so embarrassing... we have fleas!!

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Uggg... I let my cats (who freely roam inside and out-- not anymore!!) go two days without replacing their flea collars and now we have an infestation!! Fortunately for DH and DS, I'm the only one being munched on. We set off flea bombs and sprayed the carpet and furniture with no luck.

 Happen to anyone else????????????

alheystek

my friend's cat had fleas, then ran away. they just got their house sprayed. it is going to cost them $85 every 3 months for the company to come back and spray for fleas again.

cbwm

That sucks!

We don't let our cats outside, so I have fortunately never experienced this. You might need to call in pest control.

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I think we are going to have to call Terminex... I'm so embarrassed. My ankles look like I have leprosy.

brooketini

Don't feel bad- I don't even have pets and somehow we got them. We have absolutely no clue how it happened. Our carpet is relatively new, we vacuum frequently, our house is very clean (the exterminator even marked it on the form that our house was immaculate). Anyways, we ended up having an exterminator come to the house and treat our carpets. I would suggest turning it over to the experts- it really wasn't that expensive, and they would've come out as many times as needed to get rid of them (we ended up needing 2 treatments).

stellar77

You will need to treat everything.  Wash everything, Spray everything.

  My cat is an indoor cat as well, but all it takes is one flea to come in from outside.

I don't see the need to bring in an outside pest control you will just need to get the heavy duty stuff. ( Not Raid or anything like that).  If you can go to a farm store or even Home Depot/Lowe's.

Also treat your kitties, vet flea drops will be your best bet vs. the kind you buy at the grocery store.

GL. 

I have felt your pain more than once. 

leslienpete

We had them bad about 6 years ago when it was an extremely wet season. I bugged the house myself and that did the trick. I don't think I will ever do it myself again though because you have to cover all food surfaces and I was paranoid and had to clean every surface in the house afterwards for fear that there was a film all over everything. Grrrr.

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I'm also concerned about how this "removal" via spray or whatever will affect (effect??) DS because he's crawling everywhere/ into everything. I guess I'm afraid it will make him sick.

thumbkin

Don't forget the inside of the vaccuum.  They will live in the bag and then come back out.

alheystek

thumbkin:

Don't forget the inside of the vaccuum.  They will live in the bag and then come back out.

  wow, I never thought about this!

goodheartedmommy

We dealt with this recently--we live in a wooded area, and even though our dogs were on frontline--they still got fleas. They quickly multiply. Get capstar--it kills all fleas on the animal within 24 hours. There are some different options--borax or diotomaceous earth. They're baby safe, but super messy, and they take several apps to work. I tried but gave up. My house was a cloud of dust for a week!

I ended up using zodiac spray on the sofas and carpet, the capstar on the animals, frequent baths (not an option for cats, I know) to remove eggs, and neem spray (awesome stuff and baby safe, too). We stayed out of the house on the days I used the spray. I'm not into using pesticides and insecticides, but after a lot of research, I decided to just go the route that I knew would work because a flea problem can turn into a major infestation VERY fast. 

We still see one or two occasionally, but I continue to do my routine. We've treated the yard and it's just impossible to get rid of them completely where we live. You may want to look into using something like ortho max. 

And honestly--when it's all said and done, I've spent way more than a pest control company would have. 

mrs. hoelle

I'm a licensed veterinary technician (animal nurse) and the simplest thing you can do is get a flea prevention from the vet and thoroughly clean your house.  Wash and sweep everything.  That will take care of the eggs and baby fleas in your carpet and other soft things.  Depending on what flea prevention you get for the cats, it will pretty much take care of the whole flea life cycle.  It may take a little while this way, but it will be much cheaper.  Fleas do not like people, so they may jump on and bite, but quickly leave once they realize you are not a furry animal.

mlf625

Looks like you're squared away on advice, just wanted to say I'm so sorry- YUCK. ?When we were newlywed and dumb, we didn't know pets needed flea prevention. ?I didn't notice a problem until I saw a little pile of "salt and pepper" IN our bed where the cat had been laying, then discovered our dog and two cats were both covered in fleas, our house was infested, it was seriously disgusting and disturbing. ?:( ?But don't be embarrassed- it happens.

DITTO the vacuum- empty that canister every single time. ?And if nobody else has mentioned it, you can get a pill called Capstar that zaps all the fleas currently on your pet. ?I know my MIL has had good luck with that on her dogs.?

copaceticcrack

mrs. hoelle:

I'm a licensed veterinary technician (animal nurse) and the simplest thing you can do is get a flea prevention from the vet and thoroughly clean your house.  Wash and sweep everything.  That will take care of the eggs and baby fleas in your carpet and other soft things.  Depending on what flea prevention you get for the cats, it will pretty much take care of the whole flea life cycle.  It may take a little while this way, but it will be much cheaper.  Fleas do not like people, so they may jump on and bite, but quickly leave once they realize you are not a furry animal.

Yes.  I've been told that once you start treating your pets (with Frontline or K9 Advantix), they will go away.  If fleas don't have a host (and no, fleas cannot live in carpet, blankets, etc. for more than a few days), they will die.  It will probably take about 2 weeks for them to all be gone, but they will go away.  Just treat them with the good stuff; no need to bomb, call exterminator, etc.

Mrs. S Wilson

mrs. hoelle:

I'm a licensed veterinary technician (animal nurse) and the simplest thing you can do is get a flea prevention from the vet and thoroughly clean your house.  Wash and sweep everything.  That will take care of the eggs and baby fleas in your carpet and other soft things.  Depending on what flea prevention you get for the cats, it will pretty much take care of the whole flea life cycle.  It may take a little while this way, but it will be much cheaper.  Fleas do not like people, so they may jump on and bite, but quickly leave once they realize you are not a furry animal.

 

I also worked at a vet clinic for 8 years and agree with getting either some advantage or frontline monthly for your animals.  We have had flea problems in the past as well and most vet clinics sell flea sprays.  I used one called ecto kill spray. It comes in an aerosol can and is safe to spray on all carpets and upholstery.  It does the trick, you just spray let it sit for a good 15-30 minutes then vacuum well and then repeat as needed.  It's much easier and safer than bombing which can be harmful if you breathe the fumes. 

Fleas don't know the difference between animal and human, they need a host to survive and don't just jump off once they realize you are not a furry animal. Hence the flea bites.

jillybean222

ME!!!! Just had our house bombed by the professionals for $225 after I failed several times myself.  The key is LOTS of vacuuming to hatch the eggs and get rid of them.  So gross.  My toddler had bites all over her but I was fine and i felt sooooo bad for her.