It’s a great feeling when your cat decides you are worthy of its affection, and perhaps an even greater feeling when the dog finally makes a bit of headway at obedience school! Keeping pets can be exceptionally rewarding and is a top part of British life. But do your pets attract pests?
We’re a pest control supplies firm with a soft spot for people-friendly pets like dogs and cats, so here are five tips to help you keep the pests out and your pets healthy!
1. Keep your garden clean and tidy
There isn’t really any way you can sterilise the world outside your back door, but you can do a few things to minimise the risk of vermin and other pests. Avoid leaving piles of garden waste lying around. Vermin like rats thrive on our garden and household waste, so invest in something like a steel bin and make sure household rubbish bags go straight into the plastic council bins.
2. Groom your pets and use preventative medication
Clean pets are less prone to attacks from pests like fleas. To a degree this is simply because infestations aren’t given the chance to flourish thanks to the regular grooming attention you give your pet.
Fleas and other small pests can thrive almost anywhere. They’re typically abundant outdoors and that’s most likely going to be where your pets pick them up. Preventative medications like flea tablets and flea drops taken internally or applied to the nape of the neck tend to work by preventing the fleas from reaching egg-laying adulthood.
3. Combat large pests to keep on top of small ones too
Fleas are often carried into your home on the back of that little mouse the family cat just deposited on the living room sofa. Once fleas find a home they REALLY like to stick around, so it might be time to get your hands on the best flea spray you can before they colonise the home.
The best way to keep small pests like fleas out of your home is to treat your pets with anti-flea medication and take care of any vermin problems in the garden/garage etc. to reduce the likelihood of a mouse/flea caravan finding its way inside.
4. Treat your home with anti-flea products
The likes of fleas and mites are insidious little things. They find their way into your home and are happy to feast on your pet and your family for as long as they can. Spotted a little jumper on the sofa? It’s time to treat the house with flea killer to make sure it’s 100% pest-free, just in case!
5. Clean water and food dishes
It can be a bit tempting to just fling the dog’s dinner into yesterday’s food bowl, especially if it’s just dry food. But cleaning water and food bowls daily is a great way to reduce the likelihood of two things – vermin learning that the food bowl is there and rarely moved (easy meal!) and small pests like harmful bacteria making a home in a seldom washed area.