Borax for fleas?

Is it safe on carpet, couches, etc?
What exactly is Borax?(I've been googling it)
I've read on here to leave it on for 30-45 min & vacuum 2x a week...but also to leave it on for 24-48 hours then vacuum?
Where would I find it?

This concerned me:
"...less than 5 grams can kill a child or pet."
http://chemistry.about.com/od/howthi...boraxworks.htm

So, I cannot possibly keep the cats off the areas I treat....will they be safe to walk across the the carpet once I sweep the Borax in?

I suppose that depends on how good your vacuum cleaner is --- whether or not it picks up all the borax in your carpet.

You should be able to find it in the household cleaners section of the grocery store.

If you can get some food grade diatomaceous earth, that is completely edible and works great on fleas.

Boy, that stuff is hard to find these days!! I needed some not too long ago and went to five places before I found one that carried it.

Originally Posted by Momofmany

If you can get some food grade diatomaceous earth, that is completely edible and works great on fleas.

Click to expand...

I've called every place I can think of & cannot find it locally. I got Borax....and since I'm getting conflicting info....I'm gonna sprinkle it down & keep the cats off it as much as possible which will be hard.

If keeping the cats off of the borax in the carpet isn't possible, please rethink using it.

It is at best an irritant when inhaled. You've already read the issues with ingestion. I would be concerned about you inhaling it and the cats cleaning it off of their fur.

I am a worrier and would hate having any of you injured.

I use borax (Twenty Mule Team) for fleas in the carpet. I put it under the sofas and any other places the kitties don't go. It doesn't have to be all over everything. It is not a fine powder, it is more like salt. After a day or so I vacuum everywhere, then the borax places last. Then I throw out the vacuum bag.

(No, I don't have a Dyson. )

It works great and I do it every year or two as needed. I did this before I realized there were potential problems and I'm very careful.

My vet said the Advantage on the cats will spread all over the house and get rid of any fleas that way. That isn't always the case in my experience. I don't know which is worse but I do know I am horribly allergic to flea bites and borax works wonders.

My advise is to just be careful and don't put it where the kitties walk. Round up the cats in another room while you vacuum, which shouldn't be too hard since they usually hate the vacuum anyway.

BTW, five grams is equal to 7.5 teaspoons.

Well, I will try to work something out. I cannot possibly round up 6 cats, 2 kittens, & 3 large adult dogs off the carpet for 24-48 hours if I do the entire house at one time. It'd be slightly easier if the cats didn't have to stay in groups of 3.

I think I will put it down for an hour & vacuum it up...that way no one gets into it. Then do that every couple of days to see where I get..

Just wanted to ask.....I see no fleas on the upstairs kitties....have never seen any. Do you think I can get away with not using Borax upstairs?

Originally Posted by white cat lover

...I think I will put it down for an hour & vacuum it up...that way no one gets into it. Then do that every couple of days to see where I get..

Click to expand...

If you have a crummy vacuum, like I do, you can sprinkle it, work it into the carpet, and vacuum right away. A little bit will stay in the carpet, but not enough, I think, for anbody to ingest. The borax will be at the bottom where the fleas go and not the top where the animals walk.

If you have a Dyson, this won't work because I imagine it would all get vacuumed up.

Originally Posted by white cat lover

Just wanted to ask.....I see no fleas on the upstairs kitties....have never seen any. Do you think I can get away with not using Borax upstairs?

Click to expand...

Don't use it upstairs if it's not needed.

BTW, you can also put it under the sofa cushions for a day or so, then vacuum it.

I have a crummy shop vac. I am treating downstairs....so far my bedroom where the foster kittens are(kittens are in bathroom) as it is the "source" of the infestation....and I'm also treating the office. Once I vacuum the office, I'm gonna move the 3 downstairs kitties into the office & treat the family room/hall/stairs. This is gonna be fun!

I feel for you. I use the foggers, which fortunately I haven't had to use for a couple of years.

This means I load everyone up in the car - up to 3 kids, 3 large dogs, the cat and the Betas. I put the Betas in cups in the cup holders, with a cover so the critters don't drink the Beta water. We watch DVDs, go to the park if the weather co-operates (Zoey in her carrier). Even with the SUV, I feel like it's a clown car when the doors open and we all pile out.

Is it a full blown infestation, or are you just starting to get a flea jumping on you here and there?

I've found, unless it's really bad, that treating the animals with Frontline (or an equivalent, I'm sure), will deflea your house too, and in my experience, it usually only takes a couple of weeks, with a noticable difference within a week. That being said, it didn't work for my friend and he still to this day has no idea where those fleas were coming from... but they were killer fleas.. bug bombs (four times), none of it worked.. finally he set up a light and dish trap and that's what ended up working for him.

I thought that borax was a combination of boric acid (1%) and 99% inert ingredients.. if that's the right combo on it, then I've heard that it can hurt animals, and I've also heard that it doesn't harm them.. so.. I honestly don't know.

Keep us posted on how it works. I'm curious to know.

Well, I think I lost this battle. There are more fleas on the kitties this morning than there were yesterday morning before I boraxed. And I think I now have fleas upstairs....I found one dead one of Twitch.

I have been treating the kitties with Revolution, all 8 of them, plus the dogs with Frontline, for like the past 3 weeks. The vet said it could take 6 months or more to get rid of all the fleas that way, so perhaps that is what I will have to do.

And I believe that PJ & Punky brought the fleas home to me when I brought them home to foster a month or more ago, but it is possible they were already in my house & I never noticed. I wasn't treating my housecats for fleas, I was naive & figured they'd never get them.

Oh shoot. That's too bad. Well, you don't know until you try. Don't kick yourself too hard. I doubt the fleas were there before. And the fosters have a good home and are getting good care.

I've also safely bug bombed for fleas. Of course, this means packing up the entire herd, which is always a treat. I'm not even sure I could do it effectively these days, given that Bagheera won't let you put her in a carrier, and barely lets you pick her up. Anyway, I'm not sure I could get away with it..but if you try it .. I just followed the directions and then I went back in at the recommended time and opened up all the windows, put fans in them to suck the air out one end and in the other, and after they'd been going for an hour or so and the smell had cleared out, then I brought the pets back in.

The little dish set up might work for you if you want to try it... you put a white (or light colored) dish with water and some dishwashing detergent in it.. just a tiny bit of detergent, and an almost full dish of water. Then you get a desk lamp or something of that nature and shine the lamp down on the plate. Supposedly they jump toward the light/warmth, and then fall in the plate of water and drown.

Yeah, bombs are out of the question with Damita. I might have to try the "flea trap" idea with the soapy water.

Give the borax a little more time! A couple of days! It doesn't kill them until they are in contact with it. Sounds like they are "jumping ship" on to the animals. Really, give it some more time.