Help!!! I think we have fleas in the house!

starryeyedtiger

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Ohhhh man i think i'm going to itch to death
something keeps biting me!!! I noticed a few days ago i had two suspecious bites on me (eithor flea or mesquito- i react the same to both....the spots swell up into huge welts and i have to take benadryl and douse myself in cortizon
) I do not know which it is though. All of our animals are indoors only and are on flea prevenative......but,....since i work at a shelter, i suppose i could have taken some home with me on my clothes
i just felt another bite behind my shoulder a minute ago (was sitting on the couch) and it's already swelling up. I really think it might be fleas
i haven't seen any mesquitos in the house and haven't been outside today but for a few moments.

oh dear....any suggestions on how to get fleas out of the house if that's the issue??? aww man that stinks! i know i can put a cheapo flea collar in the vaccume cleaner and vaccume some of them up with that- but no way that would get them all if we have a flea issue. would we need to have our home sprayed? any ideas??? i'm REALLY allergic to fleas so i need to do something about this fast. i tried walking around with white socks on and didn't see any fleas get on them...but who knows! the spots are mostly on my arms/ back.
 

theimp98

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dang, at first i thought it said,
HELP I HAVE fleas, hmm do they make flea collers for humans?

flea bombs are the only really effective method i know
 
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starryeyedtiger

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Originally Posted by theimp98

dang, at first i thought it said,
HELP I HAVE fleas, hmm do they make flea collers for humans?

flea bombs are the only really effective method i know
can i buy those i wonder or do i need to have a professional spray??? eeek i feel like i have bugs crawling on me
soo bad!!! well...at least the furbabies don't have them
i wonder if i can put some Revolution on me too
 

theimp98

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that ones we used came in cans,and just opent them up.
you had to take th pets out of the house, and people also, they where really nasty, if i rmember right. but its been a very long time ago, i would think they would hvae something better now.

but i would still think you would need to take the pets out, cause that much would be bad for the cats
 
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starryeyedtiger

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Originally Posted by theimp98

that ones we used came in cans,and just opent them up.
you had to take th pets out of the house, and people also, they where really nasty, if i rmember right. but its been a very long time ago, i would think they would hvae something better now.

but i would still think you would need to take the pets out, cause that much would be bad for the cats
i think i'll have someone come out and spray. (i have asthma- so i don't want to be here when it's sprayed.- that way i can take the furbabies with me for a bit and get them out of the house maybe.) i swear i have more bites since i posted- my left leg is itching now too
Uhhhhhh i HATE bugs!!!
but they seem to LOVE me
 

theimp98

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Originally Posted by StarryEyedTiGeR

- my left leg is itching now too
Uhhhhhh i HATE bugs!!!
but they seem to LOVE me
HUG,

i am sure right now there is some bug out there selling lunch at nikki, to other bugs.

it is a good idea to get aways from the stuff, when they spray.
 

muttigreemom

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I'm not really going to be much help on this because I haven't had to get rid of fleas (yet... knock on wood)

But I just wanted to say... if you are having someone come to spray the inside of the house and if you have fish tanks (dont know if you do, so this is just a general warning) please remember to cover the fishtanks with a cloth or something similar. Even if you have a lid on the tank, usually there are small areas where air can escape and the spray can get into the tank that way.

I've seen a few too many goldies swim over the bridge because their owners forgot to cover the tanks when they got the house sprayed... so I just wanted to put in a reminder just in case
 

karmasmom

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Heres what I learned when we had a flea infestation.

Fleas ore more attrcted to fair skinned, blonde haired people. When we had them I was barely bitten but my DH who fits the description looked like he had a REALLY bad rash . They are more likely to bite below the knee, why I don't know but for some reason they like that area.

