still fleas- grr

[Hilltopmom]

I can't find my original flea post from a few weeks ago.

But anyways, we've had Orkin come twice after treating on our own first.

 

Treated cat twice ( nothing alive on cat anymore, used frontline & revolution).

Threw out the infested & too hard to clean couch..

 

Am vacuuming everything every day, or twice. All the upholstery (lazy boys), curtains, etc.

 

Am seriously considering throwing out all the area rugs since I find them under there & the large ones are very hard to lift up & clean under (we have tile or plywood floors in all the rooms, except for one wall to wall carpeted room, ironically not seeing them anymore in that room).

But it's cold here & our floors will be cold & hard this winter without rugs,I cannot afford to replace them this year if they go.

 

I have a few rooms with full bookcases, can they be hiding in my books? Orkin doesn't spray those.

 

Sadly, my main living space is tongue & groove wood paneling, nothing I can do to treat all those cracks they could be hiding in.

 

I'm "this" close to Kon- Marie ing just about all our possessions to deal with this. Ugh.

[Lady Florida.]

Has Orkin treated outside? Does your cat go outside at all? That's the only thing I can think of. Revolution or Frontline should have worked. 

[Hilltopmom]

Yep, they treated outside in the immediate yard but we live in thousands of acres of woods as our backyard.

 

The cat herself is flea free now, just the rest of the house is not :(

 

I want to simultaneously cry & yell all the bad words I know...

Edited September 7, 2016 by Hilltopmom

[PrincessMommy]

I feel for you.  I just treated for fleas and am in fear of them returning.    The biggest problem is all the areas I have to treat!   This experience certainly makes the tiny house model look very appealing.

 

 

[Hilltopmom]

I feel for you. I just treated for fleas and am in fear of them returning. The biggest problem is all the areas I have to treat! This experience certainly makes the tiny house model look very appealing.

Totally! I thought our house was small until this.

It's not big, but 3 levels full of stuff for 6 people.

[justasque]

Can you roll up the rugs and store them all in an unused room?  Or better yet a shed?  That will let you treat the infected rooms more effectively.
Can you keep the cat inside, to be sure she's not bringing in any more fleas?
Are you vacuuming not only the floors, but the upholstered furniture - removing the cushions, etc?  
I wouldn't worry so much about the books but if you have a dusting brush attachment for your vacuum you can use it on them.
Are you killing any fleas you vacuum up, and making sure they can't escape the vacuum?  (Either toss the bag each time, or treat it with flea spray; also cover the opening.)
Do you have any other critters (including undesired ones) that might be harboring the fleas?

I'm sorry you're dealing with this!  It is a real struggle, but if there are no more fleas coming in, our experience is that frequent and thorough aggressive vacuuming will eventually get it under control.  

[Hilltopmom]

No unused rooms or shed. Orkin sprayed the rugs so I worry if we get rid of them, it's that much less residual chemicals around to kill them since the rugs are a lot of already treated surface area, kwim?

 

Yes, vacuuming everything & everywhere!

 

Vacuum stays outside, bag gets emptied daily outside & taped shut, no other critters around yard or house.

 

All this vacuuming is killing my back. Just yuck.

 

I do think I will take the books down & run the brush attachment over them, can't hurt.

[BrittanyM]

Maybe get someone else to spray? We had fleas in our couch (DH is a property manager and brought them home from a rental where the tenants had been evicted) and one time of spraying got rid of them.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[justasque]

For your area rugs - are you vacuuming the top, then turning them over and vacuuming the bottom, vacuuming the floor underneath, then vacuuming the top again?  That might help if you were only doing it from the top.  Ugh.  

 

Remember that the heat and vibration of vacuuming will actually cause new fleas to hatch; this is a good thing in the long run (since you can then vacuum up the new fleas in the next session, before they are mature enough to lay new eggs), though it doesn't feel like it in the short run.    That's why you need to vacuum absolutely everything, daily.  

Ugh, ugh, ugh.   :grouphug:  :grouphug:  :grouphug:

[ktgrok]

And remember, I told you that about 2 weeks after initial treatment it gets bad again, as new ones hatch out. But those new ones will jump on the cat, and die, so this will be under control soon. 

