misidawnrn Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 I am ready to scream! We have a girl cat outside and we rescued one of her babies that was dying at 2 weeks of age and he is inside. Well Stevie (baby) is now 5 months old and has been going outside. The other day I saw a black bug on his fur and it quickly disappeared inward on him. I checked the mama cat and saw a few bugs on her as well. I quickly coated them both with food grade diatomaceous earth that I have for my chicken coop and gave them a good rub down with it. I didn't see any more than that one on Stevie. I coated the inside of the chicken coop/shed where the mama cat with DE. Well, Stevie sleeps with me. Yesterday I got about 10 flea bites! They itch like heck! Last night I gave Stevie a bath in water/tea tree oil (I know it isn't good for cats but I rinsed him off). Today I made a mixture of lavendar oil/tea tree oil and water and sprayed every surface of carpet/couches/beds and even the cat! I rebathed the cat again (he is THRILLED!!!) I washed our bedding in HOT water and HOT dryer. I want to bug bomb as well but have to wait until a day we can be gone. I also have to go to the store tomorrow and get some Advantix or something. We have a stray cat in our back yard that hangs around and is in our shed a lot. I don't know what to do with him. He is not tame so I couldn't catch him. We live out of town so I can't call the animal control. Thanks for letting me vent! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CheerioKid Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 For inside the house, get spray called Sentry from Petco/Petsmart. That stuff is amazing! Treat the animals of course, but if you only have a minor infestation indoors, the Sentry stuff is great. I'm not sure how many different types of delivery methods there are, but we used the aerosol can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeninok Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 Capstar will kill all adult fleas on your kitty within 15 minutes, and keep working for 24 hours. There is a pill called Comfortis that does the same thing for dogs and lasts a month. It is a MIRACLE, I had heard they were making one for cats but I don't know if it is out or not. Capstar is also very very safe and can be used on tiny kittens. I would also spray your house with an insect growth regulator with residual action vs. a typical bug bomb, it is more effective and safer for everyone! I buy Precor concentrate off Amazon, you mix it in a gallon sprayer. My favorite trick is a shallow dish full of dish soapy water with a candle in the middle of it. Place it in a dark empty room and the fleas will jump to their death in the soap water. Vacuuming daily also helps, make sure to get couches, pet beds and anywhere else kitty frequents, and either put a cut up flea collar in the bag, or dump the canister into a sealed bag/put the vacuum bag in a xlarge ziploc in the freezer. Otherwise they will just hatch and escape the vacuum! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halcyon Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 Capstar, then frontline and a preventic collar. For the house, you may have to do multiple bombs, wash all your laundry, pillows, sheets, curtains, vacuum twice a day. The bombs really help but you often need to do more than once, one in each room, and move e furniture out, Signed, bTDT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joannqn Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 It has been the worst year for fleas that I've ever seen. And my dog is allergic to them. We used Frontline every month and Natural Defense, an essential oil-based spot on, every month two weeks after the Frontline with no success. We gave baths, vacuumed, used my tried and true salt-baking soda mix in the carpet. We got a diatomaceous earth product and a cedar oil spray, both of which helped but didn't get rid of the fleas. What finally worked was Borax in the carpets, Adams Flea and Tick Mist with Insect Growth Regulator (burned my sinuses every time DH sprayed it on the dog), and daily combings with the flea comb. We still have to stay on top of things because they get picked up from outside, and we can't control that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrairieSong Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 Our cat had fleas once and they got into the basement carpet. We treated the cat with stuff from Petco...Sentry brand I think...and I puffed boric acid all over the carpet, left it for a while, then vacuumed. We haven't had a problem with fleas since then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeninok Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 (edited) Capstar, then frontline and a preventic collar. For the house, you may have to do multiple bombs, wash all your laundry, pillows, sheets, curtains, vacuum twice a day. The bombs really help but you often need to do more than once, one in each room, and move e furniture out, Signed, bTDT Front line no longer works in our neck of the woods, my vet doesn't even sell it anymore. He recommends interceptor or program, plus capstar for emergencies. I did some Googling, Comfortis is now approved for cats, I know many people have used it off label with good results, but I hadn't wanted to go off label for my kitties! Our girl dog hates the taste, so while the other dogs scarf it, for her I have to break it into tiny pieces and hide it in bites of hot dog. For a cat you would probably have to break it and "pill" them. I always give it with a full tummy. My vet also lets us buy it buy the single pill, which helps the budget, I buy 2 and split them between the 3 dogs! If you can use it, it is by far the single most amazing flea product, I almost cried the first time I saw how quickly it killed the little buggers on my horribly allergic dog! Edited October 5, 2012 by jeninok Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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