I want to buy a good scratching post for my cat. Either from a pet shop or 2nd hand. My pet shop allows pets into the shop. I am worried that the scratching post might have fleas.

How can I ensure it is flea free – or at least de-flea once I buy it?

If any pets had fleas that came near the post, it could be contaminated. Pets with fleas are like salt shakers – the adult fleas don’t usually jump off them but they lay hundreds off eggs which roll off the pet constantly and scatter. So the post may have eggs, larva or pupa.

Eggs and larva die pretty easily with an application of flea spray or powder. But absolutely nothing kills pupa – that’s what makes home flea infestations so difficult to deal with if you use the wrong methods. Vacuuming helps (and I would recommend doing it), but it won’t be 100% efficient.

So what you really need to do in order to prevent a major flea problem in your house is to keep all your pets on a good monthly flea preventative like Frontline, Advantage, etc. Pet store brands will not be as effective. If your pet is on a good topical, the pupa will have nowhere to go when they emerge as adults and they will die within 4-5 days.

If you buy it used, you should also run a black light over it to make sure it doesn’t have any urine stains (they will glow green under UV light). And if I were in your shoes, I’d make sure all my cats and dogs were on a good flea product starting before the new post came into the house and I’d keep them on it for at least two months (it can take 8 weeks for eggs to develop into adults). I’d give it a good vacuuming, but I wouldn’t bother with sprays or powders since household treatments like that are more toxic to pets. The Frontline will be just as effective whether or not you spray the post.