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How to spray house for fleas

post #1 of 11
9/2/09 at 6:50am
Thread Starter 
I posted below about my cat having fleas. We got rid of them on her and I wasn't sure if our house was infested or not (I had never seen one in my house) but I just had a flea on my leg a few minutes ago so I think that means the house probably has them. I heard heard that using the spray is the best way to get rid of them. What kind of spray do I want and where do I go to get it? Also, what do I need to spray besides the furniture/carpet/pet bedding? Is it safe to use on blankets we use and such? I have a 9 month old daughter who puts everything in her mouth, help!
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post #2 of 11
9/2/09 at 7:38am
Thread Starter 
PS- I was thinking of shampooing my carpets too, should I do that before or after spraying?
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post #3 of 11
9/2/09 at 7:42am
You probably have lots of fleas and eggs in your carpeting. Shampooing may not be the solution. Find a nursery or farm store that sells food grade diatomaceous earth and sprinkle that in all your carpeting and furniture. Brush it down into the fibres (use a broom for the carpeting to get it down into the fibres). DE is not "earth or soil" - it is ground diatoms which are a miniscule sea creature and when ground up the pieces are like powder to us humans but like shards of glass to insects.

DE is safe to ingest so would be quite safe around pets and children. Some folks actually feed some to pets and livestock to get rid of internal parasites. The DE MUST be food grade though NOT pool grade. If you cannot find a store in your area, it can be purchased online.

ETA: We had a very severe infestation of fleas one summer and we bought sprays from the vet and from a store as well. None of it worked. Our infestation was so bad that we ended up calling in an exterminator, took the cat to the vet overnight to be de-fleaed and basically went away for the day. That was the only way we managed to get rid of the fleas.
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post #4 of 11
9/9/09 at 7:28am
One flea infestation I had so bad I couldnt even live in my house nothing we tried got rid of the fleas but I bought raid bombs for the house and was out of it animals included for 2 days one for the bombs to clear out and 1 for cleaning the house out. I used 2 bombs per room just to be safe and washed EVERYTHING with Dawn dish soap and heavy duty cleaner. I have 2 daughters also and they were very young when this happened and all was well after bombing and cleaning the house! Id try that you can get them for about 6-9 dollars for a box of three bombs. If I ever had a problem again Id use them in a heartbeat they worked great for me. While cleaning though I bought carpet sprinkle to kill fleas and spray for the furniture also..It worked great for me.
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post #5 of 11
9/9/09 at 10:58am
Quote:
Originally Posted by 3CatsN1Dog View Post
I used 2 bombs per room just to be safe
Just so everyone knows, using too many can be extremely dangerous. You have to set them off by hand and only have so long to get out of the home. By over doing it you decrease the amount of time you have and risk breathing in a lot. It can make a person very sick (there are stories of them messing up people immune systems and basically "frying" peoples nervous systems) or if you breath in enough it could kill you.

Point, anyone trying them be careful and always follow the instructions when you're handling what is essentially a deadly poison.
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post #6 of 11
9/9/09 at 11:25am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Yosemite View Post
You probably have lots of fleas and eggs in your carpeting. Shampooing may not be the solution. Find a nursery or farm store that sells food grade diatomaceous earth and sprinkle that in all your carpeting and furniture. Brush it down into the fibres (use a broom for the carpeting to get it down into the fibres). DE is not "earth or soil" - it is ground diatoms which are a miniscule sea creature and when ground up the pieces are like powder to us humans but like shards of glass to insects.

DE is safe to ingest so would be quite safe around pets and children. Some folks actually feed some to pets and livestock to get rid of internal parasites. The DE MUST be food grade though NOT pool grade. If you cannot find a store in your area, it can be purchased online.

ETA: We had a very severe infestation of fleas one summer and we bought sprays from the vet and from a store as well. None of it worked. Our infestation was so bad that we ended up calling in an exterminator, took the cat to the vet overnight to be de-fleaed and basically went away for the day. That was the only way we managed to get rid of the fleas.
Did you try the diatomaceous earth and did it work for you, or did you have to do the exterminator anyways?

