Flease in House!
Mark Russell
maybe someone can help me out here. We have fleas in our house. We have
two cats and hardwood floors. The cats are inside only, but one got out
once and brought in the fleas I think.
I have tried foggers and fumigators available from the store in conjunction
with flea baths for the cats. Both cats seemed to be flea-free and were
placed in their cages elsewhere while the house got nuked both times.
Unfortunately, the fleas seem to keep coming back a few days after the
process is done.
I decided to investigate professional spraying but was disappointed to find
out that it will cost me at least $150 and will be guaranteed for only 2-3
months. Then I have to pay a fee each time if they come back.
It seems I should be able to do this myself for less than what it would cost
to pay an exterminator. My neighbor suggested I get a special home
treatment kit from the co-op that is made of Dursban. She also
recommended using a treatment around the perimeter of the house.
Question: Does anyone have good success stories at getting rid of fleas
on old hardwood floors (i.e. with lots of cracks)? What treatments did
you use and what were the approximate costs? What about safety
precautions with small children?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Mark Russell
msru...@ingr.com
Art Campbell
>Is there a faq for getting rid of fleas? If so, let me know.
Rec.pets.cats has a flea FAQ, but I don't know the archive site.
> . . . .
>Unfortunately, the fleas seem to keep coming back a few days after the
>process is done.
The gestation period for flea eggs is about 3 days -- what's probably
happening is that the bombs are killing visible fleas but new eggs are
hatching . . . and the new fleas are laying more eggs.
What's worked for me (several times):
1. Put good quality flea collers on the cats. I know they're indoor cats.
Put 'em on anyway. The two brands that are easily available in my area
are Seargent's and Zodiak -- Sergeant's seems to work better for us.
2. I've used flea powders and a vet-supplied kit that includes a brush-like
applicator for liquid flea killer that gets it down to the skin. I think
these are preferable to flea baths. In any case, talk to a couple vets.
Vets can sell perscription-strength stuff you can't buy in stores.
My wife likes to use a flea comb on our cats to pull the bugs and eggs off;
I don't bother. YMMV.
3. Bug bombs work, but you have to repeat the bombing at least twice,
three days apart (to toast the newly-hatched fleas before they lay more
eggs). Do three cycles if you're really paranoid. Also, allow one fogger
per room, more or less. And I'd keep the house closed up with the fog
as long as possible. I set them off in the morning on the way to work
and let it work all day. Make sure to do all rooms -- fleas can hitch
hike on shoes and pants into rooms the pets aren't normally allowed to
go. In fact, you may have carried them inside to the cats! :-0
4. As far as cracks/wood floors go -- my wife puts a flea collar in
the vacuum cleaner bag and goes over everything. Again, YMMV, but it
can't hurt.
And, for what it's worth, I've unfortunately reached the conclusion that
you're never going to kill all the fleas all the time. The best you can
hope for is to be proactive and keep them under control until after the
first frost in the fall.
Good luck,
Art
--
Art Campbell ar...@world.std.com 72227...@compuserve.com
DoD 358 _Real_ BMWs have just two wheels.
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Jeff Chumbley
Fleas are fun! We live in central Texas (nice flea weather) and have two dogs
that spend their days outside playing in the yard, and their nights inside
snuggled on the couch with us (or on the foot of the bed). So when we started
having flea problems (having moved here from the midwest), we took it rather
seriously.
Just as the weather starts to get warm, I spray the entire back yard (and a
little surrounding it) with Dursban. The inside gets sprayed as well, and if
there are any fleas on the dogs, they get dipped. The dogs also get flea
collars. I haven't found flea shampoos to be much help, the dip at the vet
clinic works best. Repeat the outside spray every 2-4 weeks to get rid of the
problem, and every 1-2 months to stay on top of it. Respray the interior (rugs,
carpet, floors, cushions, favorite lounging areas, wash all rugs and bedding)
about every 2 months (more often if you are battling vs maintaining).
