Keeping Fleas Out of Taxidermy and Other Pest Control Tips

Killing Pests and Protecting Pets: Four Tips

26 February 2015

Letitia Smith

Your house is overrun with ants, termites, mice or other unwanted pests. You are ready to call an exterminator, but you also have a house full of furry, reptilian and fishy friends you don't want hurt in the process. Luckily, you can be a pest hater and a pet lover at the same time. Here are four tips to help you:

1. Remove pets during spraying

If a pest control specialist is coming to your home to spray for bugs, get your animals out of the house during the spraying. This prevents your dogs and cats from getting underfoot of the exterminator, but it also prevents your animals from breathing in any toxic sprays. If you have fish or caged animals, consider moving them outside for the afternoon or covering the tanks or cages for a few hours.

2. Hide poisons out of way of cats and dogs

While pest control specialists often use sprays to thwart bugs, they may use poison as well. If you have dogs or cats in the house, make sure the poison is located somewhere they cannot reach. Alternatively, look for contained poison – for instance, certain bug traps have poison inside them, but the ants or other bugs actually have to march into the trap to retrieve the poison. Dogs or cats cannot reach the poison in these traps.

3. Close pet doors

In addition to killing pests, you also need to close off their entrances into the home. Remember to caulk cracks or other openings around the house, but do not forget to address your animal doors. If you have openings in your doors or walls to let in pets, they can also let in bugs or rodents. Consider putting plywood over these openings to seal them until your pest problem is resolved.

4. Move food off the floor

In the event that pests get into your home, make it as inhospitable as possible to them. Pet food on the floor can provide a tasty snack to pests. In addition to reducing your own crumbs and sealing all open foods, look at your pet foods as well.

Put open bags into airproof plastic containers and place the bowls on shelves that are slightly above the floor. Consider investing in an automatic feeder so your animal only receives a set amount of food and you don't have half eaten bowls lying around your home.

For more information, check out companies such as Ecology-Care Pest Control.

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