A flea infestation can make you and your family’s lives miserable. The constant biting not only causes physical pain and discomfort, but it also has a physiological impact by creating stress. You may find yourself trying to avoid staying at your home, fearing that fleas will once again make their way onto your skin. If that wan’t bad enough, there are certain things that can make a flea infestation worse, some of which may surprise you.
Washing Laundry
Unfortunately, washing your laundry may worsen a flea infestation. How exactly does this happen? Well, if you wash your pet’s bedding with some of your clothes, for instance, your clothes will become infested with fleas.
Does this mean you should avoid doing laundry until the fleas have been eliminated from your home? Not necessarily, but you should stick with small loads, wash on the hottest setting possible, and use twice the amount of liquid (not powder) detergent as you normally would. This should kill any fleas lingering in the garments and drastically reduce the possibility of them spread onto other garments.
Applying The Same Flea Medicine To Your Pet
Fleas, like many other insects, begin to develop a resistance to medicine after being exposed to it for a certain length of time. Applying a chemical flea treatment/preventative medicine to your dog or cat may quickly eliminate the majority of fleas inside your home during the first couple of months, but after a while it may begin to lose its effectiveness. And if you continue to use it, fleas may become completely immune to it, rendering it useless in your battle against these blood-sucking parasites.
Rather than using the same flea medicine month after month, try alternating between two or three different types. Doing so will reduce the risk of fleas developing a resistance to it, which in turn gives you the upper-hand in this battle.
Indoor/Outdoor Pets
If you have dogs or cats (or both), keep them indoors until the fleas are eliminated from your home. Allowing them to go back and forth will result in more fleas coming into your home. Granted, dogs must be taken on every couple of hours to “do their business,” but the bottom line is that you shouldn’t allow them to run free outside and then come into your home. Dogs will pick up new fleas while they’re playing and roaming around outside, which they will then bring into your home.