Chris in VA Posted October 1, 2013 Share Posted October 1, 2013 ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted October 1, 2013 Share Posted October 1, 2013 No. But you could use a human lice shampoo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris in VA Posted October 1, 2013 Author Share Posted October 1, 2013 oo, I didn't think of that. We had an infestation this summer when we were OOT. We are just getting it under control--last night, I had a terrible night's sleep, between feeling itchy, having a head cold, and having a cat who would.not.shut.up. When I tried to take a nap this afternoon, I thought I'd check the bed--I found 4 live fleas, which I killed. Now I think I feel them on me. Uggh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsquirrel Posted October 1, 2013 Share Posted October 1, 2013 I dunno, DH's dad is a vet and he routinely brought home flea shampoo for the kids if there was a lice outbreak at school. I think they all have pyrethrins Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
City Mouse Posted October 1, 2013 Share Posted October 1, 2013 Have you washed all the bedding, treated the carpet etc? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parrothead Posted October 1, 2013 Share Posted October 1, 2013 Get in the tub and fill it with enough water so you can put everything but your face underwater. Drown the suckers. Twenty minutes seemed to do the trick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
readinmom Posted October 2, 2013 Share Posted October 2, 2013 I house sat for a friend once who had a major flea infestation. I resorted to coating my skin with baby oil. The fleas could not latch on to the skin. It's a full time job getting rid of them. The constant vacuuming and laundry is overwhelming. Sorry you are feeling so miserable right now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacia Posted October 2, 2013 Share Posted October 2, 2013 I've heard tea tree oil shampoo helps w/ that.... Worth a try. Fleas have been horrible this year. Ugh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris in VA Posted October 2, 2013 Author Share Posted October 2, 2013 Well, bed is changed, floors sprayed, and I took a shower. I either have dead fleas or clean fleas, I'm not sure which, but at least there don't seem to be any in the bed. Now if I could just stop dripping, sneezing and coughing (and whining...), maybe I'd get a few hours of sleep tonight! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted October 2, 2013 Share Posted October 2, 2013 :grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catwoman Posted October 2, 2013 Share Posted October 2, 2013 :grouphug: What a nuisance!!! I hope you managed to get rid of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerico Posted October 2, 2013 Share Posted October 2, 2013 We moved into a rental house not knowing they had had a flea infestation. You cannot spray eggs so even though they had sprayed there were more to be hatched. We called and made them come spray again. But thankfully they never came back. Hugs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kroe1 Posted October 2, 2013 Share Posted October 2, 2013 Are you sure it is flea infestation and not bed bugs? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris in VA Posted October 2, 2013 Author Share Posted October 2, 2013 Are you sure it is flea infestation and not bed bugs? Oooohhh yeah...lol! We can see them, and we've trapped a lot in a lighted pool of water. When we were on sabbatical, our seminarian came to housesit. He had over 100 bites on each leg within days, not realizing it was fleas!! (He had never had a dog with them--though in our case we think it was a combo of dog AND cat). They sprayed twice (professionally) and he and my son bombed the house twice, as well as treated the animals. This has been going on for 3 months now...ICK! Getting lice shampoo today. Thanks for the ideas and commiseration. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktgrok Posted October 2, 2013 Share Posted October 2, 2013 Get some flea busters powder. Stuff is amazing. It isn't a fast kill, the bombs are your fast kill, but it lasts for a year, so as new ones hatch out they die, preventing the cycle from continuing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justasque Posted October 2, 2013 Share Posted October 2, 2013 It's easier to control fleas if you understand their life cycle. You will want to vacuum the whole house thoroughly every day, for several days in a row. You will be sucking up the eggs (along with some live fleas). Toss or seal the vacuum bag or otherwise kill the contents. You will also, through the heat and vibration and carbon dioxide of you and the vacuum, encourage eggs to hatch, so in the beginning you will end up with more fleas than you started with. This is a good thing - you want to break the life cycle. So the next day, vacuum again. And again the next day. Keep going until you see a significant reduction in fleas.We found that treating the pets with something like Frontline helped a lot. We also found that knock-off brands were cheaper, and worthless. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacia Posted October 2, 2013 Share Posted October 2, 2013 Seconding the Flea Busters powder. You can hire someone to come out and treat your house or you can purchase the powder and apply it yourself. It is great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kipling Posted October 2, 2013 Share Posted October 2, 2013 It's easier to control fleas if you understand their life cycle. You will want to vacuum the whole house thoroughly every day, for several days in a row. You will be sucking up the eggs (along with some live fleas). Toss or seal the vacuum bag or otherwise kill the contents. You will also, through the heat and vibration and carbon dioxide of you and the vacuum, encourage eggs to hatch, so in the beginning you will end up with more fleas than you started with. This is a good thing - you want to break the life cycle. So the next day, vacuum again. And again the next day. Keep going until you see a significant reduction in fleas. We found that treating the pets with something like Frontline helped a lot. We also found that knock-off brands were cheaper, and worthless. Seconding the vacuum suggestion. We have struggled with fleas at various times, and seriously, the most effective way to get rid of them is to vacuum every day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris in VA Posted October 2, 2013 Author Share Posted October 2, 2013 Ok--I've been mopping and spraying (all wood floors, with one carpet--cat/dog and now people don't go in there--it was steam cleaned a couple of weeks ago) but not as much vacuuming--will do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurie4b Posted October 2, 2013 Share Posted October 2, 2013 . Unless you have flea poop and/or can see fleas in your hair, I would not use an insecticide on yourself. Just keep doing the environmental flea control. