Help with Fleas!!!

When I got my cat, she was covered in fleas! I bought the Borax laundry booster, sprinkled my rugs and her, and then bathed her in Dawn detergent [the blue one] and the fleas were gone! I also sprinkled the Borax in the yard too.

We had the same problem the first of the year. I have 3 dogs, and it is the first time I have ever had that problem. My pest control guy did wonders. It is a special spray he use inside and out and 6 months later we are still flea free. You might want to try him. His company name is "Howie the Bugman", number is ###-###-####. Hope it works for you as well as it did for us.

Buy a few flea bombs (kind of like foggers) put one in each room of the house. Should stay out of the house the whole day especially if you have children. make sure you air out your house after. You should do the frontline solution on the dogs and have them dipped at the same time house is undergoing treatment. wash dog beds and vacuum after bombs.

In addition to treating the inside of the house, you'll need to treat the outside of the house and keep the dogs on a flea medication like advantage.
I used to rent an old house with old wood floors and the fleas were horrendous there, and they were coming up through the wood floors from the outside, so the outside had to be treated as well as the inside and the dog.
Hope you can get it under control soon. I know that's annoying!
Take care,
V.

I feel your pain! I moved in with my sister, (she moved out shortly after) but she had 5 cats! All with fleas. I was certain that the carpet was infested so I laid out strips of tape, upside down on the floor one night and when I woke there were tons stuck on that tape. And that was only in my bedroom! The vet should have a powder that you can buy and sprinkle on the floor. Way back, it was every certain number of days because of the flea/egg cycle. I used that for over a month. Also, the vet told me that after I vaccum up that powder, to make sure I vacuum every single day for at least a month.
Best of luck to you!
Jen

I strongly agree with the suggestion to use diatomous earth. It is safe for your kids and pets which should be your first priority. Many of the poisons you spray are not and those chemicals stick to everything. And, the spot treatments are NEUROTOXINS that can lead to all sorts of problems and disorders in your pets...not to mention your kids if they pet the animals.

DE is safe and pretty inexpensive. You can get food grade through gardening supply shops and online. Ordering from a gardening company is generally cheaper than a pet supply place and it's the same thing.

Remember too that fleas reproduce on a two week cycle so treat now and continue to treat for two weeks if you use the DE. Personally I would treat for a full month for a bad infestation. But you need to put it in the yard, the pet food and your carpet/upholstery to treat all areas at once. Just treating one portion at a time won't work.

We went on a week long trip to Texas last summer so we turned our air way up to keep it from running while we were gone. Our dog stayed with someone else. Well, when we returned, the fleas were practicly forming waves, washing over us! We couldn't step into any bed room with carpet without instantly being covered with them!

Here's what we did....

We learned that the flea eggs that we didn't even know were there hatched because we turned the air up and made it nice and warm for them! Once we were home, we turned the air back down and solved that problem.

We stripped every bed and treated all the carpet with flea powder, letting it sit for longer than they said to.

Then we switched our dog to a different flea treatment because frontline just wasn't working on her. We put her on Comfortis. It's a tablet that she eats every month. That stuff worked like a charm!

That was last summer and we haven't had a problem since then. We have gone on a few more trips but this situation hasn't happened again.

Hope this helps!

Call a pest control company to treat the exterior of your house and your yard. Our dog passed away last year, but when we had him, we had the exterior sprayed every other month, and it worked like a charm. It was $40 each time they came, but well worth it. You will need to treat the animals and the inside of your house as well

Fleas and Ticks are everywhere right now and you do not even have to have a pet to get fleas in your home. However, once you have them, patience and persistence are the key. Getting rid of a flea-investation is not a easy thing. It can take weeks or even months if you do not stay on top of it and the key is to break the cycle. Capstar is only a temporary fix, it kills the fleas that are presently on the dog but does not protect them from fleas 24 hours later. My best experinec has been with Frontline Plus and when investation is bad I suggest applying Frontline Plus again 2 weeks after the initial application to break the cycle. You have to vacuum your home every day and get rid of the content in the vacuum right after ( and do not empty the bag in your house). Your bedding and anything the dogs are sleeping on needs to be washed every other day. You can also get a spray called Adams Flea Spray.If you have a home with a yard you need to spray the yard and then again respray 10 - 14 days later. You can buy a flea comb and get them out of the coat. There are Garlic pills available for dogs that work as a repellent as well. Another favorite are flea collars that you can get at the store ( Pet Smart, Pet Supermarket etc.)
I know that fleas are a nuissance to you and your dogs, but they are also a mayor health-risk for your dogs that can get very expensive as well.
Grooming would help at this point too. If your dogs have a full coat, consider having them shaved for now. You can even shave a lab, they actually look great that way. This may be a good time to call a professional groomer and have them take care of the dogs. I do not recommend Flea dips however, they can casue some bad reactions on dogs.
Here is the bottom line - there is no quick fix. Don't go crazy with chemicals in your house, but be vigilant.
I am not a veterinary, just someone who has dogs and owns a Luxury Mobile Pet Grooming Business and live for dogs:)
Good Luck!

