What to do for flea infestation?

[purplnurpl]

What else to do for flea infestation?

I guess the stray cats/dogs bring fleas to our world. Our barn cats invite the whole stray neighborhood over for dinner.

I found my kitty covered (head and neck only because I shave the rest of her) in fleas. :o
Well, she brought them into my house. :mad:

So I bombed with the stuff you buy at the grocery store.
Two weeks later I guess the baby fleas hatched because I kept catching them on my ankles. And they BITE! yuck. I had planned on bombing again in a month but I guess I waited too long.

So I bombed again. This was Sat.
I guess I should bomb again in 2 weeks?

My cat received a bath in dawn dishsoap, 4 days of Captabs, new Topspot, and a new flea collar (though they wear flea collors mostly so that the neighbors won't think they are strays and shoot them).
She seems OK now. I tackle her and go over her like a monkey every day though. :lol:

And as of yesterday no fleas were trying to eat me.

seriously, what more can I do? GROSS!!
How often do you bomb your barn apartments?

[KnKShowmom]

Keep spraying and vacuum, vacuum, vacuum.

[theoldgreymare]

You can do whatever you can to kill what's in your home and repel them from your pets but if they are in the grass on your property you are just wasting your time as you will continually get reinfested. Our first year here, the grass around the house was LOADED with fleas when we moved in. We kept treating the pets without the porperty and eventually they migrated down to the barn area. We had the exterminator in and sprayed the yard and areas around the barn. Haven't had a problem since.

[BuddyRoo]

The life cycle of the flea is about 21 days. They go through several phases. The adults only spend about 10% of their time on a host eating...the rest of the time, they're out laying eggs/reproducing. During the cocoon stage of flea development, there is nothing that kills them so you have have to do a multi-phase treatment.

Bombs don't really help because they don't get under anything..so they're really only effective in an empty room.

So...you ready?

1) Give flea bath OR if you don't want to do that, get some Frontline Topspot Plus. Apply to all critters. The Frontline lasts for about a month.

2) Vacuum/sweep all floors and wash bedding. Dump the bag in your OUTSIDE TRASH. This picks up a lot of eggs, larvae and pupae.

3) Spray all floor surfaces, couches (spot test), curtains (spot test) with a product that also has insect growth regulator. The best products are usually available from your vet. The one we carried was Precor Plus. It's good stuff. ( http://www.pestproductsonline.com/products/Precor_2000_Plus_Aerosol-19-15.html )

You repeat the whole thing every 7 days for 3-4 weeks. This is because you have to catch those fleas that are in the cocoon stage.

In a less infested situation, you might be able to get away with just doing the topical on the pets, treating the house once, and letting the fleas run their course...but in the meantime, they can still bite you and your pets and it just takes a lot longer. It sounds like you've got a heavy infestation.


NOTE: Many products available OTC are TOXIC to cats. Be very very careful about what you use that is not prescription from your vet. A lot of the dips that are fine for dogs will kill a cat.

[Sing Mia Song]

I actually had good luck with the bombs in a flea-infested house. You do have to make sure you get enough bombs for the square footage in your house--don't scrimp!

I bombed weekly for three weeks, after stripping the beds and washing the sheets in the hottest water possible. Then I vacummed (even the hardwood) and put the bag in the outside trash. Bathed everybody and treated them with Frontline after the first bombing extravaganza. It was a lot of work, but it did the job.

[Horsegal984]

The best use for a flea collar is in your vacumm!! Put one in the bag or canister to help kill any live adults that are picked up.

As far as treating outside, there is a lawn product sold in home and garden sections of Lowes and Home Depot with immiticloprid as the active ingredient. It's the same as what's in Advantage, so as safe as you can get to apply to a yard with animals in it. It's also very effective.

