The flea INVASION, some advice?

[Echo]

I have never seen anything like the fleas we have this year, it's like an army. There are fleets of them in our basement especially. All our cats have frontline, i have no idea how they're surviving, but i've noticed most of them are egglayers! Last year we had fleas, but nothing like this, we cleaned the house from top to bottom, every nook and kranny and we still didn't get rid of them completely so i can't even imagine this year! What can we use? What will kill them? Bombing isn't really an option because we have nowhere to put all the kitties for that ammount of time. Teatree oil only seems to work on US, not on the furnature etc. You can only do so much with bleach........i'm at a loss. Are there any miracle cleaners or something?

[Tambrey]

please do not use tea tree oil on your kitties!!

I think they are bad everywhere this year...frontline on the cats and constant cleaning is all I seem to be doing...and our cats are strictly indoor only...but we have a dog that of course, has to go out!

[TheSkeptic]

With dogs this would be easy, but cats are so sensitive to chemicals that I'm not sure our dog technique would be a good idea.

What we do is.

A: After the dogs have been outside we spray the yard with Four Gone Fleas and tick spray.

B: Remove the animals from the house.

C: Set of bonbs that kill adult and 'pre-adult' fleas. and stay away for at least 4 hours. (Usually about 6)

D: Return home, air out the house.

E: Bath the dogs with flea and tick shampoo, followed by skin shampoo. (Just had a very humerous image of someone trying to do this to a bunch of cats. This section ends with the person going to the hospital for blood tranfusions and stitches for their shredded bodies.)

F: The following day apply frontline or advantage to all the dogs.

[Tambrey]

My mother has a flea problem in her house this year too...an OLDER house...she was born in thiis house!!
Anyways...she thinks they hatched from a pillow she had and eggs were in it...regardless of how they got there...they are in ONE bedroom of her home...and that is the room that Smokey, he long haired cat, refuses to even come out if...he lives in that room upstairs!! She keeps his food and water and a litter box up there for him...physically, he is fine, but his brother, Shiloh, has sort of chased him up there and they no longer get along...

Sooo...Smokey has fleas, and Mom has applied Frontline to the two cats and her dascushund, and she did get Smokey out of that room for about a week, put him into the other bedroom because he refused to stay downstairs, and she bombed that one room...

But, she is still finding a flea or two a day...and wants to know

Is it safe to spinkle BORAX onto the carpet and let it set for a few hours, and then vacuum it up?...Of course, she would remove Smokey to the pther bedroom during that time, but would that be okay to return him back to the same day...

BTW...she is trying to find a good home for Smokey, since Shiloh chased him upstairs, even though Mom goes and sits with him and plays with him every day, what a lonely life for him, and it is not fair...she wants better or him...

But she still needs to get rid of the fleas!!

[TheSkeptic]

Couldn't find anything on Borax and cats until I looked up a material data sheet for humans.

Oral toxicity in humans 3,200 mg per Kg of body weight or toxic effects to show.

Skin absorption toxicity. Tests on rabbits and cats show a toxicity of 2,400 mg per kg of body weight for rashes to form.

High doeses in dogs, cats and rabbits can cause infertility.

No other toxic effects noted.

Basically your cat might get hurt if it fell into a vat of Boric acid and couldn't get out.

Hope this helps.

[Tambrey]

Thanks Skeptic...we do not want to use any carpet powders and such...but I know Borax is a recommended cleaning agent that is non-harmful to humans, and something alot of people do use to do basic household cleaning, so was wondering about the safety is sprinkled, left a while and vacuumed...

[lmd]

Does anyone ever put diatomaceous earth along baseboards, under mats, etc? I`ve done this for other bugs, and it works. Cats and dogs have never had a problem. It would kill the larvae by scratching their skin and dehydrating them. 20 years ago I had a flea problem because of neighbour cats invading my farm, but the diatomaceous earth seemed to work. The dogs were doused with a permethrin soluntion, but not the cats. No fleas since.

[Cleo]

Read here:

http://www.cathelp-online.com/forums/vi ... php?t=7112

I also read and had good experience with mixing blue Dawn dishwashing shop in a spray bottle, hitting the carpets and letting dry, then vaccuuming. Something in the soap kills them.

[Traci]

I also read and had good experience with mixing blue Dawn dishwashing shop in a spray bottle, hitting the carpets and letting dry, then vaccuuming. Something in the soap kills them.

Cleo, you may be on to something (why didn't I think of that ) ...makes perfect sense, you should go into business!

[Tambrey]

I found on another forum somewhere (I cannot remember where) but I copied and pasted it and e-mailed it to my mom...here is what it is:

1) Vacuum the house thoroughly, including floors and furniture. This will get any loose flea eggs, larvae, and adults. Dispose of the vacuum bag in a sealed plastic bag. Otherwise, the fleas you catch will hop out (they go toward light).

2) Make a 50/50 mixture of 20 Mule Team Borax (the boxed laundry product), and diatomaceous earth. The diatomaceous earth is available cheaply wherever swimming pool supplies are sold, including most supermarkets and drug stores. It is also called swimming pool filter earth. Pure borax will also work but will cost a bit more.

3) Make a dust can by punching or drilling a bunch of holes in the base of a container. A used quart yogurt or cottage cheese container, with the top, is perfect. Medium dust all carpets and hidden nooks and crannies of furniture, closets, and wherever else larval fleas might be hiding (they eat dust and detritus). I like to sweep the powder into the carpets with a push broom and not vacuum the rugs for several days so the dust can really sift down.

4) CAUTIONS: Do not breathe this dust or get it on the skin. This isn't a systemic poison like insecticides but it is irritating to the eyes, skin, and lungs. For this reason, be sure the kids and animals are out of the house while you dust. Do not use this dust outside or on houseplants. The borax will harm any plants it contacts. I wrestle with the dogs on the rug after dusting, and don't notice any irritation from that small contact.

The Dawn dhsisoap one sounds like it would be a good one to try as well...