I would recommend you call a professional.....we use terminix pest control and they are very good. You can also try sprinkling borax on your rugs, leave it on for a few hours, then vaccuum it up.

I have a similar problem, but with ticks instead of fleas. They told me I needed to treat the house, yard and dogs at the same time, or they will just come back. We use Scott's lawn service and I told them to treat the lawn specifically for ticks (also kills fleas), the same day as the house was treated. On that day, I took the dogs to the vet for professional de-ticking as well. It cost a lot to do this, but the problem is much better!!! So it was well worth it.

Scotts comes back every month to treat the lawn, apparently because the life cycle of the tick is such that they lay eggs and the eggs will hatch and come back if you don't re-treat every month. I'm not sure if the same applies to fleas.

Lastly, have you tried treating your dogs with Frontline or K9 Advantix? These are drops you put on the dog's skin and the protection lasts for a month. they also sell flea collars (most vets carry them, as does pet supermarket) which are supposed to protect the dog against fleas. These things are not as effective against ticks, but apparently they work well for fleas. The problem is if you have the fleas in the environment, you need to treat everything at once.

ok to start with you have to get Advantix for the dogs here is the cheapest site to order from. I have 11 dogs, 4 are inside and I have no flea problem. the site is http://www.petsuppliesnet.com/list.htm I have ordered several times from this site and did alot of research on prices. Advantix ends the life cycle of fleas and makes it so the lay infertile eggs. Ok for your house, put Borox laundry soap on the carpets let sit for an hour and then vaccum up. If your house does not have alot of sand in it then you can reuse the laundry soap.

Wow poor you!!! Why dont you get Frontline for the dogs its great my two dogs are outside and up to know eveythying has been good cause we give them Frontline once a month. Hope this helps. Good Luck!!

Once you deflea your pets, give the house a good cleaning, be sure to wash all linen and pet beds. I use Dawn dish soap to shampoo my dogs and I use advantage. I also sprinkle salt on my carpets. The fleas eat the salt and get dehydrated and die. You have to sprinkle the salt after every vacuuming

E.,

There is a solution. Maybe one that you don't want to hear. It does not involve getting rid of your dogs. First, I would take them and have them professionally dipped and then call Orkin. I have them service my home and I do not have any problems with any kind of pests. I no longer have my dogs, not because of fleas or anything but because of health issues with my husband and kids. But orkin saved me when everything I tried was failing. Once you get them out to the house you get the dogs treated once a week or every other week until you see a difference. At first it can be a bit costly but in the end it can and will be worth it.

Good luck.

S.

My indoor cat got out ONE day by accident and came home with fleas! It was a nightmare, so I know what you are going through. It took about a month and a half to totally rid my house (and cat) of the fleas. This is what I did: I washed my cat in flea shampoo and soaked him in the tub for at least 5 minutes in the bathtub. I realize you have dogs and this may not be feasible for you to soak them, but you can wash them in flea soap. I washed and soaked my cat once a week AND on the same day I washed him, I removed him from the house so I could "bomb" the house. Once it was safe to go back into the house, I washed the cat again in flea soap...so really, I guess I washed him twice a week. Also on the day I bombed, I vacuumed all the tile floors and large area rugs, as I did not have wall to wall carpeting at the time, thank goodness! Once I vacummed, I emptied the vacuume canister right away. Dogs are so much harder because you cannot get away from keeping them from going outside. If it were me, I'd give the dogs a new home, but that is me. Fleas on my cat that one time was an ordeal. I don't know if you have a large yard that your dogs run in, but perhaps there is something to spray in the yard? I really don't know about outside pesticides but you can bomb the inside of your house every week. I'd just be certain to wash the dogs on the same day.

Have you treated your yard? That's where they are bringing them in from. One product I used for treating our yard is safe for kids, pets and the environment. I am a Shaklee Distributor and the only product I use on my lawn is Basic H2, an all natural, biodegradeable, green cleaner. It's great for windows, degreasing, and all purpose cleaning.

