big flea problem :( please help

mishkas mom

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Hello... Poor Mishka has fleas..... she is a 100% indoor kitty, so i am baffled at how this happened. I went to PetSmart and purchased some flea killing shampoo and bathed her last night, the poor thing had them ALL OVER HER... (her fur is extremely extremely long and thick, so i didnt notice them until she started biting and scratching)
we've been 'inspecting' her almost constantly since the bath yesterday and they seem to be gone.... but what is the best method of making sure that she does not get reinfested from the carpet and furniture???? I am assuming that that is possible.... Plleeeeeeaaaassse help
 

mom of 4

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I'm not fond of over-the-counter flea treatments. Dawn dish soap is the usual recommendation around here. I would even think about washing her to get the residue off.

Flea treatment - We tend to the flea bombs in our house - with both large hairy dogs and cats, I have to be agressive. I use over the counter ones. It does require you to turn off the AC, close up the house and leave with all critters in tow - for fours hours. Then you have to open the house up and let it air out. I also get a dose of CapStar from the vet for each of the dogs and cats. It starts working in 30 minutes, kills all of the fleas and is out of their system in 8 hours. I stay in a hotel, with the pets overnight.

Some people use food grade dichomouss earth, sprinkled in the carpet. It sucks all of the water out of the fleas. It is critical that it be food grade and it is recommended that a mask be worn when applied and that animals not be close by - it irritates the lungs.

I'm sure others will chime in with more info. Good luck!
 

laureen227

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if you want to use the diatomaceous earth, check a health food or feed store. i found mine at a feed store. otherwise, you can order it online. the DE is actually small crustaceans - crytalline in nature, & it damages the exoskeleton of insects. works on ants, roaches, fleas, etc.
 

shanynne

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Originally Posted by laureen227

if you want to use the diatomaceous earth, check a health food or feed store. i found mine at a feed store. otherwise, you can order it online. the DE is actually small crustaceans - crytalline in nature, & it damages the exoskeleton of insects. works on ants, roaches, fleas, etc.
Laureen was what the brand name of the DE you purchased? And have you been rubbing it into your cat's coats?
 

gailuvscats

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I had good success getting rid of fleas by doint the following. I also used products from the vet.

You did the first thing of bathing the cat. I assume you know to lather up her neck and face first so the fleas don't run into her eyes.

While she is drying off in the bathroom, you run the vacuum everywhere, but especially along the border of the room as the fleas like to hang out along the wall, where it meets the floor.

Then you spray around the outside of the room, along the border with the floor with a vet quality flea spray.

You do all of this again in 5 days, and one more time in 5 days.

That will ensure getting all the fleas and the hatched eggs. The vet quality spray kills the eggs as well.

Oh, and put a mothball or a napkin with the vet spray on it in the vacuum to kill the fleas you sucked up.

This seems like a lot of work, but it isn't so bad, and if kitty doesn't appear to have anymore fleas, you might not have to keep bathing her. The fleas live on the floor not on the animal, so as long as the spraying and vacuuming are going on, she should be ok.
 

laureen227

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Originally Posted by Shanynne

Laureen was what the brand name of the DE you purchased? And have you been rubbing it into your cat's coats?
just a sec, i'll go look.
Nature's Guide. that's a link to their website - altho i got it at the feed store.

my inside cats don't have fleas - i use it outside for pest control [ants, etc] because it won't harm the ferals if they walk in it & then lick it off.
 
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