Bad flea infestation - need info and help

When finances are very tight and Advantage for the cats is not an option, what is the best way to rid four cats and a home of a very bad flea infestation?

I've recommended cleaning one room thoroughly, using a flea collar in the vacuum bag. When the "quarantine" room is ready, I've recommended the cats be washed with a little dawn dish soap and a flea comb used, and the cats then be placed in the quarantine room - likely for several weeks to a month - however long it takes to rid the rest of the house with fleas with thorough cleaning and frequent vacuuming. A flea bomb is not an option due to an ill family member.

The questions are: how often can the cats be washed to get all the fleas off of them?

And... does anyone have any better - remaining cost efficient - ideas?

Thank you.

I have had very good luck with flea combing to get rid of the fleas on a cat. You have to do it fairly often though. Instead of flea bombing, I used a flea spray meant for the carpet and did the whole house several times along with VERY thorough vacuumings. The other important part is to treat around the outside of the house for fleas. My girls are mildly claustrophobic and would not tolerate a quarantine room under any circumstances. We also use frontline from the vet's office.

Food grade Diatomatious Earth, all the way. Can be sprinkled on EVERYTHING, including cats (just don't inhale it and don't get it in their eyes.)

Let it lie once you've sprinkled it into the rugs - use a broom to sweep in into the fibers.

The flea hatching cycle is about 3 weeks, so if you can stand to leave it on carpets & cat beds, etc. for 3 weeks, then it'll help rid the infestation.

I had a bad case of the fleas once. here is what I did. I purchased a good flea spray from the vet. Also, a good flea shampoo from the vet. Fleas live along the edges of the room in the cracks. First you need to bath the cats with the shampoo, a good shampoo will continue to kill the fleas for a few days after the bath. When you bath the cat, you suds up around his neck first so the fleas don't crawl into the eyes, then you suds all over, let the shampoo suds on for a minute or two, and then a good rinse. make sure to do the legs tails, and the head. I don't know how many cats you have, but I would lock them all in the bathroom and do one at a time, and keep them in there when they are done.
While they are drying in the bathroom, you need to thouroughly vacuum your rug, and around the parameters of the room, use the attachement for this to get into cracks and corners. Put some spray on a paper towel and put it in the vacuum bag. A good flea spray will kill hatched eggs a few days later.

Do a good vacuuming and spraying 10 days later, and you should be done, providing your cats are not going outside and carrying in more fleas.

your cost will be around 20 bucks for the vet stuff.
Do not waste your money on the grocery store stuff even if it is cheaper. It won't have the lingering effects that the good stuff has, thus requiring you to do this whole thing again, and again. good luck

Fleas live in no specific area of the room, so no more caution in one area or another (ie baseboard etc). Fleas have a 3 month life cycle and can lie dormant. My father has been in pest control for 30 years and has seen it all. He's also the most honest pest control person you'll meet, he honestly is not in it for the money. He helped up deal with fleas last summer--although I will say his products are amazing, he still said to treat the cats for 3 months just in case because the flea cycle and even after his treatments to the house to vacuum the carpets and throw away bags after each time just as precaution. Fleas suck. To get a good sense of how bad they are-- lay a white towel in the middle a room, sit a lamp in the middle of the towel and turn it on--they will gravitate towards the light.

Besides DE I wouldn't trust any other home remedy for the actual treatment of the house.

Leslie

I don't know where this person lives, and I assume they can't purchase products via internet - are there stores where you can purchase Food Grade Diatomatious Earth?

And thanks for all the suggestions and information!

Another way to attract wayward fleas and kill 'em is to put a shallow dish (a glass baking dish is ideal) under an outlet, where you have plugged in a nightlite.

Fill the dish with water and add a drop or two of Dawn. Like Jack 31 said, they jump toward the light and fall into the water. I've used this many times and am ALWAYS amazed at how many dumb fleas I catch. They drown, as the Dawn makes the water too heavy for them to jump out again.

I love Dawn for bathing the kitties, too. I once had to bath a feral kitten four times in one night (and stopped counting when I reached 100 fleas). That poor kitten was on the verge of being sucked dry. But he's a lucky little 2-year-old now with a good home.

Laurie, I am fighting the same problem. I thought twice I had got rid of them and then they have come back. I have been using bombs (no problem here with that) but I have had to do each room three times. I have also used sprays from the vet, powders from the pharmacy, repellents to stop them biting me, and flea collars (on me and in the vacuum cleaner and behind the cushions). All the cats have been Frontlined or done with Stronghold twice. I have banished the cats from my bedroom while I got that free, which I thought I did, only to find two fleas last night in my bed. I have never done so much washing in my life - sheets, pillows, cats, me showering two or three times a day and night. I am at my wits' end. And I have tiled floors everywhere so I would not have thought it a very friendly environment for fleas. All rugs went early on in the battle.

I can't seem to find diatomaceuos earth here in France or in the UK, where I went briefly this week. If anyone knows an online supplier in Europe I would love to know, or a UK place to get it. I have tried the big garden centres and pet stores.

Good luck LAurie - let me know if you find the solution.

Jenny, maybe once Winter comes that will help! Once the indoor/outdoor kitties aren't bringing in any more fleas, it should be easier to get a handle on it.

Our kitties are indoor-only, so thankfully we don't have a flea problem. If we'd ever had one, I might have better ideas on what to do, but I was asking to help a new member here at TCS whose family has financial constraints.

