Pls, I need flea help.

[WarszawaScream]

Ok so TL;DR I’ve got my 6 year old resident cat who has her own suite, a 12 year old mutt, and downstairs a rescue momma and her four kittens (three months old). All cats are indoors only; momma and the kits were flea free when I brought them in. Husband just forgot his dog’s flea treatment, mutt brought fleas in, resident cat is unaffected, but feral momma and her kits all got fleas. I gave them all Advantage 2 and feral momma a Capstar, vacuumed/shampooed all area rugs, hot washed/high heat dried all day and dog bedding, and we were fine for three weeks - but now they’re back.

I am inexperienced with fleas so guys, help me out - what do aside from vacuuming everything every day? I gave everyone another A2 treatment, we used flea powder on the area rugs and are vacuuming every day, I’m trying to get momma to take another Capstar mixed in Churu but she’s a little wise to my sh!t.

EVERY little bit of advice helps because I am highly allergic to fleas, the bites don’t itch me BUT I have a steroid-grade allergic reaction to them so like… yeeeaaahhh. Halp.

 

[FeebysOwner]

It sounds like you are doing pretty much what you need to be doing. You just have to continue to keep it up and consider using something like Precor 2000 to spray inside the home, as well as using something to spray the area outside your house as well. It can take a while to break the cycle with fleas, so be diligent - and patient.

Maybe you can get some tips from this site - FleaScience

 

[stephanietx]

Sprinkle diatomaceous earth (food grade) around the area. It's safe for pets and humans. Use a flea comb and blue Dawn dish water to comb mom & babies. You can also bathe kitties in blue Dawn dish soap and water to remove fleas.

 

[silent meowlook]

Hi. If it was me, I wouldn’t bath because it will stress the kittens, and you’ll probably get hurt. Especially don’t bath after having applied a topical product or a couple of days before applying.
If you have a regular veterinarian, I would go to them and get Revolution. The regular, not the plus, and wait for at least 2 weeks after you applied the last Advantage 2. You can check with the vet to be sure.

Treat every animal in the house at the same time. Don’t bother with capstar since it has no residual effect. But every cat and dog needs to be treated. You need to treat them all at the same time every 3 to 4 weeks no matter what.

wash all the bedding and everything you can wash like you have done. Vaccume like you have done and empty the vaccum immediately after using it. Also detach all the hoses and wash them outside. Take any area rugs and wash them if you can. If they aren’t washable, put them in the sun.

Fleas cannot survive in direct sunlight. I wouldn’t use any flea powder or d flea spray. I know they claim they are safe for cats, but they really aren’t. Also don’t get fooled by the “ all natural” products for cats. Also not safe. Just because things say they are safe for cats, doesn’t mean they are.

There is a product called Wondercyde
Flea & Tick Spray for Pets + Home with Natural Essential Oils
I would never use it on the cats or in the house, but spray around the outside of your house, where you walk in and where the dog goes. Also spray your car inside lightly.

Fleas are easily transferred on peoples Sox and shoes.

Get a good flea comb and comb everyone every single day. This will let you know how the battle is going.

Remember fleas can hide in cat litter, so change it regularly.

It will be allot of work, but with this plan, you should be ok soon.You just have to stay on top of it even if you don’t see any fleas.

 

[WarszawaScream]

Hi. If it was me, I wouldn’t bath because it will stress the kittens, and you’ll probably get hurt. Especially don’t bath after having applied a topical product or a couple of days before applying.
If you have a regular veterinarian, I would go to them and get Revolution. The regular, not the plus, and wait for at least 2 weeks after you applied the last Advantage 2. You can check with the vet to be sure.

Treat every animal in the house at the same time. Don’t bother with capstar since it has no residual effect. But every cat and dog needs to be treated. You need to treat them all at the same time every 3 to 4 weeks no matter what.

wash all the bedding and everything you can wash like you have done. Vaccume like you have done and empty the vaccum immediately after using it. Also detach all the hoses and wash them outside. Take any area rugs and wash them if you can. If they aren’t washable, put them in the sun.

Fleas cannot survive in direct sunlight. I wouldn’t use any flea powder or d flea spray. I know they claim they are safe for cats, but they really aren’t. Also don’t get fooled by the “ all natural” products for cats. Also not safe. Just because things say they are safe for cats, doesn’t mean they are.

There is a product called Wondercyde
Flea & Tick Spray for Pets + Home with Natural Essential Oils
I would never use it on the cats or in the house, but spray around the outside of your house, where you walk in and where the dog goes. Also spray your car inside lightly.

Fleas are easily transferred on peoples Sox and shoes.

Get a good flea comb and comb everyone every single day. This will let you know how the battle is going.

Remember fleas can hide in cat litter, so change it regularly.

It will be allot of work, but with this plan, you should be ok soon.You just have to stay on top of it even if you don’t see any fleas.