Be sure that the sprays used inside contain Precor. Most of the fleas are in
larva or egg stages, and the sprays don't bother them. The Precor makes the
stuff work longer, and gets the eggs too. Don't bother with it outside, it's
photoreactive and quickly loses its abilities.
Regards,
Jeff Chumbley
Dimitry Struve
Fleabusters uses a diatomaceous earth powder which is supposedly non-toxic
(except to fleas). It worked great, and I believe has a 6 or 12 month warranty.
We had the treatment done almost a year ago and it's still going strong.
The bombs are still necessary for nooks and crannies, and upholstered furniture.
-Dimitry
Karl Tsai
ago and I found daily vacuuming over everything was the most effective
way to stop the problem.
This deal with the rehatch (3~7 days) of next generation fleas;
according to the kind soul who helped me.
Karl
David Lesher
the house afterwards! Otherwise they hatch in the bag.....
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A host is a host from coast to coast.................wb8foz@nrk.com
& no one will talk to a host that's close...........(v)301 56 LINUX
Unless the host (that isn't close)....kibo# 777............pob 1433
is busy, hung or dead..............vr....................20915-1433
tyler g. nally
Another method of getting fleas, and it seems far fetched (I was a
skeptic), but it works goes like this:
1) In each room where there is a flea problem, place a pie tin with soapy
water in it (dishwashing soap seems to work good).
2) Place a small high-intensity light immediately above the soapy pan and
turn the light on. If you don't have a small high intensity light use
the brightest most adaptable light that you can somehow suspend over the
soapy water. Sometimes we've had to use one of the kids nightlights
with the cover removed. So, in that case we put the vessel of soapy
water underneath the nightlight. We've also used a regular light bulb
in a lamp with a gooseneck stem with good success too!
3) watch the fleas jump into the water by the attraction to the light!
I guess if you have a tall carpet pile this might not help very much
because a flea probably walks closer to the bottom of the pile (like in a
forest) and can't see the source of light because they are surrounded by
carpet fiber (trees of the forest).
We had a bad flea problem one time. It was a light colored indoor/outdoor
short pile carpet you could almost watch the fleas lining up to jump into
their new swimming pool.
--
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Tyler G. Nally * tgn...@firefly.prairienet.org * #include <stddisclaimer.h>
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Free-Nets are "Grrrrrrrreeeaaaaaaat!" - Tony the CyberTiger
Caleb Hess
tyler g. nally <tgn...@prairienet.org> wrote:
>
>Another method of getting fleas, and it seems far fetched (I was a
>skeptic), but it works goes like this:
>
>1) In each room where there is a flea problem, place a pie tin with soapy
> water in it (dishwashing soap seems to work good).
>
>2) Place a small high-intensity light immediately above the soapy pan and
> turn the light on. If you don't have a small high intensity light use
> the brightest most adaptable light that you can somehow suspend over the
> soapy water. Sometimes we've had to use one of the kids nightlights
> with the cover removed. So, in that case we put the vessel of soapy
> water underneath the nightlight. We've also used a regular light bulb
> in a lamp with a gooseneck stem with good success too!
>
>3) watch the fleas jump into the water by the attraction to the light!
Actually, I think they are attracted to heat, specifically mammalian
body temperature. The water needs a drop of detergent to lower its
surface tension so the critters will sink.
Gary E Smith
company called Paramount pest control came and sprayed my house once a month
for 4 months and I've only seen a few fleas in 2 1/2 years! It was a little
expensive ($75 the first month, $25 each month after) though I found it well
worth it.
Of course you also need to treat the animals. I've found a powder called
Sevin made by Ortho quite successful for my 2 cats.
--
Gary E. Smith
Naval Surface Warfare Center Phone: (703) 663-6814
Code L22T (DSN) 249-6814
Dahlgren, VA 22448 MILNET: gsm...@relay.nswc.navy.mil