FIGHTING FLEAS

From Flea Fighter:

How do you handle fleas on animals that are already using over the counter products, but keep coming into the salon with tons of fleas? Does everyone treat their houses? What about products that make pets violently ill? What's the safest alternative complimentary product with spot on treatments?

Dear Flea Fighter,

Do you have a pesticide license? Do you know what you are exposing yourself and your clients to? Are you relying on the manufacturer to tell you what the pesticide can be mixed with? Topical applications are not the only answer. I have seen dogs and cats crawling with fleas, even after an application of a topical, because their entire house and yard is infested and breeding fleas.

Pesticides are deadly poisons used to kill living organisms. Unless you are thoroughly versed in pesticide use, care and storage, I would leave it up to the owners and the professional pest control operators.

Flea shampoo them off and show the owner a flea free pet when they pick them up, but tell them that as soon as they bring them back into a flea infested house and yard they will get fleas again.

If they bring you the dog, but also own a cat they might as well just throw their grooming dollars out in the street. There are three types of fleas in the US are cat fleas, dog fleas and human fleas. There are very few dog and human fleas in the U.S. They are almost all cat fleas!

Cats groom most of their fleas off by themselves, so it is more evident that the dog has fleas then the cat, but cats are the food source. You must do all the pets the same day that the house and yard is being treated. Three weeks later (21 days) you must do the house and the cats and dogs a second time to break the flea life cycle.

I have seen so many adverse reactions and death due to incorrect pesticide use. Just because it is an EPA labeled product does not mean that it is safe. In fact "safe" is a word that cannot legally be used when discussing an EPA registered pesticide. There are no "safe" pesticides. There are just less toxic ones.

You will not be able to eliminate a flea problem for a client if their home is infested. Educate your customers to hire a Licensed Pest Control operator who will guarantee their work.

I explain not to re-apply the very next day and the day after that and so on. You must live with an infestation because nothing kills the fleas in their pupae cocoon until they hatch. That is why it is so important to pre-treat your home and yard in the early spring. Using an IGR (Insect Growth Regulator) will prevent re-infestation for 7 months.

There is a water-soluble boron called "disodium octoborate tetrahydrate" that is about as toxic as table salt and can be sprayed on the rugs. As long as you do not remove it with hot water extraction, it will work and last forever. It does not work toxically, but mechanically by abrading the flea’s exoskeleton and desiccating them (drying them up). It is a natural IGR.

After many years of study, I have come to the conclusion that a flea infestation is a condition of bad nutrition. We all give off pheromone scents that send a message to nature. A healthy animal will actually produce scents that repel, but a sick or dying animal will produce one that tells fleas to suck their blood until they die, and then they finish the job by helping nature biodegrade them back into the soil.

Take notice of your next infested pets. Are they healthy looking or just the opposite? Along with educating my customers on the causes and remedies for fleas, I also introduce an awareness of better nutrition.

I have asked vets for years why they do not educate their customers on flea control and many have told me, “We sell them yard and kennel spray, premise spray, and topicals but they just return in a few days after reading the warning labels, ask for their money back and just live in the infestation.”

It is a complicated subject, but for your own safety and the safety of your family, employees, and customers you can never learn enough about what you are using or recommending. Request and read the MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet) on any pesticide you use or recommend. Be careful and be safe.