[Hilltopmom]

For your area rugs - are you vacuuming the top, then turning them over and vacuuming the bottom, vacuuming the floor underneath, then vacuuming the top again? That might help if you were only doing it from the top. Ugh.

 

Remember that the heat and vibration of vacuuming will actually cause new fleas to hatch; this is a good thing in the long run (since you can then vacuum up the new fleas in the next session, before they are mature enough to lay new eggs), though it doesn't feel like it in the short run. That's why you need to vacuum absolutely everything, daily.

 

Ugh, ugh, ugh. :grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug:

Yes! It's so much work, but I know it needs to be done.

[Hilltopmom]

And remember, I told you that about 2 weeks after initial treatment it gets bad again, as new ones hatch out. But those new ones will jump on the cat, and die, so this will be under control soon.

Oh, I really, really, really hope so!

[ktgrok]

Oh, I really, really, really hope so!

 

Yup humans are not their preferred food source, the cat is. So they will jump on the cat and die before reproducing. You are getting there, I promise. Did Orkin use a growth regulator when they sprayed?

[Hilltopmom]

Yes, they did.

I guess I'm just worried it won't work!

[ktgrok]

Yes, they did.

I guess I'm just worried it won't work!

 

It should. Even if you do everything right, a bad infestation can take about a month or so to get under control. 

[Hilltopmom]

And, the beginning of the school year, things are getting busy, & I'm having a cardiac procedure next week.. I just want this OVER!

Plus, it's still hot & all this vacuuming is hard work :)

[Hilltopmom]

And I feel gross, like how did I get this many fleas in my house so fast! Yuck.

[ktgrok]

And I feel gross, like how did I get this many fleas in my house so fast! Yuck.

 

Honestly they were probably mostly on the older, ill cat. When that one died they freaked and started looking for a new host, including you. You'll get there, I promise! Keep the cat medicated. 

[Bug's Mom]

After bathing and treating our cats and house, I started giving this to our cats once a month. It's been 2 years. Haven't seen another flea.

petsneedmeds 2 in 1 oral monthly FLEA control for Cats

[StephanieZ]

You need to get Comfortis. It will end your problem. 

[mmasc]

You need to get Comfortis. It will end your problem.

I agree. Love this stuff for my dogs!

[mom2samlibby]

We've had fleas this summer too and I'm getting tired of them.  :(

 

I bought this stuff a couple of weeks ago.  I think we are finally getting on top of them.  

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003PRI6OC/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000668Z96/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005Z6UL1M/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s04?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

and a flea comb.

 

 

[happypamama]

Fleas are awful. This is the stuff we ended up using. Nasty but very effective.https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B002QS0WDO/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1473325612&sr=8-1&pi=SY200_QL40&keywords=flea+spray+ultracide

 

Spray, and then leave the house for a couple of hours. Vacuum when you return, and keep vacuuming daily. Repeat weekly for a few weeks. That did get rid of them. We also use Advantage on the cats. Oh, and we used homemade flea traps that really worked. Put a small nightlight in an outlet, and under it, put a small bowl of water with a little dish soap in it. The fleas are attracted to the light and will jump in the water and drown because of the soap. We had several of these around the house, and at first they had a lot of fleas in them, but then as the spray worked, we saw fewer and fewer.

 

Fleas are such a huge pain!

[trulycrabby]

This won't help the infestation, but advantage and frontline weren't working well enough for our dogs and cats, so the vet recommended Soresto flea collars. I have always hated flea collars because they didn't work, but these are a new type and work extremely well. They are expensive initially but work for eight months.

 

https://www.amazon.com/Bayer-Seresto-Flea-Collar-Packaging/dp/B00B8CG5NK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1473329579&sr=8-1&keywords=flea+collar+cats

Edited September 8, 2016 by trulycrabby

[katilac]

In honor of this thread, I finally remembered to replenish our Advantage II supply.  Indoor kitty, outdoor kitty, and even the stray who loves to sneak inside have been treated.