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So we have fleas. We moved to oregon from Montana about three years ago and prior to last year had never even see a flea. It was a shock to say the least. We have two indoor kitties and a dog that only goes out in the yard (unless it's on a walk or in the car). We got fleas. Somehow. We got them before we got the dog so they must have come in on us. We did what you do- wash everything. Sweep the hardwood floors. Spray the couches and drapes. Get the cats medicated with Advantage. Things calmed down, didn't eradicate them, but became more manageable. Kept up the medication and cleaning. Then we got the dog. The fleas exploded! Not literally, sadly. They got so much worse. Of course it's summer an flea season. We have sprayed the yard with Sentry (after diatomatious earth didn't work) and have been washing the dog every week. One cat got a bath but was so sad I don't know if I can do that again! The other is pretty feral and won't let us near her a lot so baths are pretty much off limits unless it's dire. Problem is is that the feralish cat is also, we're pretty sure, allergic to the fleas and has scratched until she has scabs all over. We are taking her to the vet this weekend hopefully (if they are open and I can get an appointment). We are tired of the flea bites on us and the fleas on the pets. What else can we do? It is pretty expensive to board the pets overnight so bombing is a last last resort. Could it be an animal under the house or in the attic? Like a possum? Help! My legs are ugly from the red bites and it's summer! And my poor poor Johncat.
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Jul 2, 2014 06:03
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| # ? May 14, 2024 00:23 |
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Are the cats/dog not on regular monthly flea meds? I know they can still get bites while medicated but it shouldn't be to such an extreme degree. Bathing is unnecessary with flea drops. It also dries out their skin and doesn't keep fleas off. Also, if you dosed them with flea drops and bathed them right after, you're just washing the drops off. When you talk to your vet ask what brand of drops they recommend, in certain areas fleas are immune to certain brands. Don't flea bomb. Do not. You'll cover your house and all your crap in poison and it won't even take out the eggs. If you wanna try a mild solution first-treat your house with food grade DE (this can go everywhere ever, it's very safe unlike the outdoor/pool variety) leave it for about a day and go nuts with vacuuming. Then go back to doing what you were doing before when the problem first started, keep vacuuming, keep emptying everything after you clean. And keep your pets medicated. Getting your house professionally steam cleaned is another option. It won't totally eliminate them but it'll take them down a considerable notch. Outside yard treatment you'll probably need to call an exterminator as the problem comes up if DE didn't have any success. Getting your house spray treated by one might not be a bad idea either judging by your description. (this is different than bombing and you won't need to board your pets) You can also try some natural stuff like planting marigolds, which I am currently attempting on my balcony. Kerfuffle fucked around with this message at 11:27 on Jul 2, 2014 |
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Jul 2, 2014 11:10
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If you're vacuuming, get the hyper allergenic bags and throw them out each time you vacuum. Throw out rugs and pet beds. Flea meds usually can be given more frequently than the usual 4 weeks but consult with your vet. Bathing isn't necessary and doesn't really help, unless the dog likes to play in the mud a lot obviously. But definitely don't bathe for 2-3 days before and after giving flea meds. Also make sure you're getting it in a good spot. Cats are bad. They recommend between the shoulder blades but they just lick it off, so the base of the skull(where skull and neck meet) is really the best place. And definitely have a good amount of skin showing. Alternatively, you can do what the Simpsons did and just put flea collars on yourselves (don't do this) 
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Jul 2, 2014 21:05
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We have all hardwood floors and I sweep almost everyday. All the pets are medicated with Frontline (not Advantage as I thought it was- I called the vet to ask) once every four weeks. We may try to do it every three as suggested. The baths we gave the dog and the one we gave the cat was three weeks after application- I know way better than that! I used the DE outside, but I think it's time to try it inside. Just sprinkle it around for a few days, in every nook and cranny and under the furniture and between appliances, yes? And sweep it up in a few days to a week? Any other tips are appreciated, and thanks for the ideas! I'll try anything at this point!
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Jul 3, 2014 03:49
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Sweeping won't get rid of fleas as effectively as vacuuming.
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Jul 3, 2014 05:47
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It's a pain with hardwood, but switch from sweeping to vacuuming everyday for about 10 days after you treat your place with DE and let it sit. Then see how vacuuming every 2-3 days goes and go from there. But yeah, sweeping will pretty much do nothing. You are going to be sick to death of vacuuming.
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Jul 3, 2014 09:11
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When my family moved south, we had the exact same problem. I would say that you should at least consider bombing your house with DE. It's not ideal, but if it's a serious infestation, sometimes bombing just once and then cleaning the gently caress out of your house can really help. Bomb it, vacuum the hell out of it, wash every piece of bedding you own in the hottest setting, get your yard treated if you think that's where it's coming from--do it all at once if you can. It may seem like overkill, but if a couple of those fuckers slip past you, you might be dealing with this again next summer. Also, ask your vet if you can double down on flea meds. Frontline and some of the other leading brands apparently work using different principles/forms of chemical release, so the right medications can be paired together. What we ended up doing is Frontlining all four pets, waiting two weeks, then giving them an oral flea med, then repeating the Frontline two weeks after that, etc. Staggering the meds so that they were dosed with some kind of anti-flea stuff every 14 days made a huge, huge difference. Combining that with DE bombing the house every month (though we probably should have done it more) eventually took care of our problem. It is expensive to double up on medication, but hopefully you'll only need to do it for a few months. Also! Don't wash your dog every week if you're giving them Frontline! Frontline doesn't go into the body through the skin, it spreads through the oil the the fur and sticks on to kill fleas that come in contact with it. Washing your dog once a week is basically stripping him of his protection (and natural oils, which leads to dry skin, which leads to more itch). TheAbominableSnow fucked around with this message at 04:56 on Jul 12, 2014 |
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Jul 12, 2014 04:37
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You might try switching from Frontline to Advantage, as well. Some years back, I successfully treated a flea outbreak with Frontline one year. The following year, it didn't help at all, but Advantage cleared things right up.
