Fleas, Ticks, and Lice: How to Prevent and Treat Existing

When I was recently treating a customer’s home the other day I started getting bit on my ankles. I said uh oh you have fleas. The customer then asked if our regular service would kill the fleas. I told her it helps, but it won’t completely fix the problem. Which leads to the question:

How do I prevent or treat my home for fleas, ticks, and lice? You will want to use an aerosol on the floors of your home, and treat your entire yard and foliage with a sprayer and/or granules with a spreader. Use a pest repelling shampoo that is specifically designed to treat these targeted pests, they make this shampoo for people and another for pets.

In this post, we will dive into the treatment and prevention of fleas, ticks, and lice. This is awesome information if you have pets and you want to learn to keep these pests from coming around.

How Do I Prevent Fleas?

Make A Yard Assessment –

If you feed your pet outside, be sure to not leave the bowls out for stray animals or wildlife to get ahold of any uneaten food. Make sure your garbage cans are secure, you don’t want raccoons stray dogs or feral cats getting into them for an uninvited treat.

Another thing you will want to do is make sure that no foliage is brushing up against your home, having tree branches or bushes against your home is a bridge for unwanted pests and animals to gain access into your home through attic access, upstairs dryer vents, weep holes, etc.

Also grooming your lawn and keeping it free from trash or debris will also help.

Finally, make sure your home has integrated pest management plan in place, this means you will want to seal any holes, cracks, screens, working shutters, and vents that can cause access to your home along with a regular regiment of pesticide application.

Using glue boards if you have a garage you can place the glue boards on both sides of the door(s) to help with issues there since most garage doors are penetrable by unwanted pests.

Monitor Your Pets Regularly-

If you are using a flea collar or oil on the back of the neck of your animal these are great practices. However, regular inspection of their tummy and combing their fur regularly will be a good practice.

Good Housekeeping –

You will want to vacuum daily, fleas are found on the floor of your home almost every time. Wash pet beds, if they are small you can use the washer and dryer. I’m sure most of you have a clean home, but these are

tips that will help you stop most pest problems.

Standing Water (anywhere)
Leaky Pipes and Appliances (true of all bugs)
Water Heater Run-Off
HVAC Catch Basins that are filled

Make sure all these areas are free of water. That’s right water sources are one of the biggest causes of most pest issues, many pests need it to survive and will have made sure that they have one if they are inhabiting your home. If you water issues it is always a good practice to fix or get rid of that problem altogether.

How Do I Treat For Fleas In My Home?

The BEST way to accomplish this is to treat your home every 2 weeks for 3-4 consecutive services so you can get rid of the next life cycles. Especially if you have hardwood floors. This is still recommended for all floor types.

I say 3-4 services only because you may in some cases still have some fleas after the 3rd service performed. It is a good insurance policy to just do the 4th service and have that piece of mind.

Turn off the air conditioning unit, turn off all fans, infusers, and dehumidifiers before you start to fog your home. You don’t want the chemical to go through the HVAC System for obvious reasons like breathing it in. You also don’t want the air to get pushed around the home in places you don’t want the chemical to go.
Place all perishable item either in the fridge or in an area you are not treating i.e. vegetables, fruits and other counter items that you want to keep. Put all children’s toys and pet toys and food bowls in an area that you won’t be treating just to be safe. Please note that this treatment is lethal to fish and birds.
You need to wear the proper protective equipment such as long sleeve shirt, long pants, protective eyewear, rubber or nitrile gloves, and a respirator mask. (not a paper mask) A real respirator.
You will need the right chemical for this service. I recommend getting D-Foam by CB Residuals. This is a foam you will want to cover the entire floor and pet beds. Make sure to get an even layer on all the infested floors. This product only comes in a 17oz. Can. It normally will take at least 1 can per treatment in a 1500-2500 sq. ft. home.
Once you’ve treated your home be sure to lock the doors and everybody stay out for 4-5 hours. When you get home there may still be a smell in there so you can open the windows to let the smell out, but you should still be fine to stay even with the smell.
In between services you will want to vacuum daily emptying the canister or bag out after each use. Another thing to do is sweep and mop the floors regularly (daily).
Wash your pets weekly, and their bedding too.
Make sure that when you are doing your laundry, that it is done with hot water so that it will kill all the eggs and pupae.

Fleas have an incredible jump. They can jump over 7-8” up and 13” horizontally. The reason you treat the floor is that they don’t fly. They will always come back down.

Note: Be sure to read the label for proper use of the product. Even though I have given you a great overview of what you should do, it is your responsibility to use the product properly.

How Do I Prevent Ticks?

