My Cats Are Infested With Fleas

[grandkitty]

I prefer to use natural remedies instead of using chemical products. What are some good homemade solutions to get rid of these pests (the fleas, not that cats )

 

[red top rescue]

You can treat the environment with food grade DE (diotomaceous earth) wjhich you can get at food stores, making sure not to breathe the dust, working it into the carpets or floor cracks with a broom, then sweep up or vac the excess. You can flea comb your cats once or twice a day, flicking any fleas caught into a small bowl of water with a little dish soap mixed in the break the surface tension so the fleas sink and drown when you flick them out of the comb. (Dont get the comb wet!) That was what we always did long before all these products came out. If the cats are seriously infested, you may want to bathe them. A flea shampoo is not necessary because your plan is to DROWN the fleas, so you can use DAWN or any gentle dish soap, put a thick ring of it around the cat's neck, and start working it into the coat down from there. When the entire cat is soaped and the soap has been on every area at least five minutes, hopefully most of the fleas are smothered. You then can put the cat in an empty sink and use the spray attachment close to their skin (they dont like splashing but they dont notice when its a quiet warmth against their skin) and rinse off all that soap and the dead fleas. Towel dry the cat, and if you have a longhair cat or a shorthair that will tolerate it, turn a hair dryer on LOW and prop it somewhere it aims at your lap and comb the cat in front of the blowing air. Dead fleas will be blown out. Any survivors will be seen running for cover and you can nab those with the flea comb also.

 

[talkingpeanut]

Are your cats still indoor/outdoor?

I remember you! Were you ever able yo convince your husband to spay and neuter the cats?

 

[grandkitty]

red top rescue My cats get extremely mean when I bathe them. One, though she is usually a very calm cat, will bite really hard and will not let go easily! Is there a less traumatic way?

 

[grandkitty]

Are your cats still indoor/outdoor?

I remember you! Were you ever able yo convince your husband to spay and neuter the cats?

Yeah, it took much persistence (read, nagging LOL).

 

[talkingpeanut]

Yeah, it took much persistence (read, nagging LOL).

Good for you! I'm impressed!

If they are going outside, they really need the chemicals. Otherwise, you won't make a dent.

 

[red top rescue]

HOW you go about bathing the cat makes a difference too -- you do NOT start with any running water, you just start with the slimy massage of dish soap into their neck as they stand on a towel on the counter beside the sink. You don't even put them into a sink with water in it. You put at least the back end of the cat into the sink before you even turn on the water in the sprayer, and you keep it quiet and make sure it's cat body temperature, not cold, not hot, just like 101 degrees.

There is another way to kill all the fleas on a given cat, but it is sheer TORTURE for the cat without an accompanying bath so I would not recommend it. CAPSTAR. It is a pill you can give them, and within 20 minutes the fleas start to die. Unfortunately, as they start to die, they go crazy and if a cat is infested, it is as if every flea in hell has been unleashed on them, and they will run and scream and try to climb things to get away from the fleas and they can't. I had this happen with a kitten once. I thought I had combed out all the fleas and then I gave her Capstar because she was terribly infested. Within 20 minutes she was in the condition described above, so I slapped that dish soap on her so fast it wasn't funny and within 5 minutes she was calm again. If the cat is not badly infested, Capstar is great, as it works for 24 hours to kill every flea on their body, but if it's a bad case, pop the pill and then bathe the cat immediately. pr e;se bathe it and THEN pop the ill to catch any leftovers.