Mutant fleas! Can't get rid of 'em!!!!

First, get the poor kitty on something like Advantage or one of the really good and effective flea treatments for cats. Mousses won't work. Advantage or one of the other flea/tick preventatives will.

Years ago, I moved into a rental infested with fleas. :no: Last rental I ever lived in, too!! :no:

The only thing that worked for me was putting my pups on good flea/tick preventatives (first Revolution and Advantage. then Frontline), spraying the backyard --- and using baking soda all over the carpeting in the house. I also learned to meticulously vacuum as often as possible --- and I mean VACUUM, over, under and around everything! --- and throw out the bag as soon as I was done.

Good luck. Fleas are miserable little critters!

:no:

 

You may not be the only victims of the fleas. Based on your post, I suspect there are critters in or under the structure that are part of the picture. Also, the bombs only function to kill the fleas for a few minutes. Once the odor is gone, usually an hour or so, the pesticide is no longer effective. The problem with your approach is that at least two stages of flea life are unaffected by your treatment. Eggs and pupae are not at all effected. Additionally, the bombs do not penetrate all flea sites, so some adults and larvae will survive. The unaffected stages will mature and renew your problem every day. Since the life cycle of the flea is quite long, the products you choose need to last through their cycles. Using something like CG recommends is important. This will help your pets, but will not effect other animals like mice rats squirrels skunks and anything else that could be living in or under the structure. I suggest you get a residual pesticide like orth-os home defense to treat the carpet and cat hiding spots. Google and read up on your problem. You'll find tons of detail if you search.

 

Welcome first time poster. Place a wide pan of water with a small amount of soap disolved in it under a night light. The fleas jump to the light and fall in the water and drown. Lightly dust moist areas with boric acid (powder). Kill fleas on animals by spraying them with rubbing alcohol and then combing it through their fur, protect the animals eyes and nose while spraying. It will take about 10 days for the all to be gone. Add garlic powder to the animals food, it repels through the blood.

 

Lightly dust DE (diatomaceous earth) all over the carpet. It's natural. I had some baby squirrels that had fleas and some type of mange. I put some de on them and it took care of both almost instantly. I was shocked it cured the mange. Must of killed the mites.

 

After you rid your house of fleas,you may want to consider free range chickens. Our dogs were just covered with fleas untill we bought chickens. The chickens roam the yard eating what ever they can scratch up. No more fleas for us... NONE

 

This subject came up at work today. One of my co-workers, moved into a home that was covered with fleas. For several months they battled with with the nasty things, bug bombs and sprays. An elderly lady finally told them to sprinkle ordinary house salt onto the carpets and let it sit for about a week. He said that they put salt through the whole house and amazingly the fleas disappeared! I can't say that it would work, but it would sure be a cheap remedy if it does!

Susie

 

Frontline plus - the plus klills the flea eggs too.

Buy the frontline plus on Ebay. I buy the extra large size dog one. It has 4.2 ml in it. The Frontline plus for cats is the same formulary (just a tiny bit stronger) so its safe to use the dog one on cats. A cat gets .5 ml so the large dog one will treat 8 cats. I use a 3 ml syringe and needle to extract the liquid from the vial and each cat gets .5 ml. Surprisingly on Ebay the extra large size dog Frontline costs the same as a cat frontline even though there is 8 times as much stuff in the vial. I treat my cats for about 80 cents per month.

 

Yuccaflatsranch, I do the same thing!

Cats: under 9 lbs. 0.4 ml
9 or more lbs. 0.7 ml

Dogs:
21 lbs. or less: .7 ml.
23-44 lbs. : 1.4 ml.
45 - 88 lbs.: 2.7 ml.
Then obviously a full dose on 88-132 lbs.

This stuff evaporates readily if you have extra. Put extra in a small glass jar or film container.

 

the fleas live in the carpets, the furniture fabric and the cracks in the floor, they only spend a short time on the animal feeding. dont focus on the animal focus on the house.
boric acid dust into all the carpets and apolstrry will kill the nymps and break the life cycle, and end the fleas.

the salt idea is an interesting idea, salt down in the fabric and carpet would dessicate the eggs and nymphs, great idea.

take a clean dog in a room with hungry fleas in the carpet and the dogs infestred again... and you wonder where the fleas came from. for every one jumper you find on the dog, there are 100 eggs and 100 nymphs in the carpet under their feet, give them a week and poof your infested again.
I think salt might discolor some carpeting.. i dunno. Sounds like a logical cure!

 

I would worry about so many chemicals in such a short period with small children and animals! We moved into a house that had fleas we did everything we knew... Finally ended up calling a professional to do the job right. It costed 60.00$ and I had spent more than that on other things.. He sprayed once and returned two weeks later to spray again.. Fleas gone... I agree get something like Advantage--Top Spot or other things that handle the fleas on the animal. Good luck. Debbie

 

If you use DE (diatomaceous earth) make sure you get food grade. Dont buy from a pool supply place! Check your local feed store, if not in stock they can get it. It is completely harmless if ingested by people or animals. It is all natural. You eat it in allot of foods like wheat flour and the like. It is used to keep bugs out of our foods. You can even dust you animals with it to help kill them too. It cuts the bugs right up!

Kathy

 

The problem with Flea Bombs is.....if ya don't get the bomb that has "residual effect".....then it only kills the existing fleas. The residual effect goes after the eggs and the larvae. Fights the flea problem in those three ways.....and does it for 2 weeks. Which is usually long enough to do the job. But I too agree....that ya gotta get the pet on Frontline+ too. The pan and soap water idea is a great one too. Usually works best at night. You wouldn't believe how many of those little suckers are floatin' in there in the morning. I also heard of the salt cure......and garlic in the dogs food.....really does work....like the other poster said.....thru the blood. Good luck.....can't for the life of me figure what Gods purpose was for those nasty lil critters!!!!!!!!

 

DE (diatomaceous earth) is the way to go for getting rid of fleas. It also works for ants. It doesn't work like poison. It will take a few days to notice any effect, but all of a sudden, you'll notice no more fleas. You can dust the house with it and dust all around the outside of the house with it. If it rains, you'll have to dust outside again.

 

I have successfully used DE and Blue Dawn dish washing detergent.
The DE dusted outside and on the animals and the Dawn to mop the house, etc.


p.s.---have also use Dawn to kill wasps

 

We moved to a rental house with fleas. I used tons of products before finally finding what worked for us. We dusted the yard and the house (hardwood floors) with Seven dust granuals. We such the house up and left for 2 days. In the meantime we put Advantage on all the animals. I went back in and swept up the Sevin dust and sprinked it in the yard. No more fleas, inside or out.

 

To explain why it works for those who might not understand: The soap drops in the water, breaks up the tension of the water and the fleas can't swim to the side and jump out. DE is ground up dusty marine skeletons and slices up the bug/flea/ant bodies as they crawl in it. Both ideas work like a charm. Just keep pets away from soapy water.

I have HORRIBLE yellow jacket problems here every year. Have tried the traps. Never heard of Dawn.... how do you use it and why does it work? They are so bad, I tape my pants leg closed cause they buzz few inches off ground. If this works for me next year, I'll be doing this with a smile.... :worship:

 

I used a hudson sprayer

I have no idea why it works

 

Your landlord is responsible to provide you with a habitable residence. This includes pest and vermin free! Call him and tell him you are checking into a motel until he solves the problem, and/or hire a professional exterminator yourself. In most states you can deduct up to one month's rent for such problems. I hope you've saved your receipts. Good luck!

Chris