If you are a person who doesn’t prefer ticks on them, and if you are going to be hiking or walking in an area where the foliage and trees are above your head. Here is what I recommend.

use a high DEET insect repellent you can pre-spray your clothes before you put them on to get a better outcome.
Another thing to consider is to wear long clothing that will protect you from immediate bites i.e. long pants, long sleeve shirts, long socks, and a hat.
Inspect your body after exposure to an area that may have ticks. You will want to make sure that you catch ticks within the first 36 hrs to avoid the bacteria from setting in that causes Lyme Disease. Some ticks are really small and hard to see, so make sure you are thorough when you do this.

This is great but what about my pets? I’m glad you asked.

If this is for your pet you have collars that can help with this, but the best option is to use a shampoo that kills ticks on contact. The shampoo will dehydrate the tick and the chemical in the shampoo also attacks the tick’s nervous system.

There are also tick dips you can try as well to prevent ticks from getting on your animals.

How Do I Treat Existing Ticks?

You will want to spray a chemical outside called Imidacloprid it is a neonicotinoid. Imidacloprid after you spray it or granulate will get deep down and mix with the soil. This will have a residual that is long enough to force fleas out of your yard.

Spraying in your home is different. You will want to use PT Alpine Flea and Bed Bug. Make sure to wear a respirator when applying this chemical. You will want to turn off the a/c unit and leave it off for 4 hours after you have treated the home. When applying this chemical you will want to spray the floor only and make sure to cover the whole thing. Start at the furthest point of your home and work your way to the door you will use as an exit. Be careful on vinyl or hardwood floors not to slip. This will make the floor super slick and you don’t want to fall. Once the 4 hours is up you can return to the home air it out by opening the windows and turn the a/c unit back on.

How Do I Prevent Lice?

Lice prevention can be tough if you have children or pets. You will want to be sure to check your pets and children daily for lice, especially if there is a breakout in school or if your pet has been exposed to areas in your yard where lice may be found.

People Prevention

Make sure not to share things like brushes, picks, and combs. Some other things could be hats, scarfs, and coats. Even sharing earbuds can cause you to get lice.
Don’t let your laundry build up. you will want to keep it down to a single load of dirty clothes. Make sure to run the load on a hot cycle in the washer and the dryer to kill any existing lice.
If you are out in public try not to sit on any furniture especially upholstered or leather.
Avoid touching forehead to forehead or any head to head contact for that matter.
You may want to avoid sleepovers with friends as well. Because it is not cool to share a pillow.
Since most children are school age the normally bring home this issue, make sure to talk to your children about the issues of shared items as well to ensure that they are being diligent about their surroundings. Well as much as a kid can be.

The main thing to remember is touching here if it is shareable or it can get close to your head it is probably not a good thing to share.

Pet Prevention

Keep your yard well manicured. If you have a healthy lawn you can prevent a lot of pest problems in your grass.
Keep pet waste out of your yard. If you clean up after your pet you will ensure that it doesn’t invite unwanted pest attention.
You can use a flea medication to help prevent lice.

I have found that it is much easier to catch lice on pets in the early stages simpler than trying to prevent it all together.

The reason I say that is because you will have to always be vigilant in where your animal is at all times and continually look to make sure.

The early telltale signs of lice are excessive scratching and itchiness. If your pet’s coat is matted down or the skin is tender or dry that can be caused by lice.

How Do I Treat Existing Lice?

Lice can be treated by using a special shampoo. You will need several treatments to get rid of the eggs that hatch. Eggs take about a week after being laid to hatch. You will want to read the directions, but you will need to use this shampoo for a couple of weeks to get rid of them once and for all. This is true whether you have lice on a pet or lice on you.

Recommended Products For Treatment

The shampoo I recommend for your pet is Zodiac. Zodiac has an active ingredient Pyrethrin that kills Fleas Ticks and Lice on Contact. Even if your pet has sensitive skin this product has an oatmeal base that is gentle on the skin of your pet. It also has a conditioner that helps keep moisture in and revitalizes the skin.

The shampoo I recommend for children and adults is Lice Care Solutions. This shampoo helps prevent and treat Lice. It is very gentle and works well to keep lice from biting and laying eggs on your head.

How Did I Get Fleas If I Don’t Have Pets?

Fleas can be contracted from your yard and brought in on you.
If you had a picnic the blanket used may have fleas on it as well. If the old owner of your home had pets they could still be lingering in the home.
When you bring a foreign thing into your home such as used furniture, curtains or blankets.
If you live in a rural area where there are wild animals that have them they may bring them close enough to the entry of your home.
If you have a rodent problem you can also contract fleas in your home.
If your lawn isn’t well manicured it could create an ecosystem where fleas may be present. Are there stray animals in the area? If so have any of them made their way onto your porch or deck?

There is a myriad of reasons and ways it could happen the best thing you can do is to take action in a treatment plan as soon as possible so as not to continue to let the infestation grow.