Dangit, we have fleas!

Now, we knew wed have to cross this bridge at some point, but bleh.. I was hoping we'd have caught it before I was scratching from fleas.

The housecare I can deal with, but I need opinions- frontline, advantage, or revolution. i myself am leaning towards revolution- controls all the nasties, and I like that. anyone have any bad experiences? Also, I won't buy advantage, as isn't that a pill? and also because it seems prohibitvely expensive when there are other solutions available. I had also read about using a dog formula on multiple cats for one or the other.. is this still possible? I want flea control, but flea control that costs me several times more than the monthly upkeep of my cats usually- that's a bit steep.

Denise i've just used the Frontline and found that ok.

I've only ever used advantage. It's not a pill. It's drops that are applied high up between the shoulder blades. It works very well with my kitties (except Crystal, she may have had a reaction to it). It's sold OTC now and some websites have it fairly inexpensive.

I wouldn't trust using dog flea treatment on cats though.

I've always just used Frontline but I had heard good things about Revolution and wanted to use that.

That being said, I *believe* when we first got Baylee she got some Revolution at the vet's... and less than a month later we were both covered in fleas. So take that for what it's worth...

Good luck... fleas are definitely no fun!

What do y'all do about the house/carpets? How do you get rid of the fleas short of calling in a professional exterminator?

Originally Posted by Yosemite

What do y'all do about the house/carpets? How do you get rid of the fleas short of calling in a professional exterminator?

Click to expand...

When I had my flea problem, I went to the local feed store and asked for a recommendation on some flea treatment. A few of the employees recommended this big ol spray (forgot the name of the brand but the jug is still around here). So then I sprayed everything - my sheets (then I washed them), my floors, the sofa cushions... everything!

Oh I also heard that you're supposed to vacuum *before* you flea treat? I forget why though.

Was the spray not harmful to the cats? I've only had a flea infestation once many years ago (knock on wood), but it was terrible. Over-the-counter remedies just don't get rid of the fleas and the beasties can live in carpets for a year at least! We had to take our cat to the vet for an overnight and de-flea and have a professional exterminator come in and of course we had to vacate the premises for hours after the extermination.

I ask because my husband INSISTS on allowing Bijou outside and as soon as cats are allowed outside there is a much greater chance of getting fleas and I want to be prepared.

Thanks for the answer.

I made sure that it was not harmful to cats - I asked the employees and I checked the bottle. Also, the day that I did that, I believe I shut Baylee in the bathroom while I attacked the rest of the house so she wouldn't get the direct results of the spray.

I've also heard that, along with vacuuming before you spray, to re-spray every few months. Something about how eggs can stay at a place for a while before something will wake them up.

I know that there are other products out there, this is just what I've used - Baylee is an indoor only cat but somehow all the fleas in the neighborhood found us (my stomach was covered with bites) and since I got that spray, I haven't seen one. Well, actually I DID see one when I petted my friend's outdoor cat... but it was ON Baylee and not bothering her because she had Frontline and I was able to easily get it off her (and I'm sure if it would've bitten her, it would've died).

Luckily, I think I caught ours early, but also, we're moving in 2 weeks, lol so, I'll clean as best I can (I'm renting a steamcleaner) and after that .. not my problem!

Remember to throw away all the vaccum bags until the flea infestation is gone, or they'll hatch in the bag and then you'll really have a problem!

Ho Ho had revolution before I brought him home. He had been outside for three months, and he doesn't have a parasite or flea on him. I know we use advantage and frontline at the shelter, and I've only seen an adverse reaction once. It seems to work really well.

Please take care when buying online or OTC at the store. About a year ago there were counterfit products being sold under the frontline and advantage names, and they were harming cats. I dont know if it's still going on, but you should still be very careful.

I'm buying ours from the vet, at least until I get a reputable online dealer secured... lucky us, we have a dyson.. no bag, but I will wash the filters, so that's all good.

Originally Posted by Yosemite

What do y'all do about the house/carpets? How do you get rid of the fleas short of calling in a professional exterminator?

Click to expand...

I used an exterminator when I lived in Texas for the roach problem and asked him to treat for fleas. He laughed and said there is nothing he could do that would totally solve that problem.

His advice? "Vacuum, vacuum, vacuum". Not just open areas but under furniture and use the attachment to get the baseboards. Suck the little buggers up then either spray the bags with flea spray or throw them away. We would put a flea collar in the bags to allow us to use them for a while - the only good use for a flea collar.

Our second technique was to use boric powder. Natural product that when ingested by a flea, causes their stomach to explode and kills them. There are no chemical products that will harm your pets. These are hard to find and I had to ask my vet to order it for me.

Last technique was to get rid of the carpet entirely. Actually easier to clean floors than carpet anyway. I still sprinkle on boric powder in the dead of summer when flea season is at its peak around here.

For the dogs, I use Frontline Plus and for the cats I use a tube of Advantage for dogs that has been CAREFULLY measured in a syringe based on the weight of each cat. I use one large dog size vial to treat my entire gang (of 14). Read the active ingredients for both dog and cat to make sure it is the same - sometimes companies change formulas.

I poisoned my greyhound using chemical sprays that were marked as being totally safe for pets - in fact they were labeled to use directly on your pet but could be used on bedding, furniture and carpet. After the emergency trip to the vet, I threw out all chemical sprays and never bought them since.

Tick season just started here but flea season usually doesn't start until around June.

I just started to use revolution on sakura but she has earmites, so it was the best option for us.
DO NOT buy over the counter product especially from Hartz or Zodiac. I used zodiac on her once because i was desperate and obviously not thinking. She went totaly bald in the area that I applied it and had a really bad rash from it. It took her over a month to heal and get better.

Here's some horror stories about these two products
http://www.hartzvictims.org/
BEWARE THESE ARE HEART BREAKING STORIES!!

No, I'd neverr use anyting lie that.. just pondering my options. I've decided that Advantage is going to be it, and just have to pick it up tomorrow from the Vet.

The worst case of "fleafestation" we have ever experienced was when we were first married and didn't have ANY pets.

The fleas swarmed through like locusts on the Pharoah, and we got something from the local Farm Supply and sprayed the yard and house and got rid of them, but they were awful ! !

They were so bad, that wearing light colored clothing, you would become speckled if you stood still for 10 seconds.

Leonard.

Originally Posted by mrsd

It's weird. We've only had fleas once. But at that time, they bit me and my youngest son only. My older son and husband didn't get one bite. Is that common? I know mosquitos won't bite certain people, but didn't realize it worked like that with fleas.

Click to expand...

When we had fleas, my stomach was literally covered in bites (I got bored and started counting... over 50) and my fiance who was there all the time with me had maybe 2. Lucky. But I have no idea why that happened, weird.

most likely it's your diet that makes fleas want to bite some people more than others