Treat all of your animals with Advantage, Comfortis or Frontline Top Spot. Treat them for at least 2-3 months, maybe longer. If you're continuing to have strays wandering around you're probably going to have to treat mostly year round. I know the veterinary products are a lot more expensive than the flea collars, but it's honestly because they work. With the collar the fleas won't be on their head. They will still be all over the rest of them; even if you shave them, they'll still jump on and bite, then jump back off. With Advantage or Frontline(which is available over the counter at PetCo/Petsmart) they will jump on, bite and jump off and die within minutes. No real time to lay eggs or come find you and bite!

Sorry you're having to deal with this, but in the long run once a month topicals are way better than dealing with more infestations!

Katherine
Vet Tech

[Iron Horse Farm]

NOTE: Many products available OTC are TOXIC to cats. Be very very careful about what you use that is not prescription from your vet. A lot of the dips that are fine for dogs will kill a cat.

DITTO DITTO DITTO!

Flea collars can be VERY VERY toxic to cats - even if it says For Cats on the label. Throw them away! Or better yet, throw them in the vacuum cleaner bag so that the fleas and eggs that you sweep up are killed.

[appdream]

Treatment that I have found very effective for carpet and upolstery, is salt and borateen. Five parts borateen to one part salt and mix together. Sprinkle around the house, allow a day or two to work, then vaccuum. Reapply after each vaccuuming, until infestation is gone.

This mixture is supposed to dehydrate the fleas. All I can tell you is it really works.

[goeslikestink]

What else to do for flea infestation?

I guess the stray cats/dogs bring fleas to our world. Our barn cats invite the whole stray neighborhood over for dinner.

I found my kitty covered (head and neck only because I shave the rest of her) in fleas. :o
Well, she brought them into my house. :mad:

So I bombed with the stuff you buy at the grocery store.
Two weeks later I guess the baby fleas hatched because I kept catching them on my ankles. And they BITE! yuck. I had planned on bombing again in a month but I guess I waited too long.

So I bombed again. This was Sat.
I guess I should bomb again in 2 weeks?

My cat received a bath in dawn dishsoap, 4 days of Captabs, new Topspot, and a new flea collar (though they wear flea collors mostly so that the neighbors won't think they are strays and shoot them).
She seems OK now. I tackle her and go over her like a monkey every day though. :lol:

And as of yesterday no fleas were trying to eat me.

seriously, what more can I do? GROSS!!
How often do you bomb your barn apartments?


bomb your house as well as in carpets etc

[JanM]

You have to keep treating just as the other posters said. And you should get the entire yard treated at least two times by a professional. From my experience many people who don't have animals and have fleas have a lot of wandering strays in their yard--they're just passing through and leaving all kinds of little presents behind. And if you move in to a house and fleas start appearing they probably hatched from eggs that are years old-apparently they hatch out when there's a food source or host nearby. The fleas can totally infest the rugs and infect a house that way too.

[Eventaholic]

And I know this may seem obvious- but after you bathe your pets reapply the topical! I had a friend who, although a very bright girl, somehow didn't make the connection...

My mother, who is *the* most frugal person I know, buys Frontline/Advantix (we actually alternate, like with wormers). Stay away from the cheaper store brand types, they simply do not work.

We had a similar problem to yours a couple of years ago, and after bombing, vacuuming -daily-, flea shampooing the pets religiously, adding some flea wash to the laundry (the bottle on the brand we used had washing suggestions for this, I wouldn't try it if I didn't say you could right on the bottle.....) they were gone. We keep them gone with the expensive (but oh so worth it) spot on treatments.

Good luck!

[SLW]

What BuddyRoo said. You have to break the life cycle of the fleas and eggs. Figure more like 2 months of treatment.

[Ben and Me]

And I know this may seem obvious- but after you bathe your pets reapply the topical! I had a friend who, although a very bright girl, somehow didn't make the connection...


If you can, it's best to wait 48 hours after bathing to reapply the Advantage--you want to make sure the kitty is completely dry! :) Otherwise, I agree with the perpetually knowledgeable BuddyRoo, Iron Horse Farm and Horsegal!

