Losing my mind over fleas. Could use some advice.

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If you are using the food grade DE, there is no reason not to put it in the carpets, work it in, leave it in overnight, then vacuum.  Be sure to always have some DE in your vac bag also to destroy any fleas that are sucked up.  If you have a paper bag in your vac, remove it when done, seal it in a plastic bag, and throw it in the garbage can outside.

I would suggest you "make flea soup" daily.  Get a good metal tooth flea comb if you dont have one already.  Put some water in a bowl, put a little dish soap in the water and stir it up.  That breaks the surface tension so when you drop fleas into it, they will sink and drown.  Comb the cat with the flea comb, especially around the neck and head.  After each swipe of the comb, search for fleas in the comb and if you see any, quickly flick them into the bowl of water using your thumb or finger.  The flea comb will also remove the black flea dirt.  Flick that into the water also.  It will turn red because it is dried blood, your cat's blood.  Eventually you will not be getting any fleas or flea dirt out.

In the OLD days, before we had any flea medications at all, that was how we deflead our cats.  We did that every day, usually on the kitchen counter next to the sink.  The cats would line up and wait for their turn.  They knew it made them feel better.

I might end up doing that, actually. I wound up giving in and just calling the company who makes the drops I use and talked the poor woman's ear off and got tons of technical information and comforting words that helped quell most of my fears, so that was insanely helpful in just helping my state of mind. I will do the trick with the 'feal soup' though. At least on my 14-year-old because when I was doing that at the start of all this she really seemed to enjoy it.

Thanks again for the help.

puck said:

 
Scratching can be treated...it can take a while for the inflammation flea bites cause to diminish to the point you no longer see them itchy.

I understand you funds may be limited but 2-3 days of corticosteroids may help your itchy kids. Ask your vet if they can prescribe any without an exam. If they've been to the vet in the last year, had their hearts listened to (ausculted), and have no heart disease, your vet may be fine filling or calling in a Rx of steroids.

Click to expand...

That itchiness the fleas cause is a bugger for many. It can take weeks after no fleas are seen for the inflammation and itchiness (pruritis) to abate, let alone when still fighting an infestation. Investigating if your vet is willing to prescribe the corticosteroids is a good idea. Explain the extensive measures you've taken, your very limited finances, and your understanding that without an exam, they don't know if your cat will respond to the steroids, and you are electing to start them without an exam. If you haven't been to see them in over a year, it's unlikely they'll prescribe it, but the worst they can say is no. Worth investigating.

^ Ah, thanks Puck, I think I must've just forgotten that part of your post, or in a panic just chose to ignore it. Either or. I will indeed talk to a vet about that though, there are a few different ones nearby I can try, and like you said, the worst they can do is say no.

I think just seeing the cat scratch one spot as much as she did earlier was making me question the effectiveness of the treatment, made me wonder if I did something wrong, etc. It'll take some time but I'll stop that line of thinking.

Ahhhhhhh I know your pain!!!! I also live in FL an it was a nightmare with fleas last year!! We had a few times where Asia had fleas that were brought over from a neighbor or tracked in from outside (she is an inside cat) and we put the advantage on and POOF problem solved! But last year it was nothing like that! I don't know if it is because we now have two cats instead of one but it was terrible! I took Jonah to a pet store for his first birthday and soon found a flea on him! We did everything right and I applied the advantage on both of them, followed by combing for fleas, laying out salt, flea traps, washing everything, vacuuming, and then another month went by and I did the same thing, also giving him a flea bath with dawn before applying the advantage, still nothing. Then after awhile we could not figure out what to do and found a carpet and upholstery spray at Petco and I treated all the furniture and rooms (took hours!) and after awhile the fleas finally faded away! I see you also treated your home, did it say how long it lasted? Or if it was meant to be treated twice? The one I bought (I think it was called zodiac or something similar) says to last 9 months, killing fleas who try to enter the home. If your cats are in advantage and the house is treated, I don't think you need to worry if you see a flea, since it takes quite awhile for it to kill them and they may have just gotten in

^ Most of the stuff we used on the house(there was more than one product) made some outrageous claims that they kept fleas away for twelve months or whatever, I don't believe them for a second, sadly. I can't help it, I'm skeptical.

Otherwise, here's an update for anyone who might be wondering. I've still continued the daily/bi-daily vacuuming. Paying special attention to my room since my 14-year-old has been staying in here but getting the rest of the house as well. I'm still as  hyper aware as I was before and I'm not entirely sure why. When I saw my cat scratch this morning, I inspected her fur to see if I could see anything, and other than a couple spots from where she was scratching, there didn't seem to be anything. I'm still finding some flea feces around though. Not near the quantity of what I found before but it still seems to be there. I'm... not quite sure what this means. I'll admit, since she's older, she doesn't groom as much as she probably should, but surely I wouldn't still be seeing any, right? She's also losing a bit of her fur, which I attributed to shedding thanks to the time of year before but I'm not so sure anymore. I would take a flea comb to her but I'm almost scared of what I might find. I also still have access to a generic-brand Capstar pill that I could give both of them if needed but I want to make absolutely sure that's necessary before doing anything else to them. I'll keep vacuuming as often as possible and once she comes in I suppose I will go through her fur with the comb, to see if I find anything, I'm just not quite sure what I should do if I do, you know? I know the first thing would be to 'not panic' but I think I'm beyond that at this point. I'm beside myself over this and I'm beginning to think that unless something drastic were to happen - like us moving or getting rid of the cats - I'm not sure what will give me comfort.