We did the bomb method, we bought one at petsmart that was suppose to be safe for pets to be around afterwards. We had to remove all living things form the house. Plants, animals and people. Also you need to remove anything that you will put in your mouth, ie toothbrushes etc. You have to tape all cabnets and anything that has dishes, silverware or pots and pans in it. ALL cabinets. Its alot of prep work but very worht it. You also need to leave closet doors and dresser drawers open so the bomb can get to clothing and kill any fleas that have moved onto them. One can worked for us, our place is about 600 square feet, so if your place is bigger you will need more than one. The bomb will kill most of them but not all. It will not kill the eggs. As soon as you vacuum the vibration will cause the eggs to hatch and you will have to start all over. That is where step 2 comes into play.

Step 2 is the laundry booster Borax. You will find it in the laundry detergent isle of you grocery store. The stuff is like 100 years old and has been used for many things. It is non-toxic an safe to use around pets and babies. To have it be the most effective you spread a nice even layer on all carpets then you have to use a broom ans fully sweep it in, so you can't see it any more. It took us about 4 hours to do all of our apartment fully. My DH applied and I followed with the broom. We locked Karma in the bed room while we did the living rooma and once it was in the carpet we moved her out of the bed room and did in there. Wait about 3 hours and vacuum. The second those little buggers hatch they get a mouth full of borax and sufficate.

I called the company before I did it and asked them if it really was safe to use around pets. They assured me that as long as I swept it into the carpet and did not leave a GIANT pile she would be just fine. Karma alone would have to ingest about 20 pounds of the stuff for it to be harmful. The only reason I found out about it was I asked my 80 year old Mother in LAw if she knew of any home remodies. It was he first thing she said. She said her mom use to use it and it worked so I gave it a try. It will work for a year and then you need to redo it, and every year thereafter. Flea eggs are nasty, its hard to kill them.

The full name of the product is 20 Mule Team Borax Laundry Boster. Look it up you will see that its safe and works for a lot of things, not just killing fleas. 100 years of testing can't be wrong.

Oh yea after we did both things, within 48 hours my DH was no longer suffering.

We also treated Karma with a few baths of Dawn and some flea killer. Just remember when you vacuum to remove the bags and toss them righ away. Make sure to toss them outside. Do not put them in the trash can in your house. The fleas will just crawl out and start all over. Also remember fleas spend only 10% of there time on the animal. So you need to combat the carpets and furniture.
 

lunasmom

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Originally Posted by theimp98

flea bombs are the only really effective method i know


I lived in an apartment in college that came with fleas. Management supposedly had some guy out (that had animal safe spray) but 2 weeks later we still had them.

Finally I went out and bought the $10 set of 3 bombs, removed all the animals and set all 3 off in the apartment (which was 1000 sq ft).

We never had fleas again.
 

pinkrhinos4

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Originally Posted by StarryEyedTiGeR

Ohhhh man i think i'm going to itch to death
something keeps biting me!!! I noticed a few days ago i had two suspecious bites on me (eithor flea or mesquito- i react the same to both....the spots swell up into huge welts and i have to take benadryl and douse myself in cortizon
) I do not know which it is though. All of our animals are indoors only and are on flea prevenative......but,....since i work at a shelter, i suppose i could have taken some home with me on my clothes
i just felt another bite behind my shoulder a minute ago (was sitting on the couch) and it's already swelling up. I really think it might be fleas
i haven't seen any mesquitos in the house and haven't been outside today but for a few moments.

oh dear....any suggestions on how to get fleas out of the house if that's the issue??? aww man that stinks! i know i can put a cheapo flea collar in the vaccume cleaner and vaccume some of them up with that- but no way that would get them all if we have a flea issue. would we need to have our home sprayed? any ideas??? i'm REALLY allergic to fleas so i need to do something about this fast. i tried walking around with white socks on and didn't see any fleas get on them...but who knows! the spots are mostly on my arms/ back.
I would get the vacuum cleaner out.. Get some Flea Bombs or Flea Spray


Oh yeah, do the kittys or any other pets you have in the house that can get fleas
 

bnwalker2

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We used bombs a few weeks ago, because we found a patch of fleas in one isolated area in the basement... John's mom insisted on the bombs though. We used three in a 50x30? basement. She wants to do it again tomorrow morning.... she wants to make sure they're all gone.
We started at around 7 p.m. last time (if you're gonna do it, start EARLY!), it has to set for 2 hours and then start airing out. John and I went back into the basement around 1 a.m. but still had awful headaches from the smell that was still in there. We ended up leaving the basement door open and two fans on all night. The smell was finally gone around 6 a.m. the next morning.
Luckily this time we're starting early in the morning so we can get back in tomorrow night.
 
