Need to bomb my house for fleas - any recommendations?

[Kathleen in VA]

I've already sprinkled diatomaceous earth on the carpet, washed all the bedding, treated the dog. I still have fleas. I'm thinking it's time for a good bombing. I would like to have some idea of what brand to buy before I find myself standing in front of them at the store with no clue as to which ones work and which don't.

 

TIA!!!

[Alexandra]

with something like Confortis. The fleas jump on your pet and die soon thereafter. I would try to avoid something that was throughout the house like a bomb.

Goodluck

[Prairie~Phlox]

I feel your pain, our cats recently got them and I have given them Frontline, vacuumed everyday (well almost every day, we were gone for the weekend) this was about a month ago and I am still finding a few fleas occasionally. I found one earlier, I'm brushing them daily now. I've also had to treat for tapeworms. Argh. I don't really know if the Frontline is working. Shouldn't they be dying? I'll be watching this thread. We have wall to wall carpeting and I really don't want to bomb the house, but I really am not sure what to do. Only two more months of day to day vacuuming! (I heard to vacuum everyday for three months straight)

[Oops, duplicate account :/]

Bombing is so, so toxic. Yikes! Here are some natural remedies. I have no experience with these, but love this health site for other things.

 

http://www.welltellme.com/discuss/index.php/topic,19743.0.html

 

http://www.welltellme.com/discuss/index.php/topic,3103.0.html

 

http://www.welltellme.com/discuss/index.php/topic,22253.0.html

[JessReplanted]

We have dealt with fleas twice, and both times resorted to getting the house bombed. There is a trick that I used though: set out a metal pie pan at night near a light. Fill the pan with water and a drop or two of dish soap (not citrus scented). The fleas are attracted to the light reflecting in the pan, and jump in to their death.

 

Oh, and also, apple cider vinegar is supposed to be a miracle worker. If you put a Tablespoon or two into your pet's water each day, they will supposedly be flea 'resistant'. (It's supposed to work for people too if you are getting bitten a lot). Good luck.. I hate fleas!

[KS_]

I've used Flea Fix successfully - it's a growth inhibitor and much less toxic than many of the alternatives. I just did a search, and they do have a fogger available now - the product I used was diluted in water and then sprayed all over the house/furniture. It can last up to 7 months.

 

http://www.e-bug.net/info/fleas/fleafixfogger.html

[Unicorn.]

Frontline has never worked on our pets. We use Advantage and get much better results. hth

[Unicorn.]

Don't bomb, fumigate! Raid fumigators- in the blue box. Make sure you get enough for the whole house (don't skimp- put them in hallways/bathrooms too! Work much better than the "bombs"or foggers, and, they don't start fuming right away, giving you time to get out. hth

[Endorphins]

In my (unfortunately extensive) experience with treating for fleas (growing up with a house full of animals and then again when I got pets as an adult), the bombs do diddley squat and are horribly toxic on top of it all (and I'm not necessarily one to avoid chemicals). The only thing that has ever worked for us...treat the animals and clean the house well (which you'd have to do anyway if you bombed). We use Frontline Advanced with great success, but I've read great reviews on the other "behind the neck" flea treatments (not flea collars!!!). They're spendy, but IME, more than worth the money.

 

Good luck. Fleas suck.

[Cindyz]

with something like Confortis. The fleas jump on your pet and die soon thereafter. I would try to avoid something that was throughout the house like a bomb.

Goodluck

 

 

:iagree:

 

We just went through this too. We washed everything and vacuumed. We used a natural orange based spray on the carpets and furniture. I gave the dog Comfortis and the cats got Frontline. We washed everything and sprayed with the natural orange again in two weeks. Two weeks later, we treated the animals again and washed/sprayed with orange spray again. I think we're good now but we will wash and spray again in two weeks and treat animals again as well. After that, we will treat only the dog with the comfortis as the cats stay indoors.

[Prairie~Phlox]

:iagree:

 

We just went through this too. We washed everything and vacuumed. We used a natural orange based spray on the carpets and furniture. I gave the dog Comfortis and the cats got Frontline. We washed everything and sprayed with the natural orange again in two weeks. Two weeks later, we treated the animals again and washed/sprayed with orange spray again. I think we're good now but we will wash and spray again in two weeks and treat animals again as well. After that, we will treat only the dog with the comfortis as the cats stay indoors.

