Below is an article written by Stop Bugging Me for the Seattle Rental Housing Association

Fleas and Pet Odors in a Vacant Apartment? Here is a Survivor’s Guide

Fleas are on the rise this time of year as pets, the most notorious source, spend more time inside.  The following are some pointers in dealing with pet odors and flea treatments in vacant apartments.

The most common flea in households is the Cat Flea and they prefer dogs and cats not humans. Flea treatments require a large amount of product for the interior of a home or apartment and therefore must be applied with great care according to federal label recommendations.

Keep the apartment heated 65 to 70 degrees, colder or warmer may cause the fleas to go dormant s o that efforts made to control them will be less successful. Thoroughly vacuum the entire unit paying special attending to areas around the baseboards.  Then, call a professional pest extermination company and have the unit professionally treated for fleas.  Most pest control companies will visit twice, 30-45 days apart.

The treatment should utilize an adulticide and a growth inhibitior.   The treatment will affect eggs, larva, and adult fleas, but no treatment will affect the flea pupa stage – think of a caterpillar in a cocoon.   Fleas can be in pupa for up to one year before emerging. Vibration and warmth encourage the pupa to hatch that is why keeping the apartment heated and vacuuming are important.  After the first treatment is completed the unit should be vacuumed every two days.

Approximately 14 days after the initial treatment, the carpet can be cleaned to help address pet odors. Let your carpet cleaning professional know that pet odor control products should be used. If the carpet is to be pulled up or replaced, then ideally before the carpet or padding is put back in, a treatment should be applied to the flooring especially at the baseboard edges. Once carpet has been, installed, replaced, or cleaned then another flea control application should be made to the top of the carpet again, thus killing pupa that have hatched into adults.  This second treatment is paramount in the treatment of fleas and must be completed in order to break their life cycle. Continue to keep the apartment heated and vacuum every two days until occupied.

The preceding advice had been provided by Stop Bugging Me Pest Control.  Stop Bugging Me Pest Control is a locally-owned full service pest control company servicing Seattle, Bellevue, Everett, Tacoma and the rest of the greater Puget Sound.  Providing service for both residential and commercial customers, Stop Bugging Me has solutions for all or your Pacific Northwest pests – ants, rodents, spiders, bed bugs, fleas, mites, bees, wasps or anything else that may be bugging you or your tenants. 

Website: Stop Bugging Me Seattle Pest Control – www.stopbuggingmenow.com 

Phone: 206 749 BUGS (2847) – Seattle; 425 284 BUGS (2847) – Eastside, Everett and Bellevue; 253 398 BUGS (2847) – Southside, Tacoma.