June 20, 2023
If you have pets and live in Oklahoma, you probably already know fleas can be a year-round problem. These tiny bugs are so small that they can hide in any area of your home. And they can not only be irritating to have around, but they could potentially be hazardous to your and your pet’s health.
If you are seeing increased numbers in your home lately, Montgomery Exterminating, Inc. can help you out. With over two decades of experience, our Owasso pest control specialists know the quickest and easiest way to get rid of the fleas in and around your property.
How Can I Tell If It’s Fleas In My Home?
Fleas are incredibly small external parasites. They typically measure between 1 to3 millimeters long. They are so tiny that they can hide in almost any spot of your home. You could be sitting next to several fleas and still not see them. If you don’t see fleas in your home, you can look for these signs to determine if you have a flea infestation:
- Your pet is scratching more than usual
- Small, itchy bug bites on your skin, especially around your ankles
- Bald patches or missing fur on your pets
- Noticing that your pet’s gums are pale
- Seeing tiny black specs, called flea dirt, on your pet’s bed
Even though fleas in Owasso have tiny legs, they can jump very far. They use their powerful legs to launch themselves approximately eight inches away. If you see little, dark-colored bugs on your furniture, carpet, or drapes that seem to be there one second and disappear the next, you probably just saw a flea jumping from one surface to the next.
How Dangerous Is It To Have Fleas In My Home?
Fleas can cause a lot of problems for you and your pets. They can carry many diseases, including tularemia, bartonellosis, murine typhus, and tungiasis. They can also transmit other parasites, like tapeworms, to you and your pets. While tapeworm transmission is more common in pets, humans can become infected with tapeworms if they accidentally swallow an infected flea.
Fleas have also been known to cause some pets to become anemic. When a flea bites a human, they usually jump on the person’s skin, bite them, take a quick blood meal, and jumps off. But when it comes to pets, fleas tend to stay on their skin longer because they can easily hide under the fur. This means that your pet could lose a lot of blood in a short amount of time. The sudden reduction of red blood cells could cause your pet to become anemic.
Why Do I Have A Flea Infestation In My House?
Fleas are usually accidentally brought into homes and, most commonly, by hitching a ride on your pet. When fleas are outdoors, they prefer to hang out in warm, moist, and shady areas. They don’t like to be in direct sunlight for too long. They can usually be found in areas with tall grass or heavy shrubbery. Once your furry friend walks into one of these areas, the fleas will use its strong legs to jump on the pet’s fur and hitch a ride back to your home.
Once you have a couple of fleas in your home, it doesn’t take long to develop into a full-blown flea infestation. Fleas have an incredibly high reproduction rate. A female flea can lay around 50 eggs every day. Some flea eggs might be found in your pet’s fur, which will fall off when they walk around. This means that in just a matter of days, you could have hundreds of fleas and their eggs spread sporadically throughout your home.
How Do I Get Rid Of Fleas In My House For Good?
Because there can be so many fleas in your home at one time, it can be challenging to get rid of a flea infestation on your own. At Montgomery Exterminating Inc., we use state-of-the-art equipment and the latest techniques to treat the inside and outside of your home for fleas. Our professional flea control technicians will not only make sure that every flea is eliminated from your home, but we will take proactive steps to ensure they don’t come back in the future. Give us a call today to get your free quote!