 

 

So is it ok to treat the cats every two weeks with Frontline? Advantages to that?

Thanks,

Phlox

[DarcyB]

We were infested twice last year (and we don't have outdoor animals at all..came from our neighbor's house we found out). It was horrible. We followed all the natural guidelines since we abhor having to resort to chemicals. We found out DE does work, and you MUST vacuum daily, well past the two week cycle of fleas.

 

But we did have to resort to fumigating the second time around...it was the only way. I was being bitten like crazy as well as my then 6yo (but not the other two guys in the family lol - happens that way with mosquitoes, too).

 

Next time, we'll be more vigilant about the natural stuff and be on top of it all a lot sooner to not have to fumigate, but it was the only thing that would kill them all the 2nd time for us. It was months between infestations, so it wasn't as if the first time just didn't take. We found out later it was the neighbors, and their house was bombed a couple of times by the homeowners before they'd rent out the house again.

[justasque]

You need to think about this like a homeschooler! Research is the key!!!

 

We researched the life cycle of the flea. You know when you have fleas, then you vacuum, then it seems like you have even more fleas the next day? Well, it's because you do! The warmth and vibration of the vacuum cause eggs to hatch - they sense the proximity of a possible host animal. The key is to vacuum *everything*, even soft furnishings like your couch, super-well, every day for at least three days. You need to get all the eggs to hatch, and then vacuum up all those hatchlings before they lay new eggs, to break the cycle. It's been quite some time since I've done this, so I might have the details of the life cycle not quite right, but the "vacuum super-well for three days straight" plan has worked very well for us in the past.

 

Much as I hate chemicals, I *do* second the suggestion for Advantage/Frontline if your pet(s) go outdoors; they work wonders. Imitation products simply don't work the same. (That's how I know about the 3-day vacuum cure!)

[Cindyz]

So is it ok to treat the cats every two weeks with Frontline? Advantages to that?

Thanks,

Phlox

 

 

No, the cats and comfortis for the dogs are once a month, but we washed and sprayed/vacuumed the natural orange spray every two weeks. Sorry for the confusion!

[LisaKinVA]

Depending upon how badly it is, you may be able to get away with not fumigating (however, in the case of a really bad infestation, it's the *only* thing that worked).

 

In addition, we washed and cleaned all comforters, carpets, linens, clothes, and curtains. The pets were dipped and treated the weekend I cleaned the house. It was no fun, and we still had to vacuum for a few weeks -- but no more fleas (FWIW, I fought them every other way for 2 months. We'd get a little relief, and it would come right back).

[StephanieZ]

Knockout by Virbac is powerful stuff. It comes as a bomb, and also as a spray. You bomb as labelled, and then use the spray for under couches, in corners, etc that the bombs won't get to. Read the labels carefully. . .it's dangerous stuff.

 

Be sure to vacuum lots & lots and wash everything washable (in hot water if possible, and definitely in the dryer). Keep vacuuming & washing frequently. New fleas will keep hatching out of the carpets for a few weeks. . .

 

Comfortis for your dogs + Revolution for your cats will prevent this from recurring. (There are other good products, but those are my faves.)

 

HTH

[StephanieZ]

p.s. Dips are not needed for pets these days. The new fangled meds from the vet are not only much safer for all involved, but also much more effective. Get your flea meds from the vet. (Comfortis, Advantage, Advantix, Frontline, ProMeris, Program Injectable, Revolution are all safe & effective as labelled.)

[StephanieZ]

So is it ok to treat the cats every two weeks with Frontline? Advantages to that?

Thanks,

Phlox

 

No advantage, and not really a great idea. Comfortis is a miracle. Try it instead if FL every 4 weeks isn't doing a good enough job.

[simka2]

Depending upon how badly it is, you may be able to get away with not fumigating (however, in the case of a really bad infestation, it's the *only* thing that worked).

 

In addition, we washed and cleaned all comforters, carpets, linens, clothes, and curtains. The pets were dipped and treated the weekend I cleaned the house. It was no fun, and we still had to vacuum for a few weeks -- but no more fleas (FWIW, I fought them every other way for 2 months. We'd get a little relief, and it would come right back).

 

 

If you have wood floors you may have to have a pro out. I tried everything, vacumeing...lights and soapy water, bombing...you name it. Had a pest control company come out...they had to come out 3 times!!! The 3rd time they were so upset my whole house was basically hosed down the entire house...it was awful!!! and we didn't even have pets :glare:.