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pawz4me Posted October 2, 2013 Share Posted October 2, 2013 A key component of getting a flea infestation under control is treating your pet(s). Flea shampoo isn't very effective. And that's an understatement. I'd ask your vet for Capstar for each pet, or ask which spot-on treatment seems to work best in your area. You also need to treat your yard if it's infested. Sorry, I know what a pain it is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halftime Hope Posted October 2, 2013 Share Posted October 2, 2013 Chris, in S. FL years ago, we had a horrible flea infestation, because there is no such thing as a hard freeze, and every yard on our street had dogs. We finally made a dent in it by using a combo of flea preventative (Frontline or something similar) and sprinkling borax on the carpets and sweeping it down into the pile, then vacuuming up the excess. Without treating the carpets to interrupt the lifecycle, the fleas could stay in the carpet in between acts, or new ones would just keep hatching out of the carpet.. The Frontline by itself wasn't enough. AFA maintenance, I put down the powder about once a year to replenish what had been vacuumed up. I see that the powder recommended up above is simply finely milled borate powder, but honestly, the Borax works just fine. hth! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justasque Posted October 2, 2013 Share Posted October 2, 2013 A key component of getting a flea infestation under control is treating your pet(s). Flea shampoo isn't very effective. And that's an understatement. I'd ask your vet for Capstar for each pet, or ask which spot-on treatment seems to work best in your area. You also need to treat your yard if it's infested. Sorry, I know what a pain it is. This - I was assuming you were using Capstar and/or Frontline. If not, get thee to your vet and pick some up. That, and the vacuuming, should keep things under control on a long-term basis. (And don't substitute. Your vet will know the best brand(s). Don't just pick something up at the grocery store, you know? 'Cause that will be a waste of money.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catherine Posted October 2, 2013 Share Posted October 2, 2013 We just dealt with this. In addition to the above, definitely including daily vacuuming and mopping, I'd take out any rugs-roll them up and put into storage and\or take them to the cleaner. Then don't put them down again. As far as Frontline is concerned, it was a little better than flea powder here, but not much. I was finding live fleas on my cats within 5 days of using it. What worked wonderfully for us was regular (more than once a day for awhile) use of a good flea comb. They are just like lice-you can't chemical them away because of their life cycle and because they come in on the pets that have been outside. It took us awhile to accustom them to being combed but once we did, they readily assented and we found a lot of fleas for the first month or so. After that, it definitely began to tail off. Continued vacuuming, ad nauseum. I feel for you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsquirrel Posted October 2, 2013 Share Posted October 2, 2013 So, I know that pets can't harbor lice. Lice evolved to live on human blood and dog and cat and horse blood won't feed them. It doesn't mean a louse won't take a nip from a cat, but the louse can't get the food it needs from a cat. So, if you treat the humans the lice go away. They can't continue to live on the cat blood. But, can fleas live off human blood? If there were no doge or cats or horses to feed the fleas will the fleas live long? I've had pets but always used frontline or whatever is the once a month flea treatment, and have never had a problem with fleas. I've never had a flea bite, to my knowledge. I just figured if a place had a flea infestation but no animals they would die within a life cycle or two. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris in VA Posted October 2, 2013 Author Share Posted October 2, 2013 Oh believe me, they feed on humans. I have to say I have more sympathy for people in the Middle Ages! lol I was asking God what he wants me to learn from this--it's such a little misery, but maybe I'll be more compassionate or something thru it. Maybe he just wants me to clean my house more frequently. ... :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AimeeM Posted October 2, 2013 Share Posted October 2, 2013 Oh no. I have no clue. My FIL had a bed bug infestation in his three story brick home once - that was a NIGHTMARE... and right when we visiting for Christmas! I'm so sorry. That sounds like a pain :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AimeeM Posted October 2, 2013 Share Posted October 2, 2013 Oh no. I have no clue. My FIL had a bed bug infestation in his three story brick home once - that was a NIGHTMARE... and right when we visiting for Christmas! I'm so sorry. That sounds like a pain :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justasque Posted October 2, 2013 Share Posted October 2, 2013 So, I know that pets can't harbor lice. Lice evolved to live on human blood and dog and cat and horse blood won't feed them. It doesn't mean a louse won't take a nip from a cat, but the louse can't get the food it needs from a cat. So, if you treat the humans the lice go away. They can't continue to live on the cat blood. But, can fleas live off human blood? If there were no doge or cats or horses to feed the fleas will the fleas live long? I've had pets but always used frontline or whatever is the once a month flea treatment, and have never had a problem with fleas. I've never had a flea bite, to my knowledge. I just figured if a place had a flea infestation but no animals they would die within a life cycle or two. The problem is that at a certain stage in their life cycle they are dormant, and only hatch or whatever when they sense the presence of potential hosts (human or animal) through heat, vibrations, and/or carbon dioxide. They can be dormant for quite some time. So it's complicated. And thus the importance of a multi-pronged approach, designed to get rid of the live fleas, but also any eggs etc., *and* to encourage any dormant fleas to hatch or whatever so they can be vacuumed or otherwise meet their demise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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