Cheap way to get rid of fleas for good!

      Tomorrow is here and you start to see more fleas popping up on your kitten or puppy you just gave a Dawn flea bath to yesterday. You think to yourself, well I guess the Dawn trick did not work. Wrong! It did but that’s only just one step in getting rid of the lovely flea. Treating the environment is an essential step to getting rid of fleas for good. You must wash and dry all bedding your pet lays on at least every two days for about three months. This includes your bed if your pet lays on it. Also if you have carpet, you are going to have to vacuum virtually every day for about three months. Once you vacuum the key step is to take the vacuum bag outside to the trash. If you leave it in your inside trash the fleas are going to find their way back into your house. If you follow my pet advice, you will be flea free in no time.
   
    Fleas have a long life cycle that’s why it requires at least three months breaking the cycle. During those three months you are still going to see fleas because the eggs they dropped in your house are hatching. For every flea you see there are hundreds of eggs, larvae, and newly hatching adults. Please view the diagram of the flea life cycle below and return next week for the last  discussions on the lovely flea. 

Getting rid of fleas on kittens and puppies the safe way!

           One stormy afternoon, you are driving home from work and you spot what looks to be a five week old puppy. You pull over to check it out and it is a puppy trying to get shelter from the rain. You decide to bring the puppy home with you and will call around the shelters tomorrow to see if anyone has reported the puppy missing. Once you get the puppy home, you notice the poor wet cold puppy has fleas all over. You think to yourself, well I have some topical flea medicine but upon reading the label you notice the age restriction. Well I can’t use the topical flea medicine, so what now? 

         There are a few things you can do to help your puppy or kitten before they are the recommended age for topical flea medicine. Using a flea comb (metal comb) to manually take off the fleas, which would require you to pop (kill) them between your thumb nails or with the flea comb. Another safe option for puppies and kittens is Dawn original (blue) dish soap. Now it is not recommended to get a kitten or puppy wet, but in this case it’s better than them becoming anemic because the fleas are sucking up all their blood.

      My pet advice recommendation would be bathing the kitten or puppy in a small sink with the water running before you put them in. Do not fill the sink up with water! Quickly wet the kitten or puppy with some lukewarm water (using a cup or spray hose), then apply a small amount of Dawn. Massage it in well and let it sit for about a minute or so. You have to scrub pretty good because the fleas are going to try to hide under the fur. Once you do not see any more fleas, rinse the kitten or puppy completely and wrap in a warm towel.

     If you have a hair dryer put it on the lowest sitting and keep far away from their face. Make sure not to point the hair dryer too close to them either. If you are going to use a hair dryer you have to be very careful not to overheat them, so just do a quick blow dry and then wrap them back in the warm towel. The fleas are gone today but what about tomorrow? 

Metal Flea Comb

Dawn Original Dish Soap

*Lets learn about the lovely flea*

           

Flea under a microscope

 

         It’s a sunny afternoon and you are sitting on your couch with your cat Pookie. This particular day you have on a white shirt. Pookie is on your chest purring enjoying the love from you, and then all of a sudden you see black pepper all over your shirt. You think is this dirt, or did Pookie roll around in some pepper? All of the above could be true, but it is most likely what we call “flea dirt”. Flea dirt is not actually dirt, but it’s the flea’s feces. You might be asking but how can you tell if it’s actual flea dirt? Excellent question! My pet advice is the simplest thing to do. Take whatever has the suspected flea dirt on it and shake it onto a slightly wet piece of paper towel. Leave it undisturbed for about thirty seconds and see if the flea dirt turns red. If the flea dirt turns red, that is a positive result for your pet having fleas. Trusted pet advice from a CVT.Please view the photos below and return next week to learn more about the lovely flea. 

Flea dirt on wet paper towel

Flea dirt on a dog

Hello fellow animal lovers!

            My name is Erica, and I am a Certified Veterinary Technician offering pet advice on common issues pet owners face. Some of the most common issues are fleas, diet, and health care maintenance. I graduated from an AVMA accredited school in 2006, and have passed the certified veterinary technician national exam. I worked in the field for over five years as a CVT and I am currently working for myself as a pet sitter.

            As fellow animal lovers, you want your pet(s) to live a long healthy life free of any issues, but we all know that’s only in a perfect world. Once an issue arises, we tend to just Google it to see if we can find a solution without having to make a trip to the Vets office. Unfortunately Google sometimes gives bad advice or no information on the problem at all. That’s where I can help *By NO MEANS does this blog replace your Vet; it only supplements your regular visits to your Veterinarian.*

Vet Tech Life

Special note: All pets should visit their Vets at least once yearly :-)