Neverending flea dramas, help please!!!!

I started noticing fleas on my kitten, Giselle, about a month ago. I bought some formula that you put between her shoulder blades, I thought they went away, but I think they must have only killed the adults and not the eggs. I put some on Anya my other kitty as well, but didn't think I saw any on her, but then again Anya is darker than Giselle so they're harder to spot on her. I bought them both flea collars as well, which I'm questioning whether they're doing anything at all. In the last week, it progressed to a massive infestation in my house to the point where I have bites all over my legs, not only that but turns out I'm allergic to flea saliva as well, so the itching drives me insane! So Wednesday, I gave then both flea baths, flea bombed the place, napped while I was at my mother's house waiting for the flea bombs to do their thing. I then got home and stayed up the whole night vacuuming everything, treating the carpets, wiping surfaces, washing linens, etc etc etc.

Well, it's now Friday, and I spotted a few more on Giselle, so I've just now given her a flea both. And now I'm freaking out as I have to go back to work tonight after having 2 nights off to tackle this head on, so short of burning my house down, what can I do? I'm simply shocked that it's still like this after I went out of my way to flea bomb my house!

Thanks for any help you can give me to solve this.

use on the cats? Did you use Advantage? That is the only thing that will work. You have to apply each month. Nothing over the counter will do the job. Also, I find flea bombing yourself probably will not do the trick. A few years back, I had an infestation. I had to have a professional do the job. I don't trust anything you can get OTC to be safe for my animals. Also, my exterminator said NOT to vaccuum for a specific time to allow the product to to work. The product has a derritive of marigold in it. It was safe to use around the animals. Just had to wait till dry. I still have all my kitties, no one was harmed by it. You also may be over doing it with flea collars too. I have read that they are not very efficient, and you may be giving your cats too much with the topical application and collars also. Fleas are a real challenge. But when I had them, I spent over $100 trying to get rid of them myself. It was money down the drain. If you have that severe an infestation, please consider getting professional help. Cheaper in the long run, and it will get rid of fleas. Good luck to you!!

It wasn't Advantage, though I've been tempted to try this. Would you guys say I might as well just throw out the flea collars?

I've thought too about getting my place professionally exterminated but I've been worried about the cost, though this may be a good use of my school money when it comes in next month.

OTC flea medications of any flavor are ineffective and some can be outright dangerous to your pet. Flea collars compounded by liquid flea medication is over kill and more isn't better, especially with insecticides. The key to getting fleas under control is killing the biting adults, which make up about 5% of the infestation, then interrupting the larva/pupae (45% of the investation) development as the eggs (the remaining 50% of the infestation) hatch.

I 2nd Farleyv on professional extermination if you're having trouble getting the infestation under control using vet recommended products. It's a battle to break the flea life cycle. I'm a week in to an attempted extermination myself, Moo came to us with fleas. I know we're all in for a battle against fleas and the parasites they can transmit to your furrbabies.

I feel so bad for vet techs during flea season, and that's practically year round in Florida. When I took Peanut in for the leg issue she had, some guy was yelling at a vet tech because he couldn't get an infestation under control and refused to listen to the tech that the OTC stuff isn't good, he refused to try any prescription products and just wouldn't listen to anything the tech had to say about fleas. You just can't talk sense to some people.

Originally Posted by vivienne

I bought them both flea collars as well, which I'm questioning whether they're doing anything at all. ......................
........So Wednesday, I gave then both flea baths, flea bombed the place, napped while I was at my mother's house waiting for the flea bombs to do their thing.

Thanks for any help you can give me to solve this.

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Ok, please remove the flea collars immediately - they won't do anything good, and can seriously harm your cat. There are cats that died or had very serious problems because of flea collars.
Also be very careful with flea bombs - that is poison, and as such, can be dangerous for the kitties. Instead of using a flea bomb, try Diatomaceous Earth (make sure it is FOOD GRADE); use it to sprinkle all over the house, furniture, etc. It is not harmful for the kitties, or yourself.

Originally Posted by farleyv

use on the cats? Did you use Advantage? That is the only thing that will work.

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That's not true - Advantage, Revolution, Frontline Plus are some examples of flea control meds that work on eggs larvae and adult fleas. Please do not use any OTC product - they can be harmful to your pets.

Thanks so much for the tips, thank God today is payday so I'm definately off to the vet to pick up some better formula! Just one more question, where can I find Diatomaceous Earth? Never heard of it before

Originally Posted by vivienne

It wasn't Advantage, though I've been tempted to try this. Would you guys say I might as well just throw out the flea collars?

I've thought too about getting my place professionally exterminated but I've been worried about the cost, though this may be a good use of my school money when it comes in next month.

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As Carolinalima says, remove the flea collars immediately.

Originally Posted by vivienne

Thanks so much for the tips, thank God today is payday so I'm definately off to the vet to pick up some better formula! Just one more question, where can I find Diatomaceous Earth? Never heard of it before

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Diatomaceous earth is often found at gardening centres but you must be sure to get human/food grade. It can be purchased online and one of our long-term members has a link which I can't find right now.

Please tell your vet what you used on the cats, how much, what you used for the flea baths and how much and about the bombs. You may well have over-toxed the cats already.

The DE is going to be your best weapon against any fleas or eggs in the carpeting. You sprinkle it on carpeting and/or furniture and then with a broom work it down into the carpet fibres and for the furtniture I just use my hands to sort of pat it down into the fibres. I let mine stay for a week before I even considered vacuuming. When you do vacuum make sure you empty the vacuum bag immediately outside. Get those pesky things out of your house.