[Kathleen in VA]

Thanks for all the replies everyone. I've been out all afternoon so am just getting back to reading them.

 

I really do not want to use anything poisonous which is why I started with the diatomaceous earth. My vet gave my dog a pill called Capstar which is supposed to kill every flea on her which I gave to her last Friday. Then I gave her a Sentinel because it has something in it that makes the fleas unable to reproduce. Lastly, I put Vectra3D on her - this is like Frontline - it is oily and you squeeze it out on the animal's back. It is supposed to last a month.

 

I washed all the bedding and vacuumed all the furniture and floors. I need to wash the curtains still (washer has been going non-stop all day.) Today I called the vet to report that the fleas were still here and was told I would need to fumigate if all that other stuff wasn't doing the trick. I think I'm going to hold off and try the vacuuming 3 straight days thing and keep applying the DE. I also stopped by the vet this afternoon and bought another capstar pill and just gave it to the dog.

 

I guess if all this doesn't work, I will call Terminix. I was wondering what to do with all that extra money we have lying around.:tongue_smilie:

[Jeanne in MN]

Something else that might help while cleaning and washing is that heat alone with kill them. I was in near tears trying to wash loads of stuff and dry it and it taking forever because our dryer was so slow. Just throwing clothes, fabrics, whatever in the dryer on a high heat will kill them. (Maybe even just a medium heat.)

 

When treating for fleas, the flea can be killed at every stage except the pupa stage when it has a hard shell. You can get the flea, the eggs, the larva, but not the pupa, so when they hatch, you have fleas. Someone posted about vaccuuming and were absolutely correct. The warmth and vibration of the vaccuum will cause the pupa to hatch into a flea and hopefully by all the vaccuuming you can get the pupas hatched out and finally get the fleas.

 

I was so wigged out by the whole experience and having fleas crawl up my legs that we ended up calling an exterminator. Nightmare over. Good luck!!!

[zaichiki]

We just went through this, but we didn't bomb. It's too toxic! I don't want that stuff on every surface in my (way too cluttered) house.

 

This is what worked for us:

Daily vacuuming (with hose in crevices)

Treating pet with Advantix (top spot application) monthly

Steam cleaning the floors every few days

 

We had fleas for one month total (start to finish). This is how long it took for all stages to be vacuumed up and all adults to jump on our pet and die. The trick was to move the pet around the house and have her sleep in a different room each night. (She was bait.)

 

We are flea free and I didn't have to use chemicals on anyone but the dog!

Edited September 22, 2010 by zaichiki

[oldskool]

I would make sure that the fleas are off your animal. From my understanding fleas need a carrier in order to survive and continue the breeding cycle. We used many products on our cat and had a horrible three months with fleas. Once we found the right medicine at the vet and the fleas were completely gone from our cat, they were also gone from the house. So I would check the dog to make sure they are for sure gone.

 

Lesley

[oldskool]

We just went through this, but we didn't bomb. It's too toxic! I don't want that stuff on every surface in my (way too cluttered) house.

 

This is what worked for us:

Daily vacuuming (with hose in crevices)

Treating pet with Advantix (top spot application) monthly

Steam cleaning the floors every few days

 

We had fleas for one month total (start to finish). This is how long it took for all stages to be vacuumed up and all adults to jump on our pet and die. The trick was to move the pet around the house and have her sleep in a different room each night. (She was bait.)

 

We are flea free and I didn't have to use chemicals on anyone but the dog!

:iagree:

 

This is great advice.

[jazzyfizzle]

We swear by the dip / and spray yard method, and we have a large number of dogs.

The spot-ons have been ineffective here for quite some time, expensive, in addition to not wanting to put toxic chemicals into our animals.

[zaichiki]

We swear by the dip / and spray yard method, and we have a large number of dogs.

 

Are they indoor/outdoor?

 

The spot-ons have been ineffective here for quite some time, expensive, in addition to not wanting to put toxic chemicals into our animals.

 

I can see how the top spot application could be expensive for a lot of dogs -- but which ones have been ineffective?

We've been using them for years (except for the 6 months before this first-time flea infestation- stupid us) and have had only success against fleas and ticks. We've lived in tick-infested/deer-infested suburbs and in a rural area in the woods and Advantix has completely worked. I *have* heard that Frontline has been ineffective for some people.