Thanks so much, really appreciate you (and everyone else who commented!) Sadly I can’t brush momma, she’s the “look but don’t you DARE TOUCH” indoor feral type, but I’m flea-combing the kittens once a day with the blue dawn comb soak to keep an eye on the situation. All the kittens, my resident cat, and the dog got a topical flea treatment on Friday; momma cat I did my best to get some Advantage 2 topical on but I had to drop it on her from two feet up, so I don’t know if that’s even going to help. I’ll call my vet and see if they can get me something in pill form for her if the fleas persist after another 2-3 weeks.

I dump the litter boxes daily and scrub at least once a week for de-worming reasons so no worries there. (Thank you $7 for 40lbs pine pellet litter, absolute wallet-saver.)

I think the fleas decided our downstairs couch was a good place to make their home, so I vacuumed the heck out of it last night - it’s one of those fake leather ones but there are sections with little perforations so that it’s “breathable” and I’m worried they got inside. Any tips on what I can treat it with? I have some flea spray but it’s the “leave the room and don’t touch until it dries” type and I really don’t have anywhere else I can move momma and her kittens to. I COULD brush it down with diatomaceous earth but is that going to do anything about any potential eggs?

Other small fabric furniture got taken outside last night, sprayed down with the flea spray, and I’m going to give it all a good hit with the vacuum tonight before we bring it back down.

No natural flea products here except for diatomaceous earth - all the ones I looked at have at least one essential oil that’s harmful to cats in them. Not worth the risk no matter how much they claim to be safe for cats. I’m going to use the d. earth underneath the area rugs, and I already put some down by doorway entrances and windows just in case. The area rugs are big boys that can’t be washed.

I do have a steam cleaner and I know the little buggers can’t survive heat, so I’m going to steam clean all the hard surface floors tonight - can also use that on the area rugs if I have to, but I’m hoping the daily vacuuming will be enough. Again, if they persist in another 2-3 weeks then I’m gonna steam clean ALL THE THINGS.

Husband will not be forgetting his dog’s flea treatment again, tell you that much lmao.

At least Resident Cat is still flea-free, she and the dog don’t get along so we have a pet gate up that prevents him from getting within three feet of the door to her “suite”, so they haven’t made their way to her (yet; god willing they won’t at all.) Was hoping to introduce her to the two kittens we’re keeping this week since they’ve got all their shots now but - nottttttt until the flea issue is a non-issue.

 

[silent meowlook]

Yeas. For sure, get fleas under control before introductions.
I would think you could spray the underside of the cushions with the wondercide. By the way, thatis the only product I would say to use because something has been doneto get rid of something in the essential oil part of the spray. I also would never suggest using on an animal even though it’s designed for that.
I worked a day at an integrated holistic veterinary hospital and they swore by it. I still wouldn’t use on them.

 

[WarszawaScream]

Yeas. For sure, get fleas under control before introductions.
I would think you could spray the underside of the cushions with the wondercide. By the way, thatis the only product I would say to use because something has been doneto get rid of something in the essential oil part of the spray. I also would never suggest using on an animal even though it’s designed for that.
I worked a day at an integrated holistic veterinary hospital and they swore by it. I still wouldn’t use on them.

So I DID end up ordering some Wondercide, thanks for the tip - the Cedarwood one doesn’t have any of the oils I was concerned about. Definitely going to use that outside in conjunction with the d. earth (which only works as long as it doesn’t rain or otherwise get wet.) The couch sadly doesn’t have cushions that come off, it’s a big 3-seater and everything is attached. Going to try to continue vacuuming the bejesus out of it daily and see what happens; I could treat it with d. earth or flea powder and cover it with plastic for a few days before vacuuming it in the worst case scenario. (Never thought I’d actually ~want~ to cover my couch in plastic like grandma did, lol)

 

[iPappy]

So I DID end up ordering some Wondercide, thanks for the tip - the Cedarwood one doesn’t have any of the oils I was concerned about. Definitely going to use that outside in conjunction with the d. earth (which only works as long as it doesn’t rain or otherwise get wet.) The couch sadly doesn’t have cushions that come off, it’s a big 3-seater and everything is attached. Going to try to continue vacuuming the bejesus out of it daily and see what happens; I could treat it with d. earth or flea powder and cover it with plastic for a few days before vacuuming it in the worst case scenario. (Never thought I’d actually ~want~ to cover my couch in plastic like grandma did, lol)

It's been a few days, I hope you are seeing improvement! Fleas are SO annoying.

 

[WarszawaScream]

It's been a few days, I hope you are seeing improvement! Fleas are SO annoying.

Slow and steady wins the race; it’s just a matter of keeping myself on track with the daily or every-other-day vacuuming, which…. I have ADHD, so keeping myself on any track is a monumental task

But so far so good; I haven’t seen any adult fleas in some days now and combing the kittens every day only reveals one or two little ones with numbers dwindling by the day. My vet got me a prescription 30-day pill for the momma, so I have to give that to her today. And then it’s just vacuum, steam clean, vacuum, vacuum, flea treatment, vacuum, steam clean, vacuum, wash rinse repeat.

Wondercide arrived yesterday so I’m going to treat around outside with that, fingers crossed that we keep seeing the good trend

 

[heatherwillard0614]

Another thing to keep in mind is if a cat injests an infected flea they can get tapeworms. Here is a link to another thread with some information about tapeworms

Usually when you have a flea problem you want to treat for tapeworms. Which is a specific medicine.

