27/01/2026
I am re-opening this weekend and just need to remind you all to make sure that your pets flea and wormer are up to date. If you do find fleas on your pets please cancel your appointments until they have been treated and are clear of live fleas. I have attached an article for you to have a read of.
Copied from Good Housekeeping Magazine.
House & HomeHousehold Advice
âFleamaggedonâ: Fleas are on the rise â how to protect your home from an itchy infestation
As temperatures drop, UK households are unknowingly creating the perfect living conditions for fleas to thrive
Winter is in full swing at the moment, and with snowy weather forecasts and beasts from the east frequently rearing their ugly heads, it looks like itâs here to stay. So, while de-icing your windscreen, gritting your path and wrapping up warm are all key bits of prep for the season, there is another, much more microscopic problem afoot that you probably havenât prepared for: fleas.
While of course fleas can be a year-round nuisance, for pet owners in the UK, it turns out that the drop in outdoor temperatures has caused a spike in home infestations. A fact that seems to be hitting home in the Good Housekeeping offices. âChristmas 2025 will be remembered for one thing in our family. Not peace on earth, but fleas on earth,â thatâs according to our beauty director Lynne Hyland and her adorable cat, Dixie. They spent the entire festive period swatting off a flea infestation or, as her husband put it, âFLEAMAGGEDON!!!!â. âPeople complain about having too many guests in their house at Christmas, but you try having hundreds of them, all uninvited and unwanted,â she says.
Despite Dixie being an elderly cat who 'hardly spends any time outside', they still found themselves spending the holidays digging out their kids old nit comb and dragging entire legions of furious wriggly critters to the surface. It seems like the unwelcome guests had firmly set up camp on their cat â and in their home, âWe were ashamed and shocked to never have noticed them on her, especially as Dixie is such a soppy lap cat. Theyâd been literally right under our noses,â says Lynne.
So, if any of that sounds familiar â or more like a nightmare youâd rather avoid â Iâve got the info for you. Hereâs why fleas seem to be so popular right now, as well as effective ways to clear them out for good.
Why are flea infestations spiking?
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As is the case for so many pests, fleas are weather-affected beasts. While warmer temperatures create the perfect environment for insects like ladybirds or flying ants to hatch in their millions, colder weather has a similar effect on fleas â but in a less organic way than you might think.
Warm and humid summers tend to be the more usual conditions for flea season, say like a wet June for instance, but Iâve been speaking to Dr Sean McCormack, Head Vet at Tails.com, whoâs now warning of a winter surge in flea infestations nationwide, urging pet owners to stay vigilant. This is because as temperatures drop outside, we humans naturally whack the heating up and get our furry friends indoors to stay warm. This means pets are now more likely to bring fleas indoors, and the warm temperature of our homes aid in their eggs hatching, allowing infestations to spread much more rapidly than other times of the year.
Signs youâve got fleas
Pets behaviour: âThe whole sorry episode began when we noticed our usually sweet and sociable cat, Dixie, was acting strangely,â said Lynne. âShe was refusing to sleep in her basket (which turned out to be infested) and just standing stock-still in bizarre places around the house.â So make sure you keep an eye out for any unusual behaviour this winter, especially things like pets avoiding their beds, toys or other soft furnishings.
Itchy red spots: Usually the first thing you notice is scratching when it comes to fleas, on both you and your pets. But if you find small red bites on your skin that you canât help but scratch, it could be your first sign.
Little white grains: This one makes my stomach churn. While they are incredibly small and hard to spot, the human eye can actually make out the eggs and larvae of fleas. Look out for anything that looks like grains of sand or salt on the floor, in the bed, on the sofa or anywhere else your pet may go.
Lynne says her camera roll is now full of these uninvited houseguests
Spot the fleas themselves: Seems obvious, if you spot them youâve got them, but you need to know what youâre looking at. Fleas look like small brown insects, roughly the size of a pinhead. They have large back legs so, while they donât fly, you can often see them jumping great distances between pets and furniture. On pets, youâre most likely to find them around the back of the ears, groin, inner thighs and base of the tail.
