San Francisco Bay and East Bay Area

Yes — and this is the biggest reason DIY flea treatment fails. Only about 5% of a flea infestation is on your pet. The other 95% is in your home and yard as eggs, larvae, and pupae — most of it deep in carpet fibers, in cracks between hardwood planks, under furniture, and in pet bedding. You can give your dog the best flea preventive on the market, but if you don't treat the environment, new fleas keep hatching out of the carpet and re-infesting the animal for weeks. Treating both the pet (with your vet's product) and the home is the only approach that actually works.

Fleas don't actually require your pet. Common pet-free sources we see in the Bay Area: wildlife like raccoons, opossums, feral cats, or rats nesting under decks, in crawl spaces, or in attics; a previous tenant's pet leaving behind eggs that can stay dormant in carpet for months before hatching when warmth and vibration tell them a host is back; visiting pets from friends or family; or fleas hitchhiking in on shoes, clothes, or used furniture. New homeowners and renters discovering fleas in a freshly-moved-into home is one of our most common service calls.

Foggers and over-the-counter sprays kill adult fleas only, but they don't reach the eggs and pupae that make up most of the population — and pupae are particularly tough because they're encased in a sticky cocoon that's resistant to most insecticides. So the next wave hatches days or weeks later, and you're back where you started. Professional treatment combines an adulticide (kills adults), an insect growth regulator (IGR) that prevents eggs and larvae from developing, and targeted application to the spots fleas actually hide rather than just spraying everything.

Your technician will give you a specific prep sheet, but the standard ask is: vacuum thoroughly — every carpet, rug, area under furniture, and the edges of every room — and then empty the vacuum canister (or bag) into an outdoor trash bin immediately. The vibration from vacuuming actually helps by stimulating pupae to hatch into adults that the treatment can then kill. Wash all pet bedding and any human bedding in pet-accessed areas in hot water. Clear floors as much as possible so the treatment can reach the spots fleas actually live. And coordinate with your vet on a pet flea preventive — the pet treatment and the home treatment work as a team.

Yes, briefly. Once the indoor treatment is applied, people and pets need to stay out until the product has dried — typically 2–4 hours. Birds, reptiles, and fish need extra protection: cover or move cages, and turn off aquarium air pumps and seal the tank during treatment. After the dry time, everyone can return as normal. Your technician will give you exact return-time guidance for the products being used at your home.

Plan on 2–3 weeks. You'll see a sharp drop in adult fleas within 24–48 hours of treatment, but flea pupae in the carpet are protected inside their cocoons and hatch over the following days — so it's normal to see a few new adults appear over the first two weeks. The IGR in the treatment stops those new adults from reproducing, and they die off shortly after emerging. Don't panic if you see a flea on day 5; that's the treatment working as designed. By the end of week three, activity should be at zero.

Yes — year-round vet-prescribed flea prevention is the single best long-term safeguard. The Bay Area's mild climate means fleas can be active in every month of the year, especially indoors. Talk to your vet about a year-round preventive (oral chews and topicals are both effective; your vet will pick what's right for your pet). Combining ongoing pet preventive with our exterior quarterly perimeter service keeps both ends of the flea cycle interrupted, so you won't be back here next summer.