I have an outdoor cat and recently found out he has fleas. I use the advantage stuff every 3 months and have a flea collar on him now. So how can i get rid of the fleas in my house, preferibly without bombing my house.
I have an outdoor cat and recently found out he has fleas. I use the advantage stuff every 3 months and have a flea collar on him now. So how can i get rid of the fleas in my house, preferibly without bombing my house.
Borax. Use 20 mule Team Borax like carpet fresh…cover everything..including the furniture..under the cushions and all…leave it there for about 24 hours or more…don’t worry..it’s non-toxic to humans and your cat…then vacuum and toss away the vacuum bag. Borax will not only kill the fleas..it will kill the eggs…it’s the only thing that will kill the eggs without having to hire a professional assassin…what you’re having is..you kill the fleas..but their eggs are hatching afterwards…and by the time you realize they’re back..they already laid a new set of eggs everywhere. So until you kill the eggs…the fleas will always come back. Might want to do this treatment a few times..maybe two weeks later and then a few weeks after that as well. Borax is much cheaper than pestacides and safer..and you can get it while you’re doing your grocery shopping! It’s in the laundry soap aisle by the bleach and fabric softeners usually. Is that flea collar a cat safe one? If you’re using advantage…you don’t need that collar…too many cats have hung themselves on the posts of fences or other things by the collar…kinda dangerous. Put the Advantage on your cat every month since he’s an outdoor cat.
Having had this problem in the past, and done what others have described, washing, vacuuming, bombing….I finally called an exterminator who advised me how to prepare my house and then went through the entire house and treated it chemically (a spray). I highly recommend this. Fleas were making my animals sick.
try shampooing the carpet with a strong carpet cleaner and add some ammonia
Try using the Advantage every month. Also, flea collars are actually very toxic. Your cat is breathing in these toxic fumes. To get rid of them immediately, you can give your cat a Capstar which works within 30 minutes and continues for only 12 hours but kills instantly. It is an oral pill. Another thing to do, in addition to all of this, is to get someone to spray your house and your yard for fleas. The problem is probably mostly in your yard. You can also sprinkle ‘Seven Dust’ in your yard to get rid of fleas. Do this more frequently in the summer when fleas become a huge nuisance. However, you will have to get someone to spray or bomb your house, as much as you don’t want to. You must find kill all of the ones in your house initially before you can start the prevention. Once your house is clear of fleas then keep up with keeping your yard flea-less to prevent them from being in your house again.
you need to vacumm constantly and there is a powder that you can sprinkle on the floor. the best way to get rid of it. is by washing all your stuff and bombing your house and keeping your cat clean. i got rid of mine by vacumming and washing the carpet alot.
I personally use Frontline Plus for my cats that are indoor/outdoor. So you could try that.
Some things you could try….
Put a new vacuum bag in the vacuum and then vacuum behind the couchs, on the baseboards, the furniture, you may have to use several bags, then throw those bags out. Wash everything that can be washed in hot water and soap.
Then spray the house with a flea killing type product preferably one that kills the eggs.
Vacuum the house again, with new bags.
You might have to do this several times. It will take a while for the fleas to die off if you don’t use a bomb. But if you use Frontline, they should eventually die off with the vacuum technique.
you can put boric acid on your carpets and furniture, let it sit for about 2 hours…vaccum WELL….change the bag immediately….If you dont get it all up…it can poison animals and kids. But it kills fleas.
the best way i’ve found that works w/o bombing, is to use the carpet flea powder called RID. it’s cheap, and it works. i buy it at walmart. keep the canister close to the floor while you sprinkle it so it doesn’t make clouds of dust. it works super good for wood floors too. also, you shouldn’t need to use a flea-collar in combination with the advantage…your cat could get organophosphate poisoning. ask your vet…hope this was helpful to you.
ok you can’t use advantage or frontline together with a flea collar it’s toooooo toxic. your best bet is either the frontline or advantage every month with no interruptions.
now for the house. you can go to your vet or a pet store that has a flea spray for carpets and furniture that has an IGR in it. Insect Growth Regulator. this kills the fleas, eggs and larvae. spray everywhere, non traffic areas are gonna be the big spots to hit as fleas won’t live in high traffic areas. wash bedding etc in hot water and bleach if you can. most of these sprays you can leave on and don’t have to vaccum. if you do, throw bag out right away, as you don’t want fleas hatching in the bag!! the other thing you can do is get a fogger, these are better than bombs as they stay low to the floor where bombs go up and back down and really don’t do much. but you want something with the IGR in it.
Fleas have a 4 lifecycle stage-adults, larvae, eggs and the pupua. the last stage can’t be killed. and fleas can control when they hatch. this is why it can take up to a year to get rid of them in your home. they wait for ideal times to hatch. which is why you have to be so religious with keeping something on your pet. good luck and hope all this helps