I live in an apartment suite with my kitty companion and I recently discovered a few bed bugs in the suite. It doesn't appear that I have a heavy infestation or anything, since I've checked my mattress and other areas where they're supposed to gather and found none when I check each night, now. The few I found were completely randomly (one on the couch, another on the wall, two out on the bedsheets).
My apartment wants to treat my suite for the bed bugs and I'd love to get them gone before they get to any appreciable levels, but before any chemicals are used in my suite, I always check them with the vet and on the Internet before giving the go-ahead.
The product they are going to use is Prelude, to be mixed at a 0.5% concentration for application on the baseboards, my bedframe and other surfaces.
I consulted with multiple veterinarians that told me that not only should the cat remain out of the suite for the duration of the application time, but also the 8 week period that the insecticide itself would be active. That would mean moving my cat out of here, possibly forever, because if this does not kill the bed bugs on the first application, they will have to re-apply after the 8 weeks.
I can't refuse to allow them to control the bed bugs (nor do I want to). The health board has already been called concerning my initial refusual to apply the Prelude and I have a minimum amount of time to resolve this between the Health Board, the pest control professionals and my apartment managers. I have no control over what pest control company is used, but the Health Board has given a tentative suggestion that with a vet's letter stating the dangers of permethrin that I may be able to suggest another safer product be used in my suite.
I am leaving this apartment in 4 months, but they refuse to wait that long to treat, and I do not have the means to move myself or the cat alone out of the apartment for that length of time without leaving altogether, and I'm tied in by my one year lease.
I know that permethrin is a no-no with cats, but I'm hearing conflicting information. Some sites are saying that low concentrations (0.1%) are safe to use with felines, others are saying pyrethroids are safer to use if they are microencapsulated (lower LD-50).
I have read multiple sites on the Internet of people using applications similar to Prelude for intense flea infestations of around the same concentrations (0.5-0.1%) with no mention of negative effects. However, there is also plenty of discussion of any pyrethroid at all causing problems.
I found a microencapsulated product by the name of Tempo SC that is still a synthetic pyrethroid. The various vets I have called have no toxicity information one way or the other on this product, and my searches on the Internet have been rather fruitless, except to reveal that it is also another pyrethroid.
Would this be safe to use in place of the Prelude? Is there any product at all that can be used that is not harmful to my cat? I can be evicted or forced by the Health Board to accept this treatment if I don't find alternatives or a solution.
Any help anyone can offer is appreciated, I really don't want to have my cat killed by these guys!
My apartment wants to treat my suite for the bed bugs and I'd love to get them gone before they get to any appreciable levels, but before any chemicals are used in my suite, I always check them with the vet and on the Internet before giving the go-ahead.
The product they are going to use is Prelude, to be mixed at a 0.5% concentration for application on the baseboards, my bedframe and other surfaces.
I consulted with multiple veterinarians that told me that not only should the cat remain out of the suite for the duration of the application time, but also the 8 week period that the insecticide itself would be active. That would mean moving my cat out of here, possibly forever, because if this does not kill the bed bugs on the first application, they will have to re-apply after the 8 weeks.
I can't refuse to allow them to control the bed bugs (nor do I want to). The health board has already been called concerning my initial refusual to apply the Prelude and I have a minimum amount of time to resolve this between the Health Board, the pest control professionals and my apartment managers. I have no control over what pest control company is used, but the Health Board has given a tentative suggestion that with a vet's letter stating the dangers of permethrin that I may be able to suggest another safer product be used in my suite.
I am leaving this apartment in 4 months, but they refuse to wait that long to treat, and I do not have the means to move myself or the cat alone out of the apartment for that length of time without leaving altogether, and I'm tied in by my one year lease.
I know that permethrin is a no-no with cats, but I'm hearing conflicting information. Some sites are saying that low concentrations (0.1%) are safe to use with felines, others are saying pyrethroids are safer to use if they are microencapsulated (lower LD-50).
I have read multiple sites on the Internet of people using applications similar to Prelude for intense flea infestations of around the same concentrations (0.5-0.1%) with no mention of negative effects. However, there is also plenty of discussion of any pyrethroid at all causing problems.
I found a microencapsulated product by the name of Tempo SC that is still a synthetic pyrethroid. The various vets I have called have no toxicity information one way or the other on this product, and my searches on the Internet have been rather fruitless, except to reveal that it is also another pyrethroid.
Would this be safe to use in place of the Prelude? Is there any product at all that can be used that is not harmful to my cat? I can be evicted or forced by the Health Board to accept this treatment if I don't find alternatives or a solution.
Any help anyone can offer is appreciated, I really don't want to have my cat killed by these guys!