The basics of flea treatment are quite simple.  They are based on a few basic principles and when followed diligently, your pet will (or should) be free of the menace of fleas forever.  Before we get to how to get rid of fleas, however, it is a good idea to have an idea of what we are dealing with.  Know Your Enemy, as they say.

So as you may or may not know, fleas are wingless insects, in the family of Siphonaptera – notice the “siphon” part of that because that is what they do, siphon blood.  Fleas live off the blood of the host animal, and animals with fur are particularly susceptible because the hair all over their body is easy to cling to, making the fleas difficult to displace.  If fleas attacked a hairless animal they would be pretty easy to kill brush away.  The important thing to understand from this, however, is that fleas are not just a nuisance, they can cause potentially very dangerous problems by infecting the blood stream.

Do not worry too much, though; if you keep to the basics of flea treatment it shouldn’t get to that stage.  The first thing to remember, as always, is that prevention is always better than a cure.  And to understand how to prevent the outbreak of fleas, there are a couple of other things you should know about them.  One is that, like all predators, big and small, they attack the weak and unhealthy.  The best defence against sickness then, in this case, is health.  For more on this see “holistic flea treatment”.  At the very least this means regularly vacuuming and cleaning your pet’s living environment, but it also means feeding them properly, making sure their life is as free of stress as possible, that they get plenty of exercise and so forth.  Basically, all the things that are required to keep a human body healthy are also required for a healthy pet; we are all mammals after all!

However, assuming that your pet has contracted fleas, the basics of flea treatment dictate that your pet’s particular constitution be taken into account.  First, obviously (but then this is the basics of flea treatment!) what kind of animal is it?  Dog, cat, or what?  Because some treatments that are good for dogs are not good for cats; for example, there are certain products which, if used on a cat, are likely to cause serious problems, more serious than the fleas in the first place.  Beyond that, however, questions such as whether they like water or not, whether you can stop them from licking themselves, and other such questions will dictate what kind of treatment is best for them.  You will also want to consider how long you are prepared to let your pet have fleas for; a chemical treatment will deal with the problem more quickly, but may lead your pet in more distress from the reaction to the chemicals.  On the other hand, a more natural and holistic approach may be better for your pet in the long run but it will probably take more time and effort for the infestation to be completely eradicated.

Overall, the best advice that can be given on this matter is to get as much information as you can.  Read the articles on this site to get an idea of all the different approaches and treatment options available, ask friends who have pets what they recommend, ask your vet, and then you will be able to make the most informed, and best choice possible.