I have no clue what happened, but all a sudden we have Fleas! They are driving me nuts! I have one cat, a 3 year old little girl, and a baby on the way and I need to get rid of them FAST!!!! I have tried the foggers, it worked for about 4 days, and then they were back. I vaccume all the time, change the bag all the time, and have even put a flea collar in my vaccume. Can anyone help? Is there anything I can use that really works? Like maybe a carpet treatment?
Well I think the first step (if you havent done something already) would be to treat your animals. The best treatment I've found is Frontline PLUS. It kills all stages of fleas on your pet. Not all vet's carry the PLUS but it's the only one to get IMO. If your cat still has fleas, then all the home treatments in the world won't work to get rid of them. With frontline, one application will work for a month's time. For fleas in the carpet, I remember having used Borax to kill them....it's in the soap and detergent isle of the grocery store. I don't know how toxic it is or any of that so with a baby on the way maybe you are looking for something natural? But with the borax you are supposed to sprinkle it generously on the carpet, then sweep it into the carpet and leave it for a certain amount of time and then vaccum it up. Other than that I'm afraid I don't have any other suggestions but maybe someone else will know of something better. Also, your vet may be able to reccomend something for the carpet. Good luck!
I use the Frontline too...works very well. I hate using something that is not natural (frontline is pure chemicals!), but nothing else works for my animals. Diatamaceous (spelling?) earth works sometimes for treating carpets, but if there is a serious infestation, you may need to get them professionally treated to get rid of the fleas fast. Good luck!
Advantage is supposed to be good. If you are having tick problems, Advantix is everything Advantage is with stuff for ticks added. You have to get it at the vet tho.
Well, I put down the Borax, and it has seemed to work. I left it on for about 48 hours. I have also given my cat two baths, and used a flea comb. I think this is all working since I have only seen one flea so far today! WOO HOO!!!!!! Thanks for the help everyone! One more question though, if I put Frontline on my cat, could it harm my little girl if she pets the cat?
well frontline is a chemical so it could harm your child and your cat. as long as you are going to spend the money try something natural. http://www.onlynaturalpet.com/Natural_Flea_and_Tick_Control_Products_for_Cats_s/48.htm i use a natural shampoo and spray with neem oil for my dogs. garlic is good too
Well with the frontline what you do is apply one small tube in a single spot to the animals skin(between their shoulder blades)......the treatment soaks into their skin and continues to work all month long. I don't think you will have a problem with your child petting your cat....the most you might have to do is a wait a few hours from application before she touches the cat incase any of the treatment got onto the cat's hair (which it usually does a little bit)....it drys rather quickly though. If she were to get some on her hands she would just need to wash them. IMO, it is THE best treatment. If you don't treat your cat soon, with it being summer and all (prime time for fleas) you will have fleas back in your home in no time. The advantage is also good, but for a cat that is indoor/outdoor, I've been told by vets that frontline PLUS works better...it also kills ticks. My cat had fleas again this month and as soon as I applied the frontline to him they were gone in 24 hours.....and I haven't seen a tick on him since I applied it! http://frontline.us.merial.com/products/index.asp
I think I am going to try frontline. Also, I wanted to ask if anyone has used a flea dip? Is it different from a regular shampoo? My sister said when she worked at a kennel, the would put that on any dog or cat that came in with fleas, and the fleas would be gone right away...I'm just wondering if this is somthing I should go buy.
IMO, a flea dip is NOT worth the money. (and is something that you must bring your animal in to the vet to have done) With the frontline PLUS you are guarenteed to have the fleas dead (as well as the eggs and larvae) within 24 hours and keep them gone for a month...then you apply another application. With the flea dip...it does kill the fleas but I don't believe that it does anything signifigant to keep them away. If my memory serves me right, it is SUPPOSED to, but the last time my dog was dipped it did practically nothing and the fleas came back shortly thereafter. IMO, go with the frontline, it's a sure thing
Dips are nearly purely toxic chemicals anyway, and it can cause a lot of problems for the dogs and especially the cats, respiratory, etc. Elle's right, they really aren't worth the money or the health problems, because they only kill most of what is there, not even all, and they usually don't do squat for future fleas that hop on. Besides, Frontline or Advantage is better because it stays on the dog for a month and keeps working. It works so well that basically, if you have the dog in the house, he actually BECOMES a flea control tool after the frontline/advantage is put on, because fleas will jump on him and once they do, they die and fall off. Eggs are usually killed too. And if they do live when they jump off, they can't breed and they will die soon anyway. So eventually, your dog will have pretty much gotten rid of the flea population in your house. That's why frontline and advantage are so awesome. I've never used the feline versions of these products myself, so I couldn't tell you if they work as well as it does for dogs, but I don't see why they wouldn't.
Thanks everyone. I am going to just stick with Frontline or Advantage. I figure if it works for you guys it should work for me.
Frontline, and refog your house. I should know, lol, we get plagued every year. Advantage and Revolution didn't work as well as Frontline IMHO. Hell I even used the cat to kill the fleas one year because it will kill the fleas where ever the cat would lay and I couldn't afford any foggers that year. Try to make sure anything you use on the house kills more than just the adults if possible, to brake the cycle.
so far this year I've had no luck getting the fleas off my dogs but I guess I have to by the frontline plus. There is this new stuff my vet was telling me about that also helps get rid of puppie mange(sp?). so question will the frontline plus wash off if the dog(s) were to jump in the lake? that seems to be my main problem I live across the street from a lake and my dogs go and jump in. everything gets washed off and then more fleas. vicious cycle
If you've got carpets one way to deal with that is to take a light colored shallow bowl and fill it a little ways with water and put some liquid soap in there. Fleas will jump in and drown. We had one of these with a light over the top of it and that helped a lot.
like moondaddy says... a light over a bowl of soapy water..it works also throw a little baking soda on the carpet ..let it sit for awhile .. then vacuum
the foggers dont kill the eggs. it says right on the label repeat in 2 weeks that is why.. may have to use the foggers several times before you get them completely out of your house. using a collar or drops on the animal will do nothing for the infestation in the house..
If you want to get rid of them naturally you can use peppermint oil drops in a bandana around your pets neck. Fleas and ticks hate the stuff. You can also use it in a spray bottle and use it on the carpets, or put and few drops in the corners. I also know that the night light over the bowl of water works too. Blessings and good luck gettin rid of the fleas.
some more natural stuff we have tried at the foster house where we have many kitties= lemon juice, apple cider vinegar (bath pets in a mixture including water and one or even both of those ingrediants) also can put in spray bottle and spray down carpet/animal/ etc.... Have poured salt on the carpets, baby powder (esp lavendar scent because lavendar is supposed to repel/kill fleas also) Was having too much of a problem with fleas so got frontline plus for the foster kitties as well as my dogs AND use sentenial which is prescribed by vet for my dog who has a flea allergy. We tried bombing once after the home/natural remedies didn't work as well as had wanted... ALTHO the bombs did NOT work as well either..... soo back to natural.... or least using More natural remedies than bombs........ It has helped alot, just would like to have the fleas completely gone!!!!!! peace, luv & happiness K Kris-Ty www.ck-cs.com