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Jul 15, 2014 17:50
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We have currently put the cats on a medication (topically applied) called Revolution. It is SUPER great! We are finding only dead fleas on them when we flea comb them. The dog, however, has to wait until August 9th to get on it. She has to have a vet check for heart worms (we only recently adopted her) before she can go on it. The Revolution is working so great! Highly recommended if anyone is looking into it. We took the allergic cat into the vet to get a cortisone shot and antibiotics and she is much happier. The other cat got a sick tummy the same week and had to see the vet as well. She got X-rays and IV fluids. Diagnosed with "upset tummy". She is now being spoiled with special wet food until she will eat kibble again. Which means never as she is a special princess (I hope it is just temporary- wet food poop is the worst!) . It was a pricey week for kitties. But they are happier and way less fleas so they are doing well. The Frontline is not working for the dog (and wasn't working before we started washing her once a week), so I am spraying her with a clove/peppermint flea spray every night before bed. No, the cats are not sprayed at all, and they don't get close to the dog so they are not exposed to it. I can't wait to get her on the Revolution too. I hope it works just as well. In the meantime we are using DE all over the house- behind furniture, on floors, under dressers, on the lawn, the porch... as much as we can stand. I am leaving it to sit until we can buy a vacuum this weekend and vacuum it up. I will be buying even more DE and spreading it on the lawn before it gets mowed. Then spreading it again. I think that is where the most fleas are coming from. We were using the Sentry spray on the grass but it didn't seem to help after two applications. I am already seeing a small decrease in flea activity inside. Letting the dog out and then in... she is covered. Which is why the spray down at night. August 9th can't come fast enough.
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Jul 17, 2014 06:26
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Speaking of fleas and ticks, I keep seeing these insects in my house. I think they are biting my pets and myself. My dogs and cats all have that Trifexis stuff. I don't think it is a flea or tick because it has wings. Is it some sort of mosquito? I don't see a proboscis on them. I don't even know if this is what is biting us. 
Hot Wheels Tracks fucked around with this message at 04:33 on Jul 18, 2014 |
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Jul 18, 2014 04:27
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Not an expert but that looks like some kind of ant drone to me.
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Jul 19, 2014 03:10
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little tea pot posted:We have currently put the cats on a medication (topically applied) called Revolution. It is SUPER great! We are finding only dead fleas on them when we flea comb them. The dog, however, has to wait until August 9th to get on it. She has to have a vet check for heart worms (we only recently adopted her) before she can go on it. The Revolution is working so great! Highly recommended if anyone is looking into it. I'm also in oregon and frontline never worked for me. I also switched to revolution about two years ago and I LOVE it. It seems you are only treating the cats though? You should put it on all of your animals. Edit: nevermind! I just saw the heartworm test stuff.
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Jul 19, 2014 06:10
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Kerfuffle posted:Not an expert but that looks like some kind of ant drone to me. Do ant drones fly and/or bite?
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Jul 19, 2014 16:48
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Hot Wheels Tracks posted:Do ant drones fly and/or bite? Yes they fly when the males and new queens are looking for mates. This is typically breeding season too right now, according to my exterminator. Give or take a few weeks depending on where you are. As for biting I'm not sure, might depend on the species.
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Jul 20, 2014 01:58
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Just bumping this thread because my gf is currently having a similar situation. She says she is vacuuming every day and she put Borox down all over to try and kill them. Is DE better than borox? So far the fleas keep getting stronger. Is a flea fogger a good idea? Her roommate has a cat and we're going to try to get it on flea medication asap.
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Oct 14, 2014 17:18
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Knifegrab posted:Just bumping this thread because my gf is currently having a similar situation. She says she is vacuuming every day and she put Borox down all over to try and kill them. Is DE better than borox? So far the fleas keep getting stronger. Is a flea fogger a good idea? Her roommate has a cat and we're going to try to get it on flea medication asap. Until you can get rid of the fleas on the cat, you're pretty much hosed as far as getting them out of the house.
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Oct 14, 2014 18:31
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| # ? May 14, 2024 00:23 |
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Knifegrab posted:Just bumping this thread because my gf is currently having a similar situation. She says she is vacuuming every day and she put Borox down all over to try and kill them. Is DE better than borox? So far the fleas keep getting stronger. Is a flea fogger a good idea? Her roommate has a cat and we're going to try to get it on flea medication asap. You really have to take care of it all in one go. The best thing is treating the cat and getting out of the house so you can let the flea bombs go for a good eight hours. I'm always paranoid about wiping everything down/washing everything really well because cats are so sensitive to toxins, but this has always worked for me in the past.
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Oct 15, 2014 06:34
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