Flea and tick treatment for homes and yards

An untreated pet reseeds the home every day. Treating only the pet leaves the eggs, larvae and pupae already in the carpet.

Pupae sit protected in a cocoon and hatch in response to warmth, breath and movement. Fleas a week later are usually this stage, not failure.

Choosing a product for the animal is a veterinary decision, and it is the half that decides the outcome.

Some dog flea and tick products contain permethrin, which is seriously toxic to cats. Ask your vet before anything goes on any animal.

Woodland borders, leaf litter, stone walls and tall grass, not the open lawn. Daily tick checks find what no yard treatment reaches.

Black specks in the pet’s coat, bedding or light carpet. Put some on damp white paper. If it smears reddish-brown, it is digested blood, and you have fleas.

Small clusters on the lower legs. Fleas jump from the floor, so bites stop around knee height.

Or thinning fur at the base of the tail. Often the first sign, and worth a vet visit on its own.

A vacant rental or a return from a trip. Pupae waiting in the carpet hatch when someone walks in.

Remove it promptly with fine-tipped tweezers, gripping close to the skin and pulling steadily upward. Do not burn, smother or twist it. Save it in a sealed bag and note the date.

Picked up in leaf litter, long grass or woodland borders, rather than on a mowed lawn.

Where it sleeps, sits and walks. Eggs gather there, so treatment has to be thorough there.

Carpet, rugs, upholstery, gaps between floorboards and under furniture that never moves.

The car, the crawl space, the porch and anywhere a cat gets under the house. Wildlife under a deck keeps supplying fleas.

Where mowed grass meets woods, leaf litter, ground cover, stone walls and woodpiles.

Where children and pets spend time, and whether that overlaps the edge.

Deer along the border, rodents in the woodpile, a cat or opossum under the deck. The animal host is why the problem keeps coming back. See rodent control.

Tell the pest company about all animals in the home, including cats, birds, reptiles, rabbits and fish, before the visit.

The product name and EPA registration number, and whether an insect growth regulator is included.

The re-entry time, and how long floors must dry before pets and children walk on them.

Cover them and ask whether to turn off the air pump. It is easy to forget.

Do not combine a store-bought flea product with a vet one without asking the vet.

Remove the tick with fine-tipped tweezers close to the skin, pull steadily upward, save it in a sealed bag with the date, and call a doctor or vet if a rash or illness follows.

Does the treatment include an insect growth regulator?

Is a follow-up visit included, and when?

Have you treated the crawl space, porch and car, or just the rooms?

What is the product name, the EPA registration number and the re-entry time?

We have a cat. What do we need to know before anything is applied?

How often should I vacuum, and for how long?

What are you treating for ticks, and why there rather than the open lawn?

What yard changes would help more than another treatment?

Is an animal living under the deck or in the woodpile, and what do we do about it?

Does the tick plan renew automatically next season, and how do I stop it?

Or the same day. Home treatment does not work around an untreated pet.

On the hottest setting the fabric allows.

Empty the contents into an outdoor trash can.

Move what you can, and lift anything the treatment should not reach.

Ask about turning off the air pump.

It is usually the edge of the yard, not the middle.