Fleas (What do you do Post Bath)

Both Pearl and Pandora we discovered still have fleas, despite us washing them before we moved....and picking the fleas out with tweezers and squishing the ones remaining after the bath to ensure their deaths....that way we wouldn't have a flea problem anymore...

So when we got here, we assumed that the cats would stay flea free....

Cause my ILs don't have any pets or anything.

I didn't think that flea eggs could stay on the animal...anyways.


We gave them a flea/tick bath tonight (they are both older than 5 months old now)....and they had quite a few...which is perplexing as it is...

Well now....well before now but now it's worse apparently....hubby is getting bitten by the fleas cause they don't want to be on the cats....cause it's the type of shampoo that keeps them off for 30 days.

We JUST washed the sheets yesterday....so really puzzling, and the carpet here....we just put it down two days ago.

Not to mention, we are staying in my ILs house and if they find out the cats even had fleas....especially more than just one or two....they are not going to be too happy about the cats being here...and then what...know what I mean.

So Is there like a room spray that works really well that you can use to kill the eggs???

I'm not getting bitten oddly enough....guess they just don't like me.

(((Also, no more baths for kitties for a while...cause I got gouged on my shoulder and neck by Pearl))).

But any thing else I can do, besides what I've done.....or do we just wait and see.

We missed maybe a few fleas on the cats....the ones that went near their eyes because I am not going to put soap of any kind near their eyes...be it dish-soap or flea shampoo....those I tried to pluck off.

Are those few fleas going to create a problem....eesh.

I don't know.

I mean hubby's leg is like tore up...he must have at least 12 bites around his ankle and a few on his belly and on his forearms....

I know they would probably lay their eggs or would have laid their eggs where the cats sleep, so should we re-wash the sheets and pillow-cases??

First off, never do flea dips/baths. Use Dawn Dish soap, flea shampoos are too harsh and sometimes cause more harm then good. Then sit and pick out all the fleas with tweezers like you did and flea comb over the cat. Then apply Advantage, Frontline or Revolution. Continue to comb over with a flea cob for a few days.

For our flea problem, which we were LITERALLY getting ate up also,a member here mentioned the Borax.I went to Wal-Mart and got 2 boxes of it.I put down BOTH boxes,our blue carpet was white from it.
I left it down for that day and the next day, I set off foggers in EVERY room here.I should note that my babies were NOT here,they were at MIL's house.
Then I vacuumed it all up and changed the bag,taking it out to the garbage right away.
I bought Frontline plus and put it on my babies.I still noticed fleas............BUT they were either dead or dying.
There is a med that you can get from the Vet to spray around your house for fleas.Can't remember the name though.
Good luck,fleas are TERRIBLE!!!

Home and room defoggers work well. My first apartment was infested with fleas prior to bringing my puppy there. So he ended up with fleas, and every human had ankles that looked like a connect the dots puzzle. I tried sprays, meds., etc., but until we combined the other remedies with fogging our apartment, we still had issues with fleas.

I don't know how you will be able to fog without your in-laws knowing what is going on. And you will have to find a place for you and your cats to be.

Originally Posted by ButterflyDream

I'm sorry, not to push any buttons, but I've tried dawn on them...didn't work. And it can't be any harsher than putting advantage or frontline on them....cause its a pesticide also that keeps fleas off by getting into the skin and going all over the body...and you don't wash that off. Not that I hae a problem with those products...cause we are going to use them, but please don't anyone tsk tsk me for giving them a flea bath. If I've tried dawn and it didn't work, I'm gonna try flea shampoo next....period. I'm not asking about that. I'm asking about what to do next.

I'm just saying.

Besides....that was what we are going to do with them.....but that still doesn't kill the fleas that are all bouncy around.....and eating off of the non-flea bathed humans (not to mention I bought the gentlist flea shampoo I could find, it doesn't even smell pesticidy).

Which is what I was asking about...I didn't ask to be tsk'd about using flea shampoo. I love my kitties enough that if dawn isn't going to work, and these things are sucking on them, I'm going to use what I need to use and if they sell it, especially in well known pet stores...such as PetSmart (where I got it) then it can't be fatal unless swallowed...and I'm not planning on making them drink it...

And again, no problems with Advantage....but it's a pesticide just the same....and it doesn't get washed off....it just soaks into their skin (which though I don't have a problem with it, the method does bother me).

So okay, off soapbox now...I'll just re-state....don't tsk me on giving them a bath...just asking for advice as to what to do now that they are de-flea'd to prevent them from becoming re-flea'd so we don't have to do this again....mmmKay.

Click to expand...

I believe there have been some misunderstandings here and we really must try to be respectful to each other. Firstly, Dawn is NOT a flea treatment. Dawn is used in conjunction with a flea comb in that you comb out the flea and drop it in the Dawn solution which drowns the flea.

Over-the-counter flea products (even if they are bought at Petco, etc.) usually do NOT work and can cause illness and sometimes death and this is not an exaggeration. PM Hissy if you want to learn more about these kinds of deaths.

If you truly want to rid your cat of fleas, go to a vet and get the proper treatment, i.e., Advantage, Revolution, Frontline. The vet will prescribe dosages that correspond with the weight and age of your cat. IMO, to use OTC products is like playing Russian Roulette - you might get away with not harming your cat but it's a big chance you are taking. You also probably won't get rid of your flea problem with those products either.

There are numerous threads on this forum about fleas and treatment of such. Take a moment and check out some of the previous threads - there is a lot of information for you to reference.

And please, let us try to be kind to one another.

I had a flea problem and i do mean a MAJOR one.. I used Frontline Plus.. a few days later he still had fleas I called the vet and he told me to use Cap-Star It's a pill that works for 24 hours that kills fleas on your cat/dog//

This week-end I bombed my house I didn't see any in the house but just to be sure... so good luck and call your vet.

I have to say, it's not just flea baths/dips. I wouldn't use any OTCS flea product on my cats. Run a search in Google for Hartz Victims and see what you come up with (it's concerned with their drops and collars mostly, but not only). Pesticides are not all made equal. Some pesticides, like the ones used in Frontline and Advantage work differently and are therefore less harmful to mammals, even when they get into the body. I will say no more, other than to refer you to do the reading. And if it's another product you're planning to use, I suggest that you research it first, Google the name and see what stories you come up with.

You can also go a more non chemical route with Food grade Diatomaceous Earth, you dust in on your cats, as well as, their bedding and on carpets. Here's some information on it.........

http://wolfcreekranch1.tripod.com/defaq.html