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starryeyedtiger

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Originally Posted by theimp98

HUG,

i am sure right now there is some bug out there selling lunch at nikki, to other bugs.

it is a good idea to get aways from the stuff, when they spray.
i think they were having a buffet last night
i am covered in bites of some sort (i still can not tell if it's flea or mosquito though because i react the same to both.)

Originally Posted by MuttigreeMom

I'm not really going to be much help on this because I haven't had to get rid of fleas (yet... knock on wood)

But I just wanted to say... if you are having someone come to spray the inside of the house and if you have fish tanks (dont know if you do, so this is just a general warning) please remember to cover the fishtanks with a cloth or something similar. Even if you have a lid on the tank, usually there are small areas where air can escape and the spray can get into the tank that way.

I've seen a few too many goldies swim over the bridge because their owners forgot to cover the tanks when they got the house sprayed... so I just wanted to put in a reminder just in case
oh wow! thanks hun!! you probably just saved my little betta!!!
he's in a big covered tank- but i will take him to my sisters house if/when we need to have someone spray so that nothing happens to the little guy.

Originally Posted by KarmasMom

Heres what I learned when we had a flea infestation.

Fleas ore more attrcted to fair skinned, blonde haired people. When we had them I was barely bitten but my DH who fits the description looked like he had a REALLY bad rash . They are more likely to bite below the knee, why I don't know but for some reason they like that area.

We did the bomb method, we bought one at petsmart that was suppose to be safe for pets to be around afterwards. We had to remove all living things form the house. Plants, animals and people. Also you need to remove anything that you will put in your mouth, ie toothbrushes etc. You have to tape all cabnets and anything that has dishes, silverware or pots and pans in it. ALL cabinets. Its alot of prep work but very worht it. You also need to leave closet doors and dresser drawers open so the bomb can get to clothing and kill any fleas that have moved onto them. One can worked for us, our place is about 600 square feet, so if your place is bigger you will need more than one. The bomb will kill most of them but not all. It will not kill the eggs. As soon as you vacuum the vibration will cause the eggs to hatch and you will have to start all over. That is where step 2 comes into play.

Step 2 is the laundry booster Borax. You will find it in the laundry detergent isle of you grocery store. The stuff is like 100 years old and has been used for many things. It is non-toxic an safe to use around pets and babies. To have it be the most effective you spread a nice even layer on all carpets then you have to use a broom ans fully sweep it in, so you can't see it any more. It took us about 4 hours to do all of our apartment fully. My DH applied and I followed with the broom. We locked Karma in the bed room while we did the living rooma and once it was in the carpet we moved her out of the bed room and did in there. Wait about 3 hours and vacuum. The second those little buggers hatch they get a mouth full of borax and sufficate.

I called the company before I did it and asked them if it really was safe to use around pets. They assured me that as long as I swept it into the carpet and did not leave a GIANT pile she would be just fine. Karma alone would have to ingest about 20 pounds of the stuff for it to be harmful. The only reason I found out about it was I asked my 80 year old Mother in LAw if she knew of any home remodies. It was he first thing she said. She said her mom use to use it and it worked so I gave it a try. It will work for a year and then you need to redo it, and every year thereafter. Flea eggs are nasty, its hard to kill them.

The full name of the product is 20 Mule Team Borax Laundry Boster. Look it up you will see that its safe and works for a lot of things, not just killing fleas. 100 years of testing can't be wrong.

