Stubborn Fleas

I guess I got lucky the summer before last. We have 3 cats and it seemed like out of nowhere we went from 0 fleas to the equivalent of the Chinese flea army in less than a month. At first we just bathed them and that did not seem to do anything. Then tried collars again to no avail. Then she red online that vacuuming all the carpet every day could help. We started doing that twice a day, I did it in the morning before work and she did it in the evening after work. The numbers dropped pretty good but there was still the occasional flea sighting. We got one of those junky little lighted glue traps (I thought it was kinda dumb and would not work) amazingly though it seemed to clean them up pretty efficiently. After about a month we were not seeing fleas anywhere and there were no new ones in the traps.

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Originally Posted by Kodieh

Not really trying to call you out, but can you provide evidence to the fact that flea collars are dangerous? Mildly effective in conjunction with bathing and preventatives, I'm sure it be a piece of mind sort of thing.

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Absolutely :). I'll look for some studies now. I was just going off of what we always told clients back when I was working at an animal hospital. If I remember correctly, it had to do with ingestion of the chemicals used, especially in regards to cats and for those with small children. Kids are notorious for putting things in their mouths, and with a cat's grooming habits, well you get the picture.

We advised against them because unless an animal was supervised at all times, they could easily slip off and chew the offending collars (heck, my dogs do that with regular collars!). Anywho, I'll try to find some references.

Grr I wish I still had access to all the databases I had in school. Most of the articles I found are really dated and I can only read the abstract :/ I found quite a few personal accounts, and there appear to be a lot of websites dedicated to petitioning the EPA to ban flea collars, specifically the insecticide Propoxur. Looks like a lot of anecdotal evidence, but here's a bit of what I found from a quick search:

http://archopht.jamanetwork.com/data..._5_013.pdf.png
Possible link between unequal sized pupils and flea-and-tick collars. Not conclusive by any means, but figured I'd throw it in lol. Verry old study.

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF01061094
Another old study, couldn't read the entire thing, but there seems to be a positive link between flea collars and cancer. But telephone interviews can be unreliable, IMO.

http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/mr...m_you_get.html
From the NRDC, an environmental group. It would have been really helpful if they'd included some scientific studies, but meh.

http://www.nrdc.org/health/effects/pets/execsum.asp
Also from NRDC. A summarized report and recommendation to ban flea collars. A link to the full report can be found in the summary.

I'm sure I could find some better resources if I wasn't on an iPad, but I'm not doing a research project, so y'all can do some more digging if you're so inclined. I personally would just follow the advice of my vet, rather than using store bought flea collars with questionable chemicals. Especially when those collars come with warnings that there are carcinogens used.

I have friends that swear by food grade diatomaceous earth to get rid of fleas on carpets and furniture. I don't have any personal experience with it but they say it works great and it's non toxic.

http://gsp-rescue.org/diatomaceous-e...-flea-control/

I hope you can get rid of the little buggers. I HATE fleas! Only thing I hate worse is ticks.

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Originally Posted by CrystalRose

I have friends that swear by food grade diatomaceous earth to get rid of fleas on carpets and furniture. I don't have any personal experience with it but they say it works great and it's non toxic.
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X2

Diatomaceous Earth is the best natural treatment ever! Even the non food grade kind. You can dust your animals with it directly. And because the diatomaceous earth is little sharp particles of diatoms, it literally cuts apart all the mites and fleas to death. Its harmless to the animals.
And the food grade kind can be ingested to get rid of internal parasites.

If you want a really good chemical flea treatment, get Revolution. It does ticks, fleas, ear mites, and heart worms. Way better than Frontline or Advantage.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

Salting your carpets is a good idea as well. It sucks the moisture out of the eggs and they can't hatch. If you can stop them from multiplying, it doesn't take long (with other efforts) to put an end to fleas. I'm currently dealing with fleas my roommate's cat brought in. I was the only one being attacked and I couldn't walk across the living room without three or four biting my legs. I salted about a week ago and I haven't been bitten in a couple of days. I'd salt the carpet, vacuum a week later, and reapply. Lemons are a natural deterrent as well. Boil sliced lemons and set them in different places in the house for a couple of hours. Boil them again and let them seep overnight. The juice left over can be used as a spray for places that you frequently find the fleas, or where it is most important(spritzing your bed and couches are a good measure).
We bought flea bombs, but we haven't used them yet. From how things are going, it looks like we won't need to. But if you have animals, its very important to use medications and shampoos. If the animals have fleas, they are just going to continue to reinfect the house.

I am the owner and head groomer of a groom shoppe in the city. We see fleas all the time. Unless you protect your pet from its environment (which during the warm months is home to fleas) then you will never get rid of them. What I mean by that is, fleas live everywhere but your pet. They jump on and feed or lay eggs and then jump off. Even the eggs will dry up and fall off your pet into the environment where they will hatch in about 2 days. I have a rotti X that is at the shop with me every day so he is on flea meds all year.

The flea has a four stage life cycle starting with the egg and ending with an adult. Make sure you treat your pets with a product that treats every stage of the fleas life cycle. Some shampoos and topical treatments only treat adult fleas. And some vet meds like sentinel act like flea birth control allowing the flea to feed off your pet but not reproduce.

We use revolution on our dog. Your pet must have a blood work up to test for heart worm before starting this treatment. You must treat every pet in the house.

as for over the counter flea meds and flea collars it is best to stay away from them, a one size fits all approach can end up hurting your pet. Thre are three kinds of flea collars an electronic collar, a gas emitting collar and and collar that allows the med to be absorbed through your pets skin. I would suggest doing so me research before you put any of these on your pets.

I have had some of my clients swear by an amber collar however I have not seen any hard evidence that they actually work.

cheers