Getting rid of fleas is a difficult process due to the long lifecycle of a flea. Moderate to severe
It's possible, but it will take a lot of work. It is difficult to rid a pet of fleas completely because fleas were designed by nature to be practically indestructible. But with diligence and patience, you can get rid of fleas from your dogs and cats – and home – forever.
In most cases, it takes three to four months to completely get rid of a flea infestation since it takes fleas this long to go through their life stages, according to the American Kennel Club.
Adult fleas will be killed within a few days but the floor should not be vacuumed, swept or washed for at least two weeks after treatment because there will still be eggs which will continue to hatch.
Without a host like a cat or a dog, fleas can live anywhere between a few days and two weeks, but they can lay eggs that make the infestation last longer.
So, even if the treatment kills all fleas on a pet within 24 hours, for example, the next day new hitchhiker fleas could jump onto the pet. These new arrivals will themselves take up to 24 hours to be killed.
Flea larvae can remain dormant in your home for months, so new fleas may continue to emerge — even after treatment. These fleas will quickly die after hatching if you've treated your home and kept up with regular flea preventive for your pet, but it can take a while for all the existing fleas to hatch and be killed.
Not treating often enough. Fleas go through a life cycle of egg, larvae, pupae and adult. Most flea treatments just kill adult fleas, but fleas can continue to emerge for months after you think an infestation has ended. When a newly emerged female flea finds a host, she can lay eggs within one day.
If your dog is constantly being reinfested with fleas after treatment, it is most likely there is an environmental infestation in or around your house. The adult fleas we see on pets represent only 5% of the total population. The other 95% are immature stages in the environment.
Do fleas die in the winter? Not necessarily. If you're wondering if dogs can get fleas in the winter, the answer is yes. Flea populations might slow down a bit, especially outdoors, but they don't go away completely.
Vacuum often. All four stages of fleas are killed after vacuuming, with a 96 percent success rate. Homes that are vacuumed often will usually not have a flea problem that persists for long, because the eggs, larvae, pupa and adult fleas will all be killed or removed through the vacuum.
We use multiple pesticides to target the different life stages of the flea. Using an adulticide we can eliminate the adult stage of the fleas which are causing most of the nuisance. An IGR (Insect Growth Regulator) is also used to exterminate the larvae by sterilizing them and preventing reproduction.
Inside homes fleas use their small size and mobility to avoid danger. Even if you treat your living areas for these pests, they can still hide inside your walls where they can live up to 100 days without a blood meal.
Herrin says that fleas like warm, humid weather, so pets are most likely to catch them between spring and fall. But flea infestations can happen in winter, too – especially as the climate changes. As winters become milder, fleas stay active longer.
Adult cat and dog fleas can live up to one year in ideal situations, but only about one to two weeks if no host is present. Female fleas lay eggs while attached to the host. Because these eggs are unattached, they will slowly drop to the ground where they remain until hatching.
Flea eggs fall off their hosts, leading them to get stuck in carpets, in cracks and crevices, in pet beds and under furniture. This is why repeated vacuuming and cleaning your floors is necessary when getting rid of fleas in your home — especially in areas where your dog hangs out a lot.
When it has a host, an adult flea can live about 100 days. But how long can they live without a host? Those fleas typically live only one to two weeks.
Vacuums cause considerable physical trauma to fleas. Surviving adults are likely critically damaged and unable to move well. It's improbable that they'd be able to escape the vacuum and acquire a host. Instead, they'll soon starve to death.
Fleas generally cannot live in human hair. While most species prefer to live on the furs of animals, they can use humans as temporary vectors. In such cases, fleas can infest and bite humans. You may get infected if there is a serious case of flea infestation in your environment.
Fleas Extra to penetrate deep into carpet fibres. Where possible, move large items of furniture and vacuum and spray underneath. You should also vacuum rapidly 24 hours after spraying and thereafter at least twice weekly for the next two weeks.
Fleas in the pupae stage can lie dormant for quite some time—anywhere from a week or so up to a full year, if conditions are right—before emerging from the cocoon as an adult flea, ready to feed, mate and lay eggs.