Oh yea after we did both things, within 48 hours my DH was no longer suffering.

We also treated Karma with a few baths of Dawn and some flea killer. Just remember when you vacuum to remove the bags and toss them righ away. Make sure to toss them outside. Do not put them in the trash can in your house. The fleas will just crawl out and start all over. Also remember fleas spend only 10% of there time on the animal. So you need to combat the carpets and furniture.
Great info!!!!! Thankyou!!! And yea- i'm definitely the fair skinned type
All bugs LOVE me
Luckily ALL of my furbabies are on flea prevenative (and indoors only) so i shouldn't have to worry about them getting bit at least. Thankyou soo much for the great advice!


Originally Posted by bnwalker2

We used bombs a few weeks ago, because we found a patch of fleas in one isolated area in the basement... John's mom insisted on the bombs though. We used three in a 50x30? basement. She wants to do it again tomorrow morning.... she wants to make sure they're all gone.
We started at around 7 p.m. last time (if you're gonna do it, start EARLY!), it has to set for 2 hours and then start airing out. John and I went back into the basement around 1 a.m. but still had awful headaches from the smell that was still in there. We ended up leaving the basement door open and two fans on all night. The smell was finally gone around 6 a.m. the next morning.
Luckily this time we're starting early in the morning so we can get back in tomorrow night.
Aww good luck! i hope ya'll get them all out!
 

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You don't know how to get rid of fleas? Don't you work at a shelter? I'm confused.


Good Luck getting rid of them.
 

littleraven7726

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I'm also going to add, that when I worked at a shelter I was religious about treating my cats for fleas. I was soooo paranoid I was going to bring them home.

I think flea bombs or a pro are about you're only options.
I've never had to deal with it, but my MIL said she did once. She said they were awful to get rid of.
 

catmomof2

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I hope its not fleas.Like you I swell up after being bit by mosquitoes / fleas / biting flies you name it I swell and itch like mad.Maybe a mosquito or two got in the house??Good luck
 

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We've done the spray/bomb before for fleas. It really needs to be done again in 3 weeks to be sure you get them all.
I would also get Capstar for all of your furries and give 30 minutes before you plan to start the spray/bombs. That way any fleas on the furries will die off before you get to the car and you won't bring them back inside.

The last time we had to use the bomb/spray, we just had to remove food to cabinets/refrigerator and put dishes/toothbrushes in a cabinet. We didn't have to wash down all of the surfaces in the house like we did before - just kitchen counter and dining tables. It was much different than before.
 

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Originally Posted by littleraven7726

I'm also going to add, that when I worked at a shelter I was religious about treating my cats for fleas. I was soooo paranoid I was going to bring them home.

I think flea bombs or a pro are about you're only options.
I've never had to deal with it, but my MIL said she did once. She said they were awful to get rid of.


We had fleas last Summer and they were soooooo awful!! It took about 2 months to finally be flea free again. I vacuumed the house 2-4 times daily the entire time. BF thought I was crazy when I first started noticing the bites around my ankles but when we flea combed Roxie sure enough the little buggers had invaded. We also had to bug bomb twice. I found that that Raid for flea worked better than the Hartz stuff we had gotten in PetCo. It is apparently harder to get rid of them in the warm weather too because thats when they thrive.

Have you seen any fleas? To get an idea you can fill a dish with soapy water and leave a night-light on right next to it. The fleas are attracted to the heat of the light and when they jump they will get stuck in the soapy water. They actually sell something along the line of it, but you can just as easily make it at home.

This link has some good info:
http://www.ca.uky.edu/entomology/entfacts/ef602.asp

I hope you don't have fleas. Good luck hun!!
 

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Originally Posted by mybabyphx

Obviously, she's never had them in her house before... so how would she know how to get rid of them?
Can you please tell me where it says that she's NEVER had them in her house? I must have overlooked that.And no need to be rude.
Nikki, get some Borax and sprinkle it on the carpets/furniture and all.Leave it there over night and then vaccum it up.
 
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