For the success of your flea treatment we ask that you become our partner in solving the flea problem. This flea treatment prepartion worksheet will serve as your guide. Here are your tasks:
Pets and flea treatment preparation
Do you have pets? The obvious answer may seem to be yes, but this is not always the case. Sometimes new property owners inherent fleas as do neighbors.
If you have pets, take them all to your vet and or pet groomer to have them treated with a shampoo designed to rid fleas. A medial examination by a vet may be appropriate. Also, establish a routine maintenance program to help prevent your pet from being a future host of fleas.
Vacuuming and House Cleaning for Flea Treatments
Vacuum, vacuum, vacuum is the rule. Vacuum every section of your carpets, no matter how difficult it is to reach. It is often in these hard to get areas that your pets love the most and infest with fleas. Continue vacuuming daily after the pest control visit for several days.
Vacuuming will do a few things to help the flea treatment.
- It will help remove flea eggs, larvae, bits of debris and fecal matter that flea larvae feed on.
- It will straighten the carpet fibers so our material sinks deeper into the carpet, enhancing the ability of our application to reach the fleas and flea larvae.
- It will cause the pupae of fleas to hatch to the adult stage. Fleas have evolved to detect the present of a potential host and the vibration of the vacuum ignites this natural senses of the fleas in the pupal stage to emerge. Pesticides will not kill the pupal stage of the flea lifecycle, so vacuuming is important to push the fleas out of this stage into the adult stage.
- Some companies recommend vacuuming before the first visitation. We prefer that you not cause this stimulation of the flea cycle until we have laid down our flea control application. Once fleas emerge as adults they will start biting or rather stinging rapidly as well as laying eggs.
- If you are planning to shampoo or steam clean the carpet, please have this done PRIOR to our treatment, so that the cleaning does not remove any of the application materials we place there for the flea control.
- Vacuum all upholstered furniture, especially where your those where your pets tend to spread out. You are likely to find flea eggs or larvae there. These areas need extensive control and consideration.
- Remove all objects from the floor and put them on the beds. Although some companies will recommend putting objects away in dressers, we would not recommend putting objects that may have been in contact with fleas into closed draws.While we will not be treating these objects, it is important to understand what may have been contacted by fleas. Be sure to clean up closet floors as well. (It is your responsibility to be sure that the house is ready for treatment. We may not be able to provide a warranty if your house is not properly prepared for treatment).
- Ensure that all pet food and water containers are picked up from the floor and washed before refilling. Water buckets outdoors should be emptied as well, and refilled with fresh water after our visit.
- Please notify us if you have fish, reptiles, amphibians or birds? These pets are very sensitive to pesticide applications. Ask for special instructions if you have any of these pets. You may simply be required to turn off any air supply to the tank and cover it with a cloth for a few hours or you may be required to remove these pets from any treated area.
- Are there very young children at this home? While our materials are shown to be appropriate to use where children will later return, we may be able to avoid treating their bedroom, and suggest you do a very thorough cleaning and vacuuming of this area instead. There may be other options for this area as well, such as steam cleaning.
- A final note regarding vacuuming: Be absolutely sure to empty the vacuum bag outside the house immediately after each use. Fleas have been known to jump out of the vacuum bags.
- Do not re-enter the home until our treatment has dried (this is what the Product Label requires). This may take several hours. You can test the carpet with a tissue tapped on with your shoe. If it is damp, please leave and return a bit later to test it again.
- Remove all debris from under decks or under trees and shrubs where the pets spend time. This debris is conducive to the presence of flea larvae, so let’s get rid of it. Ensure screens to the crawl space are in good repair and secured.
- The odor of pest control products is much more mild these days than in the past. Nevertheless, the flea control materials may leave a slight odor. This is not the odor of the active ingredient.Please do not be concerned in this way. You are detecting the odor of solvents. The active ingredient will not evaporate or vaporize in your home. If you are concerned, open your doors and windows to aerate the areas treated.
- Expect that you may see fleas in the coming month. The pupae will continue to emerge from their cocoons, but as they emerge into adulthood, these fleas will contact the flea control products we have applied and be eliminated.
The best thing you can do is to keep the house neat and clean, continuing to vacuum daily and removing the vacuum bags to the outdoor trash bin as far from your home as possible.
