flea misery :(

[Ginevive]

Ohh man. We have somehow contracted fleas.I only have one cat; we were doing fine for years. Then, my landlord had someone drop-off a few feral cats outdoors.. (STUPID if you ask me.. one disappeared almost instantly into the woods. The other one was seen by my landlord in the jaws of a fox.) I was livid (yet another reason why I can't wait to move.)

But anyhow, I have started getting bitten in the night again.Like when we had fleas before. My cat, Inky (fat, pampered housecat) has been scratchy as well. I have only seen one flea.. but I cringe thinking of how many are around.. And my ankles/ribcage/arms being bitten.. no way. I just bought some Advantage online; I used it years ago. I figure that pretreating him before the move is wise as well, since if we are in apartments, there could possibly be fleas.

Just a vent/gripe on my part; thanks forreading. Fleas really are the scum of the earth, in my book; NO redeeming qualities. Argh! (itch, itch..)

[llovelace]

If you have carpet put down a box 20 mule team borax & work it into the carpet, works well.

[Swingline0.0.1]

Last year we got fleas from our neighbors dog..he got in the house, and then they were the bane of my existence! We got desperate after a while and got carpet power you vacuum up in like an hour, and never had them again. I don't let my neighbor's dog near my house anymore.

[SatanicIntention]

Advantage or Frontline, plus some CapStars(you can give them every day if needed), plus some Borax or diatomaceous earth(found at garden store, very inexpensive) in the carpet.

Be sure to treat outside with the borax and especially the door jams and entranceways in the house.

[Ginevive]

Yowch! Thanks. I am glad that we really don't have any carpet in the house; it's all hardwood. I had a few area rugs.I do plan on doing the borax thing; it seems very inexpensive and effecive, from what I hear. I have some area rugs that I could work it into, roughly one in each room.
How about flea "bombs" that you set off in the house? I seem to remember them working in the past, but I hate having to remove all reptiles/animals from the house,and vacate it as well.. if the borax would work better, and be less invasive, that'd be great.

[Luvmycreatures]

Fleas will bite humans but they can't live long without a host. If you treat your cat(s) and treat monthly with a safe product like Advantage and clean/wash/vacuum all soft surfaces they should die. You can do Borax or diatomaceous earth but they will eventually go away. In general bombs/sprays are horrendous. We often treat pets for illness because they or their environments have been over treated.
You have to treat any other animals that can be hosts for fleas as well.

[Ginevive]

Fleas will bite humans but they can't live long without a host. If you treat your cat(s) and treat monthly with a safe product like Advantage and clean/wash/vacuum all soft surfaces they should die. You can do Borax or diatomaceous earth but they will eventually go away. In general bombs/sprays are horrendous. We often treat pets for illness because they or their environments have been over treated.
You have to treat any other animals that can be hosts for fleas as well.

Thanks I treated Inky with Feline Advantage, on Wednesday. That night, I got a few bites. Last night, I got none. I also washed our bedding last night, and dusted around the bed/dresser.. I definately DID see some dead fleas in our sheets yesterday! Each one was a triumph.
I don't have any other pets at the house (besides wild mice/farm rats, etc) to treat. No more breeder rats.. I think that with just one cat, maybe the fleas were feeding on me out of desperation? With Inky treated, hopefully this horrificness is behind us. Thanks everyone