Our neighbor informed us that he was having his yard treated for fleas and ticks the next day, because he had a horrible tick problem. We immediately treated the yard with the Basic H2, especially all along his fence to be sure none of the pests escaped into our yard. We never had a problem before or since he had his yard treated. We spray all the plants, trees and shrubs. It won't hurt them. You can use it to clean your house, floors, carpets, etc., and not have to worry.

If you would like to try a sample, please e-mail me directly and we'll make arrangements to get you some.

E.
____@____.com

I had that problem several years ago. I sprinkled clothes detergent (powder) over ALL the floors over night and swept and vaccuumed next day. You will have to fog each room at same time every week. Fleas hatch every 14 days so you will have to continue this . The dogs are getting them from house and YARD. I bought stuff you spray with water hose and covered the yard with seven dust. You might want the kids to stay with grand ma or something so you can do these things. Once a week till they are gone. The fleas are in your furniture, carpet, curtains, clothes, toys, everything, so this is a process and an agrivating one. Good Luck !!! Hope this works for you ! C.

Hi E.,

I hear your frustration. We had the same problem last summer. Our dog had been on Advantage for a long time and also Frontline. The problem is, according to my vet, the flea products stop working after your dog's been on them a while. The fleas become immune. We switched to Comfortis and it works really well. It kills the eggs, the fleas the larvae everthing. Within 30 minutes of the first application, I saw dead fleas on my dog. Awesome.

Talk to your vet for advice. He also had us spray the yard once a week for several months to get a handle on the situation. (If you do this, be sure to get one that is safe for kids and pets.) And, I used a fogger twice in the house. It's been over a year and we have zero fleas. I really like the Comfortis. It's still working for us more than a year later.

Good luck!

I had a problem like yours. You are going to feel sick when I tell you what worked after many dollars wasted!. Boric Acid Powder. If you have carpet, they mate and hatch there. If at all possible and the family could spend the night somewhere else, it is best but if not give yourself and the family the longest amount of time possible from the home. Sprinkle the boric acid into the carpet and where the fleas are hatching and leave it there for as long as possible and then come in and vaccumn thoroughly. Repeat a few more times if you still continue to see some fleas. It worked the one time for me and I have never had the problem again. Of course,your pet must be getting flea and tick preventions and kept up to date on the applications, or it will continue because they will keep getting infected. I used "advantage" also and you can get it from the pet store now without going to the vet all the time. Best of all I bought the boric acid from the dollar store. Just make sure it just says boric acid, not mixed with anything.Good luck

Put a small container (more like a styrofoam plate) with dishsoap under a night lite. At night, the fleas are attracted to the light/warmth and jump into the soap...they get stuck and die.

Sorry if you already got this advice I didn't read all the responses, but I would call Terminix or someone comparable and have them fog the house and treat the yard. Then get capstar from your vet (really cheap) and give one pill to each animal in the house. This should take care of it. I would keep all the animals on frontline all year too. Good luck!

Hi E.,

We had the same problem a few years ago when we lived in base housing we went on vacation came home and my cats were covered with fleas and so was my house. We called and exterminator and he told use to use Sevin dust to treat our yard, garage and our dog. We took our cats and dog to the vet and got them a flea dip. We went and bought the Sevin dust and treated our yard and garage. We found out the fleas were coming from the next door neighbor from when he would brush his dog the hair was full of fleas and he wouldn't contain the hair so by it floating around the fleas ending up in my yard and garage. So don't get rid of your dogs, like many people who have responded mentioned you have to treat your yard first then treat your pets and then treat your house. Also, I was told fleas are attracted to white so if you wear white socks around the house you can tell if the fleas are still hanging around if there are none on your socks. If you don't want to use the Sevin dust in your yard then I also suggest you try one of those spray bottles you hook up to your water hose that way it will still work even if it rains. Hope this helps good luck.

i had this problem with mites last yr. i started using FOOD GRADE DIATOMACEOUS EARTH. it's a fine, non toxic powder that doesn't harm humans or animals. it's not a chemical. it works by peircing the "skin" or shell of all insects and so they "bleed" to death. i have treated my dog, home, and yard. you must get the FOOD GRADE OR FRESHWATER DIATOMACEOUS EARTH, there are several kinds and "POOL GRADE" IS TOXIC.

here is more info, porbably better than i am able to explain. http://www.ghorganics.com/DiatomaceousEarth.html

also, you can use FOOD GRADE DIATOMACEOUS EARTH as a natural dewormer (for animals and humans)

http://www.diatomitecanada.com/fossil-shell-flour-diatoma...
http://holisticpetsupplies.co.uk/product_info.php?product...