Stubborn Fleas

My mom and I recently moved our 2 cats and small dog into her Fiance's house. He already had two big dogs. We didn't know that since last summer he has had fleas... and has not been doing anything about it. He didn't tell us. I'm the only human being eaten so it took my mom and I awhile to find out what was biting me. But anyways, We have treated the animals monthly and have bathed the cats and my mom's dog. Her Fiance is being very lazy taking care of his two Shelties. They have not been bathed even though I told them we had to. We have bombed the house TWICE and we still have fleas.

Does anyone know any way to finally get rid of these things?

The easiest way to get rid of flea infestation is to set the house on fire. Hope this helps lol. You need to wash everything and steam clean the carpets if you want to DYI. The other option is using a pest control company. That option sucks because of the chemicals that are used but it is effective.

They sell the powders at pet stores that would help, if you've got mostly carpet. Flea collars are an added measure, on top of intensive bathing.

Had fleas only once and it sucked. We bug bombed our apartment. Only needed one treatment.

Treat every animal in the house with advantage flea drops. it will kill all the fleas on the dogs and cats and every flea in the house will jump on the animals at some point and get killed too. I had a nasty flea infestation years ago and tried everything to get rid of them flea baths flea collars rug powder bombing the house etc etc. got the advantage and within 3 days there wasn't a flea in site. now I treat the dogs and cats monthly and haven't seen a flea in 10 years.

Just an FYI, stay away from flea collars. They don't work and can be dangerous. Last summer we moved into a house that was infested in fleas. Here's what we did:

1. Give everyone with fleas or that might have fleas a bath with regular Dawn dish soap. I did about 3-4 scrubbings each because I'm paranoid :)
2. Frontline/advantage ALL furry animals, even if they're strictly indoors.
3. Bug bomb the house. Alternatively, get a pest control company to do it for you.
4. Deep clean!! Wash sheets, blankets, everything the infested animals have come into contact with. Steam clean anything that can't be washed (couches, chairs, mattresses, etc).
5. Use frontline/advantage religiously each month. This will prevent a reinfestation.

And that's what worked for us :) Flea free for almost a year!!!

One note on frontline/advantage/etc. - Give the animals 3 days after bathing before applying it. The compounds need the natural oils on the skin to absorb properly (which are obviously stripped off in a bath).


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Originally Posted by MootWorm

Just an FYI, stay away from flea collars. They don't work and can be dangerous. Last summer we moved into a house that was infested in fleas. Here's what we did:

1. Give everyone with fleas or that might have fleas a bath with regular Dawn dish soap. I did about 3-4 scrubbings each because I'm paranoid :)
2. Frontline/advantage ALL furry animals, even if they're strictly indoors.
3. Bug bomb the house. Alternatively, get a pest control company to do it for you.
4. Deep clean!! Wash sheets, blankets, everything the infested animals have come into contact with. Steam clean anything that can't be washed (couches, chairs, mattresses, etc).
5. Use frontline/advantage religiously each month. This will prevent a reinfestation.

And that's what worked for us :) Flea free for almost a year!!!

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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.

According to my vet, the spot on treatments (frontline, advantage, etc.) is no longer working in all areas of the country. It has not worked in East TN for the last couple of summers. You might have to use comfortis and treat your yard as well as your home. I hate putting any chemicals in my dogs but had to switch to comfortis last year when the spot on treatments stopped working.
Sorry you are having a flea problems, I hate the little buggers. :mad:

The coastal fleas here are resistant to Frontline. I've talked to other owners, and they say the same- every flea treatment out here, the fleas adapt to. Reeeally frustrating. Right now bathing, manually picking them off, and praying the frontline does SOMETHING is what I'm doing. I'm still getting bit at night, though. Going to invest in a flea comb and look into treating the yards....sigh. Also need to set up our flea trap, which works. The dog has fleas, but thankfully there aren't many in the house- yet.

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.

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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