There's also taking them to the vet, which might be the best bet at this point, due to some issues I might address in another thread, so we'll have to see.

Red Top Rescue said:

You are in Florida and fleas will be a constant.  I would advise using Advantage II drops which are EXTREMELY safe and can be used as often as once a week during infestations.  I live in Georgia and we have a pretty good flea problem too, and I use it every two weeks on the cats who are allergic to fleas, and every 3 weeks on the others.  It's not a war you just win and be done with.  It's an ongoing border skirmish between you and the fleas.  They will continue to get into your house, so you need to make your house unfriendly territory for them to live in, while still being friendly for the cats and humans living there.

Advantage II is the best spot on product because it contains the growt inhibitor in addition to the product that kills fleas.  In addition, the diotomaceous earth is excellent and if you get the FOOD GRADE DE, you have nothing to worry about, it's fine if they eat it, it actually deworms them if they eat enough.  It is not a poison, it kills the fleas by getting in the little cracks in their exoskeletons and drying them out.  Wheether you have carpets or wood floors, just spread it liberally, sweep it in (so it gets in the cracks in the floors etc.) and put it under the sofa cushions and everywhere the cats sleep. 

If your fleas start becoming resistant to the Advantage II, you can alternate with a few of the other vet recommended products just to keep the fleas on their toes.  The flea life cycle is about three weeks so thats why I use the Advantage II every 3 weeks during flea season (i.e. most of the year!)  It does say it protects UP TO FOUR WEEKS but it doesn't promise to protect for the entire four weeks. Don't worry if you see the occasional flea, just keep up the good work.  It sounds like you are doing just fine!

2015-03-19 16.18.45.jpg

• red top rescue
• Mar 19, 2015

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How long should you wait to vacuum after sprinkling the D Earth? And should you put it on your furniture or just the carpets?

Hey Jebb - see my post on this topic:

bests g

I lived in Florida when I was in highschool with two cats. They were indoor/outdoor. During the spring and summer especially (let's face it fleas are year round there unless you get a good freeze one year) the fleas were horrible. My dad declared war when he woke up in the middle of the night to fleas biting him in bed. My dad basically took the cats to the vet and got them flea baths. While they were there and while we were at school and at work he flea bombed the house. You can get these little can things and put them all over the house and it kills them all. We also ripped up the carpet on our screened in back porch and replaced it with tile and washed all the cats bedding. He did this I want to say two or three times (bath and flea bombing). Since then they have been indoor cats. They did okay adjusting to the indoor lifestyle. I think it helped that they had the screened in back porch to still sort of "live outdoors". But that worked for us and since then no more fleas. I want to say he still gives them advantage regularly just in case. But that was years ago and we haven't had a flea issue since.

North Carolina is a right regular booger for fleas, too.  One thing that will help with the house...you stated that you bought flea spray.  Soak a cotton ball in the spray and toss it in your vacuum cleaner bag.  If you have a bagless vacuum, use a narrow strip of cloth and tie it around the filter at either top or bottom.  This will kill fleas in the vacuum and prevent re-infestations from the vacuum itself. 

Poor Hekitty never steps foot outside, but I'm at the tail end of a long battle with fleas.  I tried Frontline, but she is actually allergic to it, switched to Advantage, and the problem was solved.  I used the drops monthly, and when I treated her, I put her in the carrier, out the door, and bombed the house.  Every blessed month for 3 months.

We are currently flea-free, and she is slowing growing her hair back (between the fleas and the allergy to Frontline, the poor baby was quite naked in patches. 

OH...When I lived in Florida, we had a horrible flea infestation, which was all the worse because we didn't even have an animal at that time.  We ended up having to take my boys, who were quite young at the time, to my mom's for 3 days, and spraying the house and yard with a really deadly chemical, then letting everything dry for the remainder of the time before bringing the boys home.  Regular bombing after that kept the house clean, but we had to spray the yard monthly.  Horrible.  The fleas were EPIC that year!

I've also had good luck with the Comfortis pills. I had to give two doses to my animals this last time, but all seems fine now. Someone told me you could set out bowls of water with apple scented Dawn dish soap. For whatever reason the fleas will hop in and drown themselves. Something else you can try is a lemon juice bath. You fill up the tub just enough to cover your cats' bodies with them still being able to keep their heads up out of it, then add 1 cup of lemon juice. Soak the cats in it for a few minutes.

You need to get to the vet 1st of all to rid them from your cats. You will need to bomb every room in your house. The vet will tell you of something good