Fleas - treating the cat vs treating the house?

Hi,

When we had our dog, we used a company called Flea Busters in the house. They put a powder on the carpets and furniture that kills the eggs and the fleas. Supposedly, the fleas only stay on the animals long enough to feed and then they jump off to lay eggs in your rugs, furniture and other soft fuzzy places. The stuff worked really well and seemed safe enough for us. (Or maybe we just don't notice the brain damage!)

Anyway, I'm a little scared to use a flea medicine on cats - they seem so fragile compared to a dog. I've heard that the liquid you put on their neck is safer than a flea collar. What have you guys used? What do you think about the safety issue?

Thanks
Mimi

Here is the link to the company if anyone is interested. Although it worked, it was expensive. We didn't have a choice because our huge 13 year old beloved dog died, and left all his fleas behind. I didn't even know he had them until we saw them jumping around the house after he was gone. It was pretty horrible, but this stuff got rid of them all after a few weeks.
http://www.fleabuster.com/

I use Fronline on my kitties and they are all OK with it - I also have Acclaim which is for the house - as my cats go out I do get a bit nervous about getting fleas in the house so I use Acclaim once/twice a year

I looked up Aclaim and it sounds like an insecticide. I'm a little nervous about spraying my house with that because I have auto-immune issues and I never know what I'll react to. But I'm glad to hear that Frontline was okay for your cats. Maybe I'll try it.

Something like Frontline, Advantage, or Revolution is safe to use on your cat. A flea collar is NOT safe. The only way you should use one is to cut it up and put it in your vacuum cleaner bag to kill any fleas you suck up while vacuuming.

The animals need to be treated to get rid of the food source for the fleas. The environment needs to be treated as that is where the fleas live when they are not feeding.

If you are worried about the cost of treating the house, you might look into DE (Diatomaceous Earth). It's a powder you sprinkle on the carpet (you can put on furniture, too) and work into the carpet. Make sure you use the food grade DE, not the pool/industrial grade. It is safe enough for animals that you could even put some in their food. Some home & garden stores sell it; you can also order it online.

Originally Posted by CurlyQ629

If you are worried about the cost of treating the house, you might look into DE (Diatomaceous Earth). It's a powder you sprinkle on the carpet (you can put on furniture, too) and work into the carpet. Make sure you use the food grade DE, not the pool/industrial grade. It is safe enough for animals that you could even put some in their food. Some home & garden stores sell it; you can also order it online.

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I absolutely will attest to this stuff. I had a terrible infestation one year and one application killed off everything for a year.