:B flea advice?

DandelionCupcakes

Fleas gross me the f out.
I have 3 cats, one of which my mom constantly lets outside.
So we haven't been able to get this flea **** under control.

I hate them.
I hate them.
I hate them.

I bought all the kitties flea treatment and then vacuumed everything/did all the bedding...they are still around. I assume because Mama Kitty keeps going outside and collecting them all like they're nasty, tiny pokemon.

What do I do? Someone halp.

I don't want to use a flea bomb. I dunno where we'd all go for 8 hours while we waited for our house to be okay to go into...is that my only option here?

the_journeyman

Scatter some Borax (the fine powder kind, not the flakes) under all furniture. Take cushions out of chairs/sofas and scatter Borax & replace the cushions. Scatter some on the floor. If hardwood, sweep through the house, allowing to fall into crevices etc. If carpet, just dust well and leave a few days then vacuum. Borax dries them out & kills them.

JM

AboutT1ME

The environment should be treated with a fogger or spray insecticide containing an insect growth regulator, such as pyriproxyfen or methoprene to kill eggs and pupae, which are quite resistant against insecticides. Frequent vacuuming is also helpful, but the vacuum bag must be disposed of immediately afterwards.


I STOLE THIS FROM THE INTERWEBBS

SniffyDoodle

What sort of flea treatment are you using on the animals themselves?

Fleas will always look for an animal host, so treating the furniture and carpets and such really won't get the situation under control. Treating ALL animals with a GOOD flea treatment (Frontline, Advantix) WILL get rid of the fleas. It takes a couple months of regular treatments (you only have to apply the treatments once a month, so 2-3 monthly treatments should do it), but you really should be treating them every month anyway.

The good quality flea treatments kill the fleas when they bite the animal. So, treat the animal, fleas are naturally drawn to the animal, they bite, they fall off and die. End of story.

That is all you have to do. Seriously. I have always had animals. We currently have 2 cats and 2 dogs. We only treat them when we notice fleas, but they are not outside animals and they rarely get them.

the_journeyman

Fleas will hide in textiles and in any crevice they can get to until they find a host. Treat just the animals, then they'll start just jumping on people more. You need to treat BOTH the environment AND the animals. Not treating the environment (furniture & floor) will just lead to reinfection/re-infestation and get you nowhere.

JM

SniffyDoodle

Fleas will hide in textiles and in any crevice they can get to until they find a host. Treat just the animals, then they'll start just jumping on people more. You need to treat BOTH the environment AND the animals. Not treating the environment (furniture & floor) will just lead to reinfection/re-infestation and get you nowhere.

JM

Fleas may occassionally feed off a person, but they will naturally gravitate to the animals. Even if a flea bites a person once, next time it will likely jump onto an animal.

Info in my post was obtained from our awesome veterinarians and has been proven effective on our animals multiple times. I have had fur people in my house my entire life. Treating the environment is a waste of time, effort and money. There is NO WAY you can get them all. You will only drive yourself crazy trying.

DandelionCupcakes

Thanks for your replies.
Nuking them would work, but I have a 2 year old son and I'm like 90% sure nuking babies is child abuse, but I'll have to google it idk.


I guess the 2 year old is worth mentioning here. The Borax would be less than great for him, right?

I used Frontline, but only for 2 months on each cat. Maybe that was the issue?

We treated the house, sort of. I mean, I vacuumed everything, washed all of the bedding. I dunno what else to do.

I'll reorder some flea medicine :] Thanks, everyone

the_journeyman

Fleas will hide in textiles and in any crevice they can get to until they find a host. Treat just the animals, then they'll start just jumping on people more. You need to treat BOTH the environment AND the animals. Not treating the environment (furniture & floor) will just lead to reinfection/re-infestation and get you nowhere.

JM

Fleas may occassionally feed off a person, but they will naturally gravitate to the animals. Even if a flea bites a person once, next time it will likely jump onto an animal.

Info in my post was obtained from our awesome veterinarians and has been proven effective on our animals multiple times. I have had fur people in my house my entire life. Treating the environment is a waste of time, effort and money. There is NO WAY you can get them all. You will only drive yourself crazy trying.

We have 7 cats and a dog. Trust me on treating the environment with Borax as well as the animals with something like Frontline. My information also came from a vet.

