Don’t bring a knife to a gunfight!
House fires and fleas have something in common. In the case of a house fire, you don’t sit around worrying much about having one until you see flames — then you’ll definitely jump up and do something. For many of our clients the approach to flea control is similar. Out of sight, out of mind, that is until they see a few fleas (or many) and then come running through our front door yelling “FLEAS“!!
Human nature I suppose keeps us most concerned about what we can see. The problem is, by the time you see a few fleas, there are HUNDREDS in the making already in your world.
At Noah’s Ark, I’m the Director of Flea Fighting. I’m the one who will help you work through solving difficult flea problems; and last year, the very worst infestations I worked with were in homes that had cats living strictly indoors.
How can such a home become infested? Let me explain – and you’ll see why it’s even easier if your pets live both outside and inside.
In a nutshell, all that needs to happen is for one very tiny flea to hitchhike into your home on your pant leg. One of the flea’s strategies for survival is to jump towards anything that moves past them – and they’re impressive athletes- able to jump more than 12” – an amazing feat for their tiny size. Your pant leg doesn’t provide a meal, so they’ll lie in wait for a more suitable host.
The next time your cat walks by, the flea leaps aboard, burrowing down to the skin to bite and feed. Half of fleas are female and all they do is eat and lay 30 – 50 eggs per day. These eggs do not stay on your pet- they roll off into your world where they’ll eventually develop into adult fleas.
Depending on how fast, and sensitive, your cat is to a flea bite, a single flea can put hundreds of eggs into your environment.
Believe it or not, lots of dogs and cats are NOT super sensitive to flea bites and can have hundreds of fleas living on them without itching and scratching.
Pets who itch and scratch are commonly misunderstood, and it’s a conversation we have quite often at Noah’s Ark.
The truth is, not all pets that itch and scratch have fleas, and many pets that are loaded with fleas DO NOT itch and scratch themselves. Many people don’t even think to look for fleas if their pet’s not itching and chewing their fur.
The main reason cats are so often the culprits for seeding a home with lots of flea eggs is that (unless they’re very overweight) they tend to be pretty good groomers. Through persistence they’re generally able to groom off the evidence of fleas until the population explodes and they can’t keep up.
That’s exactly what happens in homes with indoor cats. Pet parents get lulled into a false sense of security because they never actually find fleas on their cats – but that doesn’t mean that fleas haven’t been able to sneak on and lay a few hundred eggs before your cat catches (and eats) them. Even strictly indoor cats should be on a flea and tick preventative year round in lovely Franklin, North Carolina.
I’ve been using cats in this example, but it works the same way with dogs – although most dogs have some access to the great outdoors, and so they bring in their own hitchhikers.
HERE ARE THE TOP THREE BLUNDERS THAT CAN GET YOUR HOME INFESTED WITH FLEAS:
1. Having a pet who isn’t super sensitive to flea bites. These pets are often overlooked because they’re not chewing away at themselves. Many clients apply flea preventatives only to the pets that are itchy, or only pets they see fleas on. That’s a big mistake.
2. Failure to identify fleas on pets with dark colored coats. It’s fairly easy to detect fleas on pets with white fur… it’s way more challenging on dark colored fur. Assuming your dark coated pet doesn’t have fleas because you can’t see them is a big mistake.
3. Waiting until you see fleas to start using flea prevention products. Remember, the products we sell are all preventatives. They’re designed to PREVENT a problem from developing, if used as directed. If you’re seeing fleas, we have failed to PREVENT, and we now have a PROBLEM. You’re going to have to be patient, it takes several months to get a flea problem completely under control.
What’s a responsible pet parent to do? Let us help protect you and your entire family from fleas with this month’s tips:
Don’t bring a knife to a gunfight! Let us work with you to recommend the best solution for your family pets, and your home. When you purchase products from Noah’s Ark, they’re guaranteed to work.
Don’t waste lots of money on over the counter products that don’t work. The old adage, “you get what you pay for” absolutely applies to flea control. We have extremely competitive prices on products that actually work.
You can’t beat a guarantee. Many of the products we sell are eligible for the Satisfaction Guarantee offered by the manufacturer Merial. If you apply an eligible product to each of the pets in your home for three consecutive months and still have a flea problem, they’ll send Terminex to your home FOR FREE. We had several clients take advantage of this guarantee last year – nearly all of them with indoor cats who started a significant infestation.
Let us examine your pets for fleas, for free. That’s just another perk of letting Noah’s Ark be your one stop shop for everything you need to have happy, healthy pets. We have an awesome new way to check for fleas … just phone our office for the best time to stop by.
Remember, the secret to rarely seeing fleas is pretty simple:
Apply a product purchased at Noah’s Ark on each and every furry companion in your home every 30 days, year round.