We're treating the cats with Advantage, but the house still has them. The cats have never been outside, and this is the first year we ever had fleas. It's frustrating because I know people who don't put Advantage or Frontline on their animals, they let them outside, and still don't have fleas. And mine have never been out and bam - we get fleas. Ugh. The poor cats have no idea what's going on, I feel so bad for them. We are on the second month treating with Advantage. I hope we can get this cleared up.
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post #7 of 11
9/9/09 at 12:06pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by kittysback View Post
Did you try the diatomaceous earth and did it work for you, or did you have to do the exterminator anyways?

We're treating the cats with Advantage, but the house still has them. The cats have never been outside, and this is the first year we ever had fleas. It's frustrating because I know people who don't put Advantage or Frontline on their animals, they let them outside, and still don't have fleas. And mine have never been out and bam - we get fleas. Ugh. The poor cats have no idea what's going on, I feel so bad for them. We are on the second month treating with Advantage. I hope we can get this cleared up.
Sorry, I seem to have been confusing in my post. At the time I had to have exterminators I did not know about DE.

Since you are using the Advantage on your cats, that will kill the ones that jump on for a meal. Many others are living in your carpeting and furniture. Get the DE and put it on your carpeting, brush it down into the fibres with a broom, put some in your upholstered furniture. It is like a fine talc and will just sort of "poof" out when you squeeze the bottle. Just don't breathe it in since it can irritate your lungs. It won't hurt you - just irritate. It is very important to get FOOD/HUMAN grade and NOT POOL/INDUSTRIAL grade DE.

If I had known about DE those many years ago when I had to get an exterminator, I would not have needed to use those poisonous chemicals in my home.
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post #8 of 11
9/21/09 at 10:01am
Thanks for the clarification. Do you know -- does the DE kill the eggs too?

The reason I ask is that it's starting to get cold here, and I haven't seen any fleas in the carpet the last few days. If all the fleas are dead, and I apply the DE to my carpets, will that even help at all? If the eggs/larvae stay dormant until spring, and then hatch, then I will just have the same problem again, right?

Then again, if the eggs hatch, and the DE is already in the carpets, then any new fleas that hatch should die, right?

Thanks for any insight!
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post #9 of 11
9/21/09 at 11:21am
Quote:
Originally Posted by kittysback View Post
Thanks for the clarification. Do you know -- does the DE kill the eggs too?

The reason I ask is that it's starting to get cold here, and I haven't seen any fleas in the carpet the last few days. If all the fleas are dead, and I apply the DE to my carpets, will that even help at all? If the eggs/larvae stay dormant until spring, and then hatch, then I will just have the same problem again, right?

Then again, if the eggs hatch, and the DE is already in the carpets, then any new fleas that hatch should die, right?

Thanks for any insight!
The DE is like a fine talc to us but like shards of glass to insects. If you get it down into the fibres of your carpet it will continue to kill any fleas that hatch, yes.

Flea eggs can lie dormant for about 1 year I believe.
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post #10 of 11
9/21/09 at 7:53pm
Thanks... that makes sense. I'm a little concerned now because I don't know if the Advantage is working on the cats. This is the second month I've given it to them, but it seems like about half-way through the month, they have fleas on them. I'm flea-combing them, and pulling off dozens of fleas. Last month, towards the end, they were covered in fleas right before they were due for their second dose. Now this month, it seems to be the same thing. They are due in 2 weeks and I'm starting to see fleas. I don't know if this is normal or if I need to get something else from the vet. Ugh, this is so frustrating!
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post #11 of 11
9/22/09 at 10:26am
Quote:
Originally Posted by kittysback View Post
Thanks... that makes sense. I'm a little concerned now because I don't know if the Advantage is working on the cats. This is the second month I've given it to them, but it seems like about half-way through the month, they have fleas on them. I'm flea-combing them, and pulling off dozens of fleas. Last month, towards the end, they were covered in fleas right before they were due for their second dose. Now this month, it seems to be the same thing. They are due in 2 weeks and I'm starting to see fleas. I don't know if this is normal or if I need to get something else from the vet. Ugh, this is so frustrating!
The fleas you are seeing are probably jumping on for a meal from your carpeting/upholstery. They aren't living on the cats. Maybe you need to ask the vet about switching to Revolution for awhile in case the fleas are getting a bit of an immunity to the Advantage.
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