Have you got tapeworms in your home? Luckily for you, as awful as the critters might be, they are fairly easy to get rid of with the correct treatments.
Tapeworms are not really dangerous to your fur babies, but they can cause a few unpleasant problems in humans.
It is important that we ensure the tapeworms in the animals are treated and not passed on to the animals and families, which is done by fully cleaning your home after the tapeworms have been treated.
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How To Clean Your House After Tapeworms?
You don’t need all those fancy disinfectants to clean your home after tapeworm; some good soapy hot water, a mop, and some good old-fashioned soaps are enough to remove the eggs from your home.
Where do Tapeworms come from?
It so happens to be that tapeworms are linked to fleas. Cats and dogs can get tapeworm from ingesting fleas that have already been infected with the tapeworm eggs.
The pets can ingest the fleas when they are licking themselves or licking any surface that has already been infected with fleas.
In controlling tapeworm, you need to treat the flea problem then take the appropriate steps to rid your home of tapeworm.
What Exactly Are Tapeworms?
A tapeworm is a flat, long worm that happily survives inside the intestines of your cat or dog.
Most pets become contaminated due to grooming or from the ground. The tapeworms stick to the lining of the intestine and grow into a fully matured adult.
Tapeworms have many segments, which have reproductive parts meaning they can reproduce rapidly.
Eventually, the tapeworm will be excreted from the body with a sack of eggs that can be released onto the grass or dirt.
If your pets then eat the grass with the eggs present, they will infect that pet and be passed onto humans in the same way by coming into contact with something infected with eggs.
How To Clean Properly After Tapeworm
Once you have solved the problem of tapeworms using medical treatment, it is time to clean your home.
It is important to clean asap as you can be re-infected with tapeworm again and again. The tapeworm eggs are able to survive for a few days on surfaces which is why you need to do a thorough clean.
Make sure you wash all your linen and bedsheets on all the beds and don’t just rip the sheets off. Fold them up as you remove them to ensure you are not shaking eggs into the air.
Use hot water and hydrogen peroxide to wash flannels, towels, and cushions, everything that comes into contact with your skin.
Disinfect the hard surface with Hydrogen Peroxide, such as the kitchen counters, bathroom sinks, tables, and workstations.
Vacuum all floor areas even the tiles. Sweeping will move the eggs around instead of sucking them straight up.
Wash your floors with hot soapy water
If you have kids with plastic toys, these are a common place for the infection to live for many days and then easily passed onto the kids. Clean these as well as you can.
How Can I Prevent The Re-infestation In My Home
Tapeworms infecting children and adults are common, but it can cause many problems. Poor hygiene, poor sanitation facilities, and high population density all contribute to the cause.
Take the right steps to ensure that you prevent the return of threadworms. This is just as important as the treatment.
The tapeworms are highly contagious and can spread to every member of your family if they are present in your home. If tapeworms become airborne, it becomes almost impossible to avoid catching them.
Without taking the right precautions and treatments in your home, you are going to get recurring bouts of worms that are unpleasant for everyone.
Deep cleaning your home often and treating pets for fleas frequently can help to avoid tapeworms infecting your home.
Try and keep everyone’s fingernails in the house trimmed short as long nails are a great hiding spot for eggs, especially if children are scratching their body and the eggs end up under the fingernails.
Once the fingernail has been put in the mouth, you can consider the fact the infection has started.
Always wash your hands after being outside and before you eat anything. Tapeworms like to hang around the anal region, so try and ensure children are not putting their hands in their pants.
Conclusion
Having a pet in your home can be a wonderful thing to enjoy their companionship. We might not think our pets are very cute though when we find out the whole family is infected with tapeworms.
Ensure you clean your pets’ beds often and wash their coverings in the proper treatments or replace them to prevent any eggs from being missed and re-infecting your pets.
Patience and a little work can help you to ensure you have a clean home with no sign of any tapeworms or fleas.
If you suspect a tapeworm infection see your doctor, who will give you some medication to get rid of the worms before they become a big problem.
Even if the other family members don’t have symptoms or weren’t around when you were infected, they could very well still have swallowed eggs, so ensure everyone in the home, including all the pets, is treated.
Frequently Asked Questions About How To Clean Your House After Tapeworms
Are Disinfectants Good For Killing Tapeworms In The Home?
Disinfectants like bleach don’t actually have much effect on tapeworms. It is recommended to use hydrogen peroxide or MPP disinfectant instead for better effect.
Is Steam Cleaning Good For Removing Tapeworms?
Tapeworms are susceptible to moisture and heat. Steam cleaning everything in your home is an effective way to get rid of tapeworm eggs.