We had a bad infestation some years ago and tried many OTC products and even spray from a vet and none of it worked. We ended up taking our cat to the vet for a professional de-fleaing and having exterminators come in to do our house.

As the others have said, OTC products rarely work and some are actually downright dangerous to our pets.

DO see your vet. They can give you a nifty little tablet called Capstar that will kill the fleas on your pets immediatly (well it starts working within 30 minutes anyway.) I agree with the others who've said you may have overdone the chemicals already. Flea collars contain exactly the same chemicals an exterminator will spray on your yard. Yikes! Toss them. Any of the flea meds you get from your vet Advantage, Frontline, Revolution, etc. will make what you've already tried look like child's play.

Here's a link to food grade DE. I didn't look for the least expensive sight online, but if you google it, you can find someplace with the best price.

http://www.allisonsallnatural.com/se...maceous/Detail

I had a worse level of flea infestation in my house one time. Came back from vacation and I couldn't walk across my bedroom without picking up 50 fleas on my legs. 1 dose of DE killed everything in a few days. You sprinkle it into the carpet and sweep it in with a broom. I leave it a week before I vacuum (so vacuum thoroughly before you use it).

I agree with others - remove the flea collars, cut them up and put them into your vacuum cleaner bag. It's the only good use for them. You definitely want to talk to your vet on what products you have already used on your cats and when you applied them, as anything more right now may cause toxic effects.

And you can also give you cats a dust bath with the DE. It's all natural ingredients with no poisonous chemicals. That will also help the fleas that are already on them. Wash everything you can in your house (bedding, cats bedding, throw rugs), and vacuum, vacuum, vacuum.

I almost killed a dog from a vet prescribed flea spray. Use any poisonous chemicals with extreme caution.

Take a deep breath and be very persistent right now. You can overcome this!!

Yes as everyone has strongly recommended take the flea collars off immediately!

Also please stop "medicating" your kittens with the Advantage etc. and no more flea baths! Of course, you didn't know it, but you have been basically overdosing them with all the flea medication and this could seriously harm them! I also think you need to call your vet ASAP and let them know how much flea baths and other topical flea treatments you gave to the cats to make sure they aren't suffering from poison overdose, just to be safe.

Now about the fleas you are seeing on the kittens, please don't panic. It's very likely that what you are seeing are dead fleas. Make sure to comb their coats with a fine tooth comb. I use a regular human hair comb myself. Just be careful to be gentle with them.

Also very important thing to keep in mind when using the DE (Diatomaceous Earth) because it contains Silica, it can cause cancer if it is breathed in. You would have to breathe a lot of it, but still it's best to wear a mask when "spreading" it in your home. It's basically like spreading a thick "baby powder like substance" and a little of that stuff goes a *long way* so you really don't need to use a lot.

When rubbing it in your kitten's coats you have to be very careful that they don't breathe it in either. Other than that it is 100% safe. In fact, it is even recommended for human ingestion.

Here's a link for the DE it contains very helpful information:

http://www.dirtworks.net/Diatomaceous-Earth.html

I get mine from Perma-Guard they have the best quality one. Also make sure to get the FOOD GRADE type!

Here's a link that explains a lot about fleas and their life-cycle: http://www.entirelypets.com/fleas.htm

If you want more information, just google "flea life cycle" and you will get a lot of info.

I sure hope this helps! Let us know how things turn out and especially how your kitties are doing!

I had this happen when I found and brought him my second kitty Jack. I didn't realize he had fleas. He got infested and then my other cat got them. They were everywhere. I talked to my vet and he said to start them both on Advantage. He also gave me some Knockout flea spray area treatment. You spray it on your carpet and furniture. Be sure to keep your kitties in a separate room for a few hours while you spray. This stuff is amazing. After using it I had no more fleas. It kills fleas for up to 120 days. In the mean time I brushed them each a couple of times a day with a fine-toothed flea comb. I kept up with frequent vacuuming too. Oh, and remove the vacuum bag and throw it in the trash outside after each time you vacuum. That way if there are live fleas in the vacuum bag they can't get back into your house. Good luck and hope this helps!

I agree with everyone else....you can also use borax on the carpet before vacuuming. Don't let the cats walk on it before you vacuum it up; it's not quite as safe as food-grade DE. But it will kill fleas and is easier to find than DE.

They call it Flea infestation.......for a reason. I hope you can get a hold of this problem.

Originally Posted by missourigrl

He also gave me some Knockout flea spray area treatment. You spray it on your carpet and furniture. Be sure to keep your kitties in a separate room for a few hours while you spray.

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It was a product very similar to this that caused an emergency vet visit for one of my dogs. They weren't even in the house for hours after I sprayed, and he got violently ill when 6 hours later, he laid in his bed. Use anything with poison with extreme caution. Some animals cannot tolerate them, regardless of how long ago it was used.

Originally Posted by Momofmany

It was a product very similar to this that caused an emergency vet visit for one of my dogs. They weren't even in the house for hours after I sprayed, and he got violently ill when 6 hours later, he laid in his bed. Use anything with poison with extreme caution. Some animals cannot tolerate them, regardless of how long ago it was used.

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Interesting. My boys did just fine with it. Neither got sick. But I agree to use much caution when using products such as this.

We had a major problem last year. My dad had been in pest control for 25 years and for 15 with Orkin. He did our flea treatment and we were flea free within 24 hours. He did say to continue to treat our cats with advantage or frontline for 3 full months to break the cycle completely.

Leslie