Cleaning house after worm infection??

We adopted a feral kitten several months ago. We took him to the vet before bringing him home and he was treated with dewormer. Fast forward to a few weeks ago we noticed the kitten had diarrhea so we took him to the vet where they ran a fecal test for parasites but it came back negative. Fast...

thecatsite.com

3 Ways to Treat Tapeworm in Cats - wikiHow

Every responsible cat owner should worm their cat regularly. However, what many owners do not realize is that cats can be infected with two different species of worms: roundworms and tapeworms. If you think your cat has tapeworms, make an...

www.wikihow.com

I hope the flea problem will have completely subsided soon, especially being allergic to them. Fleas are pesky little buggers. They just need to leave our fur babies alone lol

Hopefully you won't have to worry about tapeworms. If you do though, themedicine for the treatment is very effective

 

[iPappy]

Slow and steady wins the race; it’s just a matter of keeping myself on track with the daily or every-other-day vacuuming, which…. I have ADHD, so keeping myself on any track is a monumental task

But so far so good; I haven’t seen any adult fleas in some days now and combing the kittens every day only reveals one or two little ones with numbers dwindling by the day. My vet got me a prescription 30-day pill for the momma, so I have to give that to her today. And then it’s just vacuum, steam clean, vacuum, vacuum, flea treatment, vacuum, steam clean, vacuum, wash rinse repeat.

Wondercide arrived yesterday so I’m going to treat around outside with that, fingers crossed that we keep seeing the good trend

Keep at it!!! It sounds like you're really on top of things. I've dealt with flea problems before and it feels like you're spinning your wheels, but slow and steady really does win the race in this situation.

 

[Alldara]

Food grade (not pool grade) dianatious earth can be placed under the baseboards and such in your home. (I used to don a mask and use cardstock to push it under to prevent pests in apartments). It's safe to have around infants and pets as long as it's not say in the middle of the floor being kicked up all the time. (It can be a lung/airway irritation if it's somewhere like that. However, I had it around my bed on the ground for over a year with two rambunctious cats with no problems due to bedbugs in the building we lived in. My wife, myself and one cat all have athsma and were okay.)

We ordered the dianatious earth (DE) from Amazon and from Canadian Tire in the past. If you're American, Home Depot might have online.

You can treat a carpet with it, keep animals out and then vacuum up in a couple hours.

For outside the home, you could try nematodes. We got ours off Amazon after iPappy posted. Beneficial nematodes for flea control

 

[iPappy]

Food grade (not pool grade) dianatious earth can be placed under the baseboards and such in your home. (I used to don a mask and use cardstock to push it under to prevent pests in apartments). It's safe to have around infants and pets as long as it's not say in the middle of the floor being kicked up all the time. (It can be a lung/airway irritation if it's somewhere like that. However, I had it around my bed on the ground for over a year with two rambunctious cats with no problems due to bedbugs in the building we lived in. My wife, myself and one cat all have athsma and were okay.)

We ordered the dianatious earth (DE) from Amazon and from Canadian Tire in the past. If you're American, Home Depot might have online.

You can treat a carpet with it, keep animals out and then vacuum up in a couple hours.

For outside the home, you could try nematodes. We got ours off Amazon after iPappy posted. Beneficial nematodes for flea control

Slightly OT from the OP, but A Alldara I'm excited to see if you have the same results as I. Have you applied them yet?

 

[Alldara]

Slightly OT from the OP, but A Alldara I'm excited to see if you have the same results as I. Have you applied them yet?

I applied one batch each to the front and back small gardens...but a bit of focus on where the mouse in the back frequents.

I did not have any fleas on the cats, but I did find some in the garden (before application) and noted that the roaming cats in the area all had flea collars this year which is unusual for my area. (I assume they jumped on me after leaving their cat host who had been rolling there a few hours before???)

So far, all three boys have gone to the back leashed and Magnus to the front and there has been no signs of fleas. I didn't find anymore in the garden either though I can't actually remember how long they live off-host.

Now to note is that most animals in my area are treated for fleas and ticks. So my guys generally have some extra "herd protection". So it's a bit of bias results. I just had never seen them in the garden before and wanted to be safe!

 

[iPappy]

I applied one batch each to the front and back small gardens...but a bit of focus on where the mouse in the back frequents.

I did not have any fleas on the cats, but I did find some in the garden (before application) and noted that the roaming cats in the area all had flea collars this year which is unusual for my area. (I assume they jumped on me after leaving their cat host who had been rolling there a few hours before???)

So far, all three boys have gone to the back leashed and Magnus to the front and there has been no signs of fleas. I didn't find anymore in the garden either though I can't actually remember how long they live off-host.

Now to note is that most animals in my area are treated for fleas and ticks. So my guys generally have some extra "herd protection". So it's a bit of bias results. I just had never seen them in the garden before and wanted to be safe!

This is great news!! I'm so happy you've tried it and am excited to see how things go. I read they can last for several years, which is a huge bonus!!