JM

DandelionCupcakes

Fleas will hide in textiles and in any crevice they can get to until they find a host. Treat just the animals, then they'll start just jumping on people more. You need to treat BOTH the environment AND the animals. Not treating the environment (furniture & floor) will just lead to reinfection/re-infestation and get you nowhere.

JM

Fleas may occassionally feed off a person, but they will naturally gravitate to the animals. Even if a flea bites a person once, next time it will likely jump onto an animal.

Info in my post was obtained from our awesome veterinarians and has been proven effective on our animals multiple times. I have had fur people in my house my entire life. Treating the environment is a waste of time, effort and money. There is NO WAY you can get them all. You will only drive yourself crazy trying.

We have 7 cats and a dog. Trust me on treating the environment with Borax as well as the animals with something like Frontline. My information also came from a vet.

JM

7 cats?! I think I might love you.
Also, thank you. I'll try that for sure. I really do appreciate everyone's help.

MyOwnSunshine

My husband is an exterminator, so this is what he would say: You need to treat ALL of your pets with Frontline, and then have a professional come in and do a one-time spray of the inside and outside of your house. You also need to get rid of any weeds, junk or overgrown plants near your house or where your cats spend time. You pretty much have to treat everything at once for it to be effective.

xilka

Neither Borax nor Frontline have worked long-term for us.
Both worked for a while, but then the fleas mutate or something.

Try to get some diatomaceous earth and sprinkle it on everything.

eeyore3kids

Last year our dogs got fleas after having pets for 15 years. We treated the house and dogs ever month, for 6 months and still had them. We where using frontline and our vet told us to start using vectra and in 2 months there all gone.

DandelionCupcakes

but then the fleas mutate or something.

That's the scariest thing I've ever read.


Hmmm, okay. Yeah I've read about having to treat the outside of the house, too. Ughhh.

MeIShouldB

My boyfriend and I got 2 kittens from a coworker in January. Halfway back to our house I saw fleas. I have never dealt with fleas before, I was freaked out, and thought once we got the cats in the house we would NEVER get rid of the fleas. As for your house...sprinkle salt and baking soda all over your carpets, let it sit 30 minutes to an hour then vacuum. Do this for a couple days. As for the cat...get a flea treatment called REVOLUTION. Fantastic stuff and doesn't cost an arm and a leg. It will kill the fleas and eggs currently on the cat and repel them for a month. Works great. Hope this helps.

kcaffee1

I'll toss my two cents in as well. Grew up in the deep south, out in the country, so we had fleas and ticks to worry about with the Great Pyranese and Brittany Spaniels my parents bred and raise for show. We kept the infestations down to a minimum (since the dogs were all outside all the time, except during hurricanes or when the females littered.) We also had anywhere from 2 to 4 indoor/outdoor cats. (Yeah, we had a small zoo!)

They used the 5% 7-dust outside, vacuumed regularly, and when the animals got fleas, doused them with 7-dust. (This was the time before the monthly flea treatments were available.)

Later, when we just had 1 dog that proved to be allergic to fleas, and our neighbor's yard was a massive hot bed of the bugs, we used a strong insecticide granule along the perimeter fence line (fence line in for about 2 feet) to keep the flees from migrating back into our yard, and debugged the yard with 7 dust. Again, the house got doused, sat for a day or so, then vacuumed (Move the furniture type delousing!)

For immediate relief, I have heard of the "cap star" which is effective for 24 hours, but if the any, or all of the cats are indoor-outdoor children, this may not be a good option unless they are black with fleas. But, if it's a SERIOUS infestation, it might give you enough of an edge to get the rest under control.

Also, I've seen several recommendations for front line - this can be pricey. When I worked at a grooming salon, the salon used the brand "Zodiac", and it worked like a charm. That's what they used for the flea and tick baths for any animals. The only brand I would strongly discourage you from using is Adams because that one doesn't change the formula often enough, and has been so heavily over used most fleas and ticks are practically immune to the pesticide in it.

And, the 7-dust is safe for animals and youngsters (Heavens know how often I went rolling in it when I tussled with the Pyrs!) Though it will loose its effectiveness if it is rained on or blown away. So, if you decide to go that route, make sure it will be dry for a couple of days, and not too windy. It IS safe to use around the smaller members of the family, but when you are dusting outside, since there will be a TON of powder floating around, it may be a good idea to keep the little ones in the other yard, or inside if possible, and wear a dust mask. (Helps keep the dust related congestion down.)

stetienne

anybody else have itchy legs now, just from reading this?