Flea Troubles Hit Lawton Pet Owners Harder This Season

For the past month, I've been at war with fleas. Thankfully, they haven't infiltrated my house, but my poor dogs haven't been able to shake them completely. We routinely use a monthly topical flea and tick solution, and have never had problems in the past, but for some reason, the fleas have exploded in our Lawton backyard this year.

Over the weekend, I went to the Petco on 2nd Street in downtown Lawton to get a Capstar treatment for my dogs and cat. Truthfully, I was at my wits end with battling the fleas. I had given my pets multiple baths. I reapplied their topical solution. I got them all new flea collars. I even deep cleaned my carpets, furniture and blankets with flea powder in case the little buggers had decided to make a home in my upholstery.

But my pets kept itching. At the checkout counter, the Petco associate asked me how I was, and I told them the truth, "I wish I was better."

Lawton residents have seen an influx of fleas this spring.

I asked them if they had seen an influx of people seeking flea treatments, or if I was doing something wrong. They asked if I lived in Lawton, and I said yes, and they confirmed that they have seen a huge increase of Lawton pet owners buying flea treatments this year.

I was glad I wasn't the only one, but I asked the associate if they knew what could be causing the increase of fleas across town. They said one of the main reasons was because we didn't have a very cold winter, so most of them didn't die off.

Then they mentioned that the City of Lawton hadn't sprayed for fleas yet, which I thought was curious. I knew the City of Lawton routinely sprayed for mosquitoes during the warmer months, but I didn't think that included fleas, or did it?

The City of Lawton started spraying for mosquitoes at the beginning of May.

I reached out to the City of Lawton to see if the city's Vector Control/Drainage Maintenance Division had started spraying for mosquitoes this year. The city's Marketing Specialist Madalynn ElKouri confirmed that the spraying for mosquitoes began at the beginning of May and is ongoing.

The City of Lawton uses Perm-X UL 4-4 which is a low-toxicity chemical used with a fogger to kill adult mosquitoes, and is approved by the Evironmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry for the control of insects.

The pesticide used by the City of Lawton is not intended for killing fleas.

However, ElKouri confirmed that although Perm-X UL 4-4 is primarily targeted for mosquitoes and other flying insects, it doesn't rule out the chance of the chemical also killing fleas.

But still, the City of Lawton does not spray the pesticide for fleas, its intended purpose is for mosquitoes due to the insect's impact on public health as it's a primary carrier of the West Nile virus. Even though fleas are annoying, and can be burdensome for pets, they do not pose the same level of health concern as mosquitoes do.

So, if pet owners find themselves in a similar situation as me, they will have to take it into their own hands to treat their yards for fleas.

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Lawton residents should treat their yards for all flea lifecycles, not just adults.

Since I hadn't found and fleas or signs of fleas in my carpet or furniture, I knew the fleas had to be getting on my dogs from the backyard. We routinely spray the exterior of our home for pests, but we had never had to treat the yard.

I first used the Sevin Insect Killer spray water hose attachment to treat my yard. That worked great for about a week, but I soon noticed the fleas on my dogs again. After a quick Google search, I learned that the spray only kills off adult fleas. In order to stop the flea lifecycle in my back yard, I would need to treat it with the Sevin Insect Killer granules.

One day after work and a quick trip to the Sheridan Walmart for a granule spreader and a bag of the Sevin Insect Killer granules, I got to work on mowing my backyard low, spreading the granules, and then watering the granules to activate their insect killing powers.

It's been another week since applying the granules, and I'm happy to report that my dogs and cat have been flea free. However, we did discover a tick on our dog after he ran into an area that I had not treated with the granules. So if you're planning on treating your yard for fleas and ticks, make sure you get every square inch!