Can't get rid of fleas

Yikes, that doesn't sound like fun for anyone! I haven't had that problem as of yet and I put Advantage or Advantage II on my 2 cats every 4 weeks (knock on wood!), but I would maybe suggest trying Frontline or Revolution instead of Advantage, in case they are building up a resistance to it. Also, you need to get the fleas out of the house somehow. If you search for DE or diatomaceous earth on the forums (or on the internet), that's supposed to be good to get rid of fleas in carpets and stuff. But if you do go that route, make sure it's food grade, so it won't harm you or the pets. Also, get a flea collar and cut it up and put it in your vacuum bag or canister, so any fleas you vacuum up will die. And I'm sure other people will come along with other ideas to help too..

I hope you can get the flea problem under control soon so your babies stop itching!!

Definitely go with the diatomaceous earth! You can get it from Home Depot like places....but make SURE it's not the kind they use in pool filters...DONT get it from a pool place. It is supposed to work great, and it's not a poison like flea medicine or bombs. (I haven't ever used it..we don't have fleas here.)

I had heard that using sunlight dishwashing soap works wonders for fleas.... I'm not sure though as we've never had fleas (knock on wood)... the only thing I would be worried about is that it will probably dry their skin...


I just found this article... you might find something you'd like to try
http://www.wikihow.com/Get-Rid-of-Fleas-Naturally

I understand that if you have a cat with fleas, you can use dawn dish soap (haven't heard that of sunlight, but likely the same) by using a very small comb like you would use for lice, and dipping it in the soap and water and combing the kitty all over. This is especially good for kittens, who can become very sick or die if they get fleas. So I don't THINK you immerse them in the dish soap...you use the comb....PLEASE check around the forums before you try this.

When I had 3 cats that got fleas (from laying in open windows)the vet gave them each a capstar pill (kills fleas and eggs within one hour) and had me frontline them the next day. They also told me to wash all bedding and vacume floors and chairs thoroughly. They also said that just vacuming would be anough to kill the fleas as the force of being sucked up alone kills them. If you would feel better using something on floors and chairs, Borax dry laundry detergent works too. Sprinkle it on floor and chairs, let sit for an hour (do not rub in), then vacume. Vet said this works good for massive infestations.

Hope you get rid of them soon. Fleas are a pain!!!

I hate fleas...I hate all bugs actually.

You can bathe a cat with dish soap. Just make sure you rinse very well. Then comb afterwards. I personally do not care for flea drops so I use flea shampoo and then comb.

I have been doing some googling because I have noticed that there have been more and more complaints about flea meds not working. From what Ive gathered Frontline is the number one offender for not working. Ive heard good things about Advantage II being the best right now.

Things are really bad where I am because all the rain we have had literally made any and all bug killer used useless. Everytime they respray it rains for a week straight so its doing nothing.

Im actually bombing my house right now because its not just seeing a couple fleas (about ten between 4 cats and the dog) but its all kinds of different bugs and I spray my house twice a year with Home Defense Max and its not doing anything anymore. Even the pesticides in the fields that used to keep all the bugs away is useless.

This summer has been horrible for bugs in general and fleas.

I'd try a different flea treatment and treat your house...
I have had a constant battle with fleas with my cat - we are quite rural and I know she brings them in sometimes (A few years ago I did a trial over a few weeks in summer and (when I could) I flea combed her throughly before she went out and then as soon as she got back and about 80% of the time I found a few immature (small) fleas on her return...)
She used to have a pyrithin (Sp? ) based flea collar - and became infested so I switched to Frontline drops from the vet - which worked for about 2 yrs and suddenly she was infested again (and worse because with a flea collar I flea combed her to check her every few weeks with frontline I didn't think I needed to!) ...so I switched to a collar with Diazinon and that has worked fantastically for 18 months or so ...but over the last few months it appears to have stopped working...and I'm battling again...thinking of changing to the other type of flea collar and seeing if that works...
I think fleas do become immune to some pesticides...(even though Frontline deny this strongly - I've heard of other cases...)
My vet's assistant said Frontline wasn't working because I hadn't treated the house -but with small children I'm reluctant to do so with stong chemicals...
but I do steam the carpets once or twice a year and wash them once or twice a year...I would say frequent vacuuming is the most important - and also agree with the flea collar in the vacuum (I know someone who actually saw fleas jumping in the vacuum bag!)
Flea larvae actually live on the dried blood faeces from the adults that drop off the cat along with the flea eggs ...they can get to pupal stage almost anywhere...A couple of years ago I had an open plastic box of plastic baby toys under the window in my bedroom waiting to be got rid of ..it wasn't touched for maybe 6 months..when I eventually did start sorting through it I noticed fleas jumping around (YUK!) - I think as the cat jumped up on the window sill the flea eggs and droppings had fallen in the box, developed to the pupal stage and were just waiting for heat/movement/breath to emerge!!!
One last thing - ONLY USE FLEA PRODUCTS SPECIFICALLY FOR CATS - some for dogs are fatal for cats ...my cat managed to get into an area that I had treated for woodworm - the label said that it was dangerous for cats - the vet recommended a bath follwed by careful monitoring - later I discovered the chemical responsible was Pemethrin and this widely used for dog flea control (and I think in low doses is in some cat flea collars!)

Actually, I worked at Home Depot and the diatomaceous earth that they sell is not safe for pets. You need FOOD GRADE diatomaceous earth. I've only found it online.

A little bit goes a long way so you don't need to buy a lot to treat your home and / or pets.

This is a really cool article from science daily (they sound academic and reliable) about how just plain vacuuming is a great way to kill fleas.

 

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/12/071217111010.htm

 

Which is perfect because I had a frustrating experience with the carpet powders ... be careful with the flea powder stuff that you put into carpets (I used Hartz brand, I think it was the plus which was supposed to eliminate fleas, eggs and ticks), I poured it out, then tried to sweep it into my carpet as per the instructions, my apartment became so "smoky" looking because of the huge dust cloud this created, I actually needed to leave because I felt like I couldn't breathe. It also it says that you need to wipe down all food surfaces that might be exposed to the powder. So if you are in a studio apt like me... good luck with the kitchen area! Also, I vacuuming all the powder off of the carpet, but was afraid of other surfaces my cat might walk on, then lick her feet, so I ended up wiping down almost all the surfaces in my apt to be safe. Also, I got a decent looking rash on the backs of my hands, possibly just extremely dried out skin, but all in all the whole process was kind of a pain.