[purplnurpl]

na, it's a light infestation. I'm just dramatic when it comes to fleas.
Pretty much if it is in the house it's going to jump on me.
So I had 5. The same stupid three fleas kept biting me every time I would stand on a certain carpet. I finally figured out how to pinch them to death.

The life cycle of the flea is about 21 days. They go through several phases. The adults only spend about 10% of their time on a host eating...the rest of the time, they're out laying eggs/reproducing. During the cocoon stage of flea development, there is nothing that kills them so you have have to do a multi-phase treatment.

Bombs don't really help because they don't get under anything..so they're really only effective in an empty room.

So...you ready?

1) Give flea bath OR if you don't want to do that, get some Frontline Topspot Plus. Apply to all critters. The Frontline lasts for about a month.

2) Vacuum/sweep all floors and wash bedding. Dump the bag in your OUTSIDE TRASH. This picks up a lot of eggs, larvae and pupae.

3) Spray all floor surfaces, couches (spot test), curtains (spot test) with a product that also has insect growth regulator. The best products are usually available from your vet. The one we carried was Precor Plus. It's good stuff. ( http://www.pestproductsonline.com/products/Precor_2000_Plus_Aerosol-19-15.html )

You repeat the whole thing every 7 days for 3-4 weeks. This is because you have to catch those fleas that are in the cocoon stage.

In a less infested situation, you might be able to get away with just doing the topical on the pets, treating the house once, and letting the fleas run their course...but in the meantime, they can still bite you and your pets and it just takes a lot longer. It sounds like you've got a heavy infestation.


NOTE: Many products available OTC are TOXIC to cats. Be very very careful about what you use that is not prescription from your vet. A lot of the dips that are fine for dogs will kill a cat.

[foggybok]

Great post by BuddyRoo.

I might add Program to the plan. It will prevent any fleas that survive the topical treatment from reproducing and laying eggs in your house.

[Dune]

NOTE: Many products available OTC are TOXIC to cats. Be very very careful about what you use that is not prescription from your vet. A lot of the dips that are fine for dogs will kill a cat.


ALERT::::: This is SO true! AVANTIX is deadly toxic to cats and is NOT allowed in my house....ever again!!! :mad:

[nightsong]

I took care of a flea infestation in my parents'house (slobs :mad:) by vacuuming verrrrrrry thoroughly and swabbing the floors (wooden) with a pinesol-type product. Put health-food-store natural flea collars on the cats. Ta-da!!!

[camohn]

What else to do for flea infestation?

I guess the stray cats/dogs bring fleas to our world. Our barn cats invite the whole stray neighborhood over for dinner.

I found my kitty covered (head and neck only because I shave the rest of her) in fleas. :o
Well, she brought them into my house. :mad:

So I bombed with the stuff you buy at the grocery store.
Two weeks later I guess the baby fleas hatched because I kept catching them on my ankles. And they BITE! yuck. I had planned on bombing again in a month but I guess I waited too long.

So I bombed again. This was Sat.
I guess I should bomb again in 2 weeks?

My cat received a bath in dawn dishsoap, 4 days of Captabs, new Topspot, and a new flea collar (though they wear flea collors mostly so that the neighbors won't think they are strays and shoot them).
She seems OK now. I tackle her and go over her like a monkey every day though. :lol:

And as of yesterday no fleas were trying to eat me.

seriously, what more can I do? GROSS!!
How often do you bomb your barn apartments?
For the critters: Advantage for cats drops from the vet (as noted not AdvanTIX which is for dogs and toxic to cats)
PineSol on the wood floors (must be actual PineSol brand and not the pine scented store brand...the store brands have pine SCENT and PineSol has actual pine oil....a natural bug repellant)
For the home: years ago I had them THAT bad and bombs did not work. What DID work was steam cleaning the carpets. My mother had them badly that year too at her house and had a professional come bomb her house.....both methods worked.....but she got sticky stuff on her carpets and I got clean carpets out of it!

[winnieknapp82]

Get rid of a flea infestation by having a veterinarian treat any pets for fleas, and then using a good Precor product to fog the house and stop fleas from developing. Use a professional flea insecticide product to keep fleas out of a house for three to four months with instructions from a certified exterminator and arborist.

