How Fleas Get Into a Neasden House
Almost every household flea problem in London is the cat flea, which does just as well on a dog. A pet picks them up outdoors, carries them in, and the eggs laid on it fall off in the places it rests: the sofa, the bottom of the stairs, a warm spot by a radiator, a back bedroom. The larvae then work down into the carpet away from the light, along skirtings and under furniture where a vacuum rarely reaches. Where fleas hide around the home runs through the places worth checking first.
Foxes lying up behind the shed
Foxes spend the day in exactly the spots nobody touches for months: the gap behind or under a shed, the space beneath decking or a garage, the rough grass along a verge or the edge of open ground. Fleas fall off a resting animal, so those places hold eggs and larvae, and a dog nosing about there or a cat sheltering in the same corner brings them back indoors. Nothing is done to the fox itself; the treatment is for the rooms in the house. If one is living under your shed or decking, say so when you book, and leave closing the gap until you are certain nothing is underneath. Homes along the railway and industrial edge have more of that undisturbed ground nearby, which Pest Control Neasden sets out.
A rented house changing hands
Plenty of houses here are let to families, and the carpets normally stay put when the tenants and their animals go. Flea pupae sit in the cocoon for weeks waiting for warmth and movement, so a house can be cleaned, re-let and show nothing at the viewing, then start biting within days of the boxes coming in. If you have just moved in, flea problems after moving into a new home is the place to start; for landlords and agents, treatment between tenancies costs less trouble than a complaint in the first week.
Making Sure It Is Fleas
Flea bites are small and itchy and tend to be grouped around the ankles and lower legs, and you may find flea dirt — dark specks that go reddish on a damp tissue — in pet bedding or in the carpet beside a favourite chair. Bites that appear overnight on the arms, neck or back are another matter and may be bed bugs, while itchy skin along with small hairy larvae at a carpet edge can mean carpet beetles. How to know if you have fleas goes through the signs. Speak to a pharmacist or GP if bites become infected or a reaction concerns you.
Getting a Neasden House Ready
- Ask your vet to treat every cat and dog in the house at the same time, including one that is mostly outdoors
- Vacuum carpets, rugs, stairs and upholstery thoroughly, working into the edges and under beds, then empty it into an outside bin
- Wash pet bedding, blankets and throws on a hot cycle
- Clear shoes, toys and stored things off the floors so the carpet can be reached
- Count the affected rooms before you call, leaving stairs, landings and hallways out of the count
Preparing a property for flea treatment has the full list, and the Brent flea advice guide gives the wider view.
After the visit
Carry on vacuuming every day or two for a while. Fleas still in their cocoons hatch over a period, and the vibration of a vacuum is one of the things that brings them out, so the odd flea afterwards is no surprise. How long that goes on varies with the house and how established the population had become. If you are still being bitten, or finding live fleas on the pet, get back in touch and describe what you are finding — why fleas can still bite after treatment covers the usual reasons.
Keeping Fleas Out of a Family House
Most of this comes back to the animals and the places they rest, indoors and out. Flea Control Brent covers treatments elsewhere in the borough.
- Keep every pet's flea protection going all year on your vet's advice, not only through the summer
- Wash pet bedding often and vacuum the chair, rug or step the animal favours
- Once you are certain nothing is living under it, mesh off the gap beneath a shed, decking or garage
- Fit a microchip cat flap if a neighbouring cat has been letting itself in
- Have a new or rescue animal checked over by the vet before it settles on the carpets