Jenny - have you also tried cutting up flea collars and dropping them in your vacuum and vacuuming every day? The flea collar in the bag will kill the fleas and eggs you vacuum up, so they can't re-escape. It seems to me that between a flea shampoo purchased at the vet (that will apparently continue killing fleas for a few days) and vacuuming everything every day with a flea collar in the bag to kill anything sucked up that may do the trick.

I looked for online suppliers in Germany, but couldn't find any. Have you asked at a pharmacy or health food store, Jenny? If it's supposed to be food quality, they might have it, or a pharmacist might be able to find out where you can get it.

Maybe they can order it for you? Pharmacies here will order special items they don't carry - if they can find a supplier. ??????

Here in the US most garden centers and seed stores will carry it. Maybe even a Menards, Fleet Farm, Home Depot or Lowes would as well.

For the UK, do they call the DE something different there? It might be searching for it online is not working because they use a different name for it. It is such a common safe thing that it should be readily available.

It really is the best way to treat a house without chemicals for people that are sensitive, especially bedding and furniture. It keeps working until it gets wet. It basically dehydrates the insects that get it on them.

Here in the US most garden centers and seed stores will carry it. Maybe even a Menards, Fleet Farm, Home Depot or Lowes would as well, or a local livestock supply place.

jenny, since you have tile in your house I am betting you have fleas in the furniture. Try wrapping and sealing (try to make it as airtight with duct tape as possible) your bedroom mattress in heavy gauge plastic, this is sometimes necessary in households with bad head lice infestations to prevent reinfestation. If it works with lice I would think it would work with fleas as well.

I've found an online supplier in the UK: http://www.greengardener.co.uk/produ...id_product=221 You'd have to call to see whether they'd ship to France (or have your daughter do it for you)

N/B Due to the nature of our products (i.e. living organisms), they are only available in the U.K. via this web-site.
For information on products available to Southern Ireland / Europe please telephone 01603 715096 or Email / write to us.

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This place also has DE: http://www.pesthelp.co.uk/weshop/flea-control.asp
but it doesn't say whether it's food quality, and while they'll ship to France, the delivery costs are rather high.

Thanks, I will try them. I have tried explaining what it is to my local pharmacy (who are great friends and try to help with all my problems) and in the UK at Wyvern Garden Centres (one of the biggest chains) and at Pets-At-Home (the biggest pet supermarket). So online seems to be the way to go. The problem is less than it was, but they are still there, and I wondered about wrapping the furniture! I have already removed all rugs and cushions but I know they are still in the sofas and in my bed. I do use flea collars around the house and I am vacuuming constantly, and I can find none now on the cats. The only good side is that I have absolutely no inclination to sit down and watch TV in case I get bitten. So I am doing masses more work outside.

Sorry, Laurie, I thought you had the problem - I was wondering how you would be able to isolate the cats in the RV!

You don't have to believe me, but if you spray aoround the perimeter of the room at the baseboard, and continue vacuuming once a week, you will rid yourself of the fleas. I did it successfully. putting flea collars around the house will do nothing.

I am spraying EVERWHERE. Right now I think I may be winning, but I have been here before and they came back. I think I stopped too soon before all the eggs hatched/were killed. But I have not been bitten for three days now, which is a record.

Originally Posted by jennyranson

I am spraying EVERWHERE. Right now I think I may be winning, but I have been here before and they came back. I think I stopped too soon before all the eggs hatched/were killed. But I have not been bitten for three days now, which is a record.

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You don't have to spray more than once a week, just be thorough, and pay particular attention to cracks, seams, where the fleas hide and lay their eggs. Keep vacuuming too, once a week on a schedule. You will win.

Originally Posted by GingersMom

Food grade Diatomatious Earth, all the way. Can be sprinkled on EVERYTHING, including cats (just don't inhale it and don't get it in their eyes.)

Let it lie once you've sprinkled it into the rugs - use a broom to sweep in into the fibers.

The flea hatching cycle is about 3 weeks, so if you can stand to leave it on carpets & cat beds, etc. for 3 weeks, then it'll help rid the infestation.

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Absolutely agree with this. I've never found anything that got rid of fleas so fast in my house than this. When I control fleas with DE, I often don't need to use Advantage at all.

I have two amazing sister cats who are going to be 25 years old in June. Since moving to Florida from Boston we have contracted an awful flea infestation. We never had them before and have been battling them for months now.  Due to the girls age I have been leery about using harsh chemical as this infestation has caused a mange like hair loss. I called the local vet to purchase flea shampoo, they don't carry it but they did say to use Dawn Blue Original formula to bath both of my cats and my dog.  It was explained to me that the dish soap will kill the existing fleas but will not kill eggs etc. I also use Brewers yeast in their food to help as I found it on an all natural site. I also found out that after I bomb the house today I need to repeat it within 14 days or less. wish us luck, I can't stand watching my kids have to deal with this - i'll post again once I bath them today and see what happens with Dawn.  

Diotemaceous Earth (DE) will kill the tapeworms that have a symbiotic relationship with fleas.  Make sure it is food grade.  The stuff they use in pool filters has chemicals in it that are harmful.

You can also use it sparingly and dust the carpets with it.  CAREFUL  - it is very fine and can be inhaled, which will make you and the cats uncomfortable.  Do not use it often - it destroys vacuums, too.

DE is microscopic, fossilized seashells that literally slit the tapeworms, fleas (and eggs, I think) with their sharp edges. You can get it on Amazon.