[winnieknapp82]

Get rid of a flea infestation by having a veterinarian treat any pets for fleas, and then using a good Precor product to fog the house and stop fleas from developing. Use a professional flea insecticide product to keep fleas out of a house for three to four months with instructions from a certified exterminator and arborist.

* Wash all bedding thoroughly. While the bedding is free of coverings, vacuum the mattress, particularly in the crevices, where eggs might hide.
* Vacuum carpeting daily and dispose of used vacuum bags. I do not recommend placing flea collars in the vacuum bag, as the heat generated by the machine could cause noxious fumes.
* Steam-clean carpeting. This will kill any remaining eggs the vacuum might have missed.
* If necessary, use a whole-house insect bomb which specifically targets fleas. It is critical to remove all food dishes and live animals, including birds during this process. You may consider hiring a professional for this job, but make sure he knows you have cats, and will use a cat-safe product.
* Hire a professional to treat outdoors areas. Insist on a "cat-friendly" product for this purpose. If you have an outdoor cat, keep him confined inside for the day.

[BuddyRoo]

If you're being bitten as well, you probably have a bigger problem than you think...because again, fleas only spend 10% of their time on a host. One flea can lay 50 or so eggs a day.

Because of the life cycle of the flea, one treatment won't get rid of the problem.

I've given this "flea schpeel" enough times to recite it in my sleep after working at a clinic for some time. LOL

I just have to reiterate though...be very very careful about the products you're using if you're getting them OTC instead of through your vet. More than a few times, I've seen pets get very ill and even die as a result of flea stuff purchased OTC incorrectly.

[ManyDogs]

I haven't read all of the posts so don't know if someone else chimed in re this idea, but years ago we had fleas in our house and a sales clerk at one of the chain pet stores suggested:

Fill a shallow dish with water and put a few drops (or more) of dishwashing soap in it.

Place dish/soap on the floor under an outlet where you have plugged in a nightlight that is relatively bright. At night, the fleas will head to the light, jump, land in the dish, and not be able to get out due to the soapy water. Lack of viscosity or viscosity? I've only had 1/2 cup of caffeine so not thinking too clearly yet and the dictionary is too far away :D.

We were aghasted at how many fleas we found-esp since we had all hardwood floors.

Good luck!

[Susan P]

This sounds interesting. I try to keep Frontline Plus on my cats when the weather heats up and it works great for fleas. It's time to treat them again but I did let a gap go between this summer. I don't want to use more than I absolutely have to. But fleas are bad news and the itchy makes me crazy so I can't stand them. I feel sorry for cats that aren't tame enough to treat. I finally got one of my barn cats treated this year, last year the ticks attacked her ears, it was awful. I had to be very careful trying to pick them off, so she didn't turn around and swat me.

Years ago I found a product that worked better than bombs and you direct the spray. It was Raid for fleas with something called egg stop. It worked better than anything and it was supposed to get into the carpet fibers but not be a problem. You have to not vacumm for a day I think. It was the only treatment that worked inside my house. But since I've kept my critters on Frontline I rarely see a flea.

By the way, the best price I've seen for Frontline is at Pet Supplies + which is a local chain. http://www.petsuppliesplus.com/ I would think you can order it from their web site too.

I haven't read all of the posts so don't know if someone else chimed in re this idea, but years ago we had fleas in our house and a sales clerk at one of the chain pet stores suggested:

Fill a shallow dish with water and put a few drops (or more) of dishwashing soap in it.

Place dish/soap on the floor under an outlet where you have plugged in a nightlight that is relatively bright. At night, the fleas will head to the light, jump, land in the dish, and not be able to get out due to the soapy water. Lack of viscosity or viscosity? I've only had 1/2 cup of caffeine so not thinking too clearly yet and the dictionary is too far away :D.

We were aghasted at how many fleas we found-esp since we had all hardwood floors.

Good luck!