Flea dirt: âYou may also see âflea dirtâ or faeces which appears as tiny black crumbs like black pepper,â says Dr McCormack. âIf you comb this out of the coat and place it on wet cotton wool, itâll âbleedâ into the surrounding area, as itâs made up of digested blood.â Absolutely disgusting.
How to get rid of fleas
âOften by the time you notice adult fleas, there may already be hundreds of eggs and larvae developing in your home on bedding, soft furnishings, carpets and flooring â itâs the perfect environment,â says Dr McCormack. Now thatâs possibly one of the more horrifying sentences Iâve put in one of my articles, so without further ado â hereâs how to get them the hell out of your house.
Start at the source. The reason the fleas got there in the first place is by hijacking a ride on your furry friend, which means one of two things: your flea treatment isnât working or â worse yet â you forgot to apply it all together. âThereâs a bewildering array of products out there for getting rid of fleas: collars, flea spray, spot-on medications, shampoos, flea powder, even flea bombs! Which works? The short answer: ask your vet,â says Dr McCormack. If you have a repeat problem with fleas, or they just seem to be impossible to get rid of, itâs actually possible that the fleas have become resistant to your chosen medication, so discuss with your vet for the best results.
âPrescription flea treatments tailored to your petâs needs and circumstances are far more effective than many âover the counterâ products,â says Dr McCormack, who also stresses the importance of applying it correctly. With spot-on treatment, make sure youâre applying the full vial directly onto the petâs skin as opposed to their coat, otherwise it wonât be effective. And remember not to wash the pet the same day, otherwise all the struggle to pin them down will have been for nought.
Wash, everything
âItâs crucial to treat the home environment at the same time as your pet to reduce the chances of another infestation several weeks later,â informs Dr McCormack, so wash everything. Wash sheets and covers at 60°C to kill any fleas and eggs. While the bedding is in the wash, address the mattress. Give it a good vacuum, then seal the vacuum contents in a bin bag and dispose of it immediately, so fleas canât hop straight back into bed from your vacuum.
Wash pet bedding in the same way you do your own (ideally at 60°C, but check the care label allows for this first). This is likely ground-zero for your infestation, so make sure to be thorough. Fleas love to lay eggs deep in carpet and rug fibres, so clean those according to their care labels, too. The same goes for curtains, towels, sofas and any other upholstery that could be affected.
On the advice of the vet, Lynne and her husband shampooed Dixie to help remove flea poo, using a special product given to them. 'She was very, very sulky afterwards,' she reports.
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Vacuum
âVacuum the entire household, discarding the contents of the vacuum cleaner immediately in a sealed plastic bag.â Again, Dr McCormack drives home the importance of hoovering as well as the equal importance of disposing of the contents with care. Vacuum everywhere on the strongest setting your machine will allow, including all carpeted areas, hard floors and upholstery, but make sure to take care with any fragile materials.
Give it a spritz
For a stronger approach, there are many approaches you can try to help deter the nasty lot. C&G Pets House Hold Pest Cleanse is a great all rounder, just make sure you follow care instructions carefully and continue to vacuum deeply and regularly.
Use the freezer
âThe freezer bulged with unexpected Christmas âtreatsâ, as we froze any soft furnishings we could stuff into its drawers,â said Lynne, who used the freezer method to great effect to help stop the infestantion.
For delicate items or things that canât be hot washed like cushions, curtains or plush toys, the freezer method can be effective. For it to kill all life stages (adults, eggs, larvae), items should be placed in an airtight bag and kept at a temperature of 0°F (-18°C) or lower for at least 24 to 48 hours.
Donât forget the car
Dr McCormack makes an excellent point, make sure youâre thinking beyond your home in order to protect it. âIf your pet spends a lot of time in your car, itâs also worth giving that a good clean, too.â
Now remember, with this, patience is key. It can take several weeks (or months) to fully banish a fleet of fleas. But thereâll be light at the end of the tunnel. In the end, there was for Lynne: âIf I had to find a bright side from all this, I suppose it was refreshing to have a quiet Christmas with just my very nearest and dearest. But next time I ask for a gift that keeps on giving, Iâll be sure to check that it isnât fleas.â
