we always check for any signs of wild animal activity is in basements, crawl spaces, and attics.

3. Flea Infested Objects

Since fleas are so tiny, they can easily hide in clothing and second-hand items like carpets, furniture, and luggage. If you have friends or relatives who come to stay, or you shop at local second-hand stores, it’s possible these pesky critters can find their way into your home. Once they’re inside, they will multiply quickly.

4. Nearby Flea Infestations

You may do everything you can to care for the fleas in your yard, but your neighbor needs to be more proactive about their issues. If they don’t treat their animals or yard, their problem may become yours. Part of living in a close-knit community like an apartment building can be problematic, especially if you’re diligent about keeping things under control and the person next to you could care less.

5. Conducive Environment

Fleas are so active in the summer months because of the warm and humid environment here in the northeast. When temperatures are high and humidity is soaring, it creates the perfect weather for fleas to settle in and multiply.

6. Avoiding Prevention

If you have pets, you owe it to them to treat them for fleas and ticks. Better yet, you must be proactive and treat them with a preventative before fleas become an issue. Fleas can kill your pets, especially if an infestation is sucking the life right out of them.

Medications are not the only thing you can do, but they’re a big part of keeping fleas from thriving. Doing things like putting diatomaceous earth in your yard can also keep down on the population.

7. Clutter or Lack of Housekeeping

Everyone wants to think that they do a good job keeping their home, but when we walk in, and there’s only a path through the rooms, it’s an issue. Look at your home. Are there places to hide for fleas, roaches, mice, and other pesky critters? Pests are drawn to environments that are conducive for them to thrive.

Not all homes that get fleas have clutter or poor housekeeping issues, but it does increase the likelihood. You can proactively keep all pests at bay by taking out the trash often, vacuuming the floors every few days, and ensuring you don’t leave dirty dishes in the sink.

Fleas don’t necessarily care about your trash can being full, or your dirty dishes left in the sink, but it can draw mice and rats often infested with fleas.

8. Previous Flea Infestations

One of the number one calls we get in the summer is that a customer thought they had their flea problem under control, but they’re back again. There are many reasons this can happen, but what’s likely occurred is the flea eggs have hatched.

You might have killed off all the live fleas with hardware store supplies, but the eggs in the carpets hatched a few weeks later. You must kill the live fleas and eggs to eradicate the problem.

This is also why so many people have an infestation in winter. They thought they got rid of them late summer, but the eggs took longer to hatch because it wasn’t as warm or humid. You can have a flea infestation any time of year, so you must always be on guard.

Knowing When to Call for Help

There are over 2,000 varieties of fleas, but here in New Jersey, the cat flea causes the most trouble. You can fight these pesky parasites by yourself, but chances are that the issue is more significant than you can handle alone. It would help if you had a professional team to help eradicate this problem.

We can get to the root of the issue and bring much-needed relief to everyone in the household. It’s best to call at the first sign of trouble and not wait until the fleas have taken over before reaching out.

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