[2bluefish]

We are in the midst of a crisis. Our completely indoor cats have got fleas (I guess we brought them in from outdoors?). This was completely off my radar; they have never ever had fleas - I discovered that we have a major infestation only after the baby started showing up with bites! Now I'm having to wash everything - all the bedding and linens, vaccum, vaccum, vaccum - the cats have had 2 baths, and I even vaccumed them today.

: It has become a major pain

 

[alegna]

Ugh! Major pain.

So odd for them to get them... are you in a new house that might have been infested?

We've had pretty good luck keeping flea-free....

-Angela

 

[Lesley77]

Your cats let you vacuum them?

: I think I would be shredded if I tried that! Sorry about the fleas. I hope you can get a handle on them.

 

[jessieann]

yikes! that's quite an unexpected catastrophe! hopefully you get get rid of them quickly. I highly suggest a flea bath for your cats, and even possibly flea bombing your house to make sure you kill all the little buggers.

 

[rebelbets]

Quote:

Originally Posted by alegna So odd for them to get them... are you in a new house that might have been infested?

It's really not that odd, even for a strictly indoor cat. My two cats are indoor cats, but I will notice them scratching if I let too much time lapse between their flea treatments. Even indoor cats need a regular flea prevention regimen. We use Advantage.

 

[onlyzombiecat]

When you vacuum it stimulates flea larvae to emerge. The larvae can remain dormant for some time. You might vacuum and then do the flea bomb or other treatments.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flea

Look at the more natural ways to repel fleas-
http://www.paw-rescue.org/PAW/PETTIP...Prevention.php

When we had a major flea problem a few years ago we finally had to treat the cats and remove them from our house (stayed with family) until we got it under control there.

 

[2bluefish]

I'm trying to go all natural with essential oils and all and avoid the bomb if I can, but we might have to resort to that. My best guess is that I'm brought the fleas into the house from my outdoor animals. We bought this house a year and a half ago from people with dogs, so it is possible that they got fleas at that time, and I just never realized it til now.

I know - incredible that the cats let me vaccum them!! I clipped their claws first. Actually I've been amazed at how they handled the baths too - these are cats that don't even like to be brushed. Maybe what I'm doing is helping so they are more tolerant.

Never a dull day with animals...

 

[Tigerchild]

If the winter is mild then fleas are a big problem around here. My cat gets treated every fall, and personally I suspect that he gets the fleas from the kids hanging out outside or being around other animals (or in the case of our one major infestation, from my MIL's dog--sigh)

We do advantage too, but only for a few months after an infestation, as it's pretty expensive.

This year hasn't been too much of a problem!

One thing you might look into, is to pick up a few 'capstar' tablets from your vet. Capstar essentially kills all the biting fleas on the cat. We had a major infestation a few years ago, and had to use the capstar daily for a week plus advantage for a few months. I also used a spray (it wasn't insecticide, but it wasn't organic either) under the bed where Oliver spends most of the day snoozing. If you end up having to use capstar, it does involve pilling the cat (which can be a major pain).

I found capstar/advantage to be less intrusive than flea baths (or even just advantage) but to be honest if you've got a big infestation then advantage is not going to be enough, you probably need to do capstar or something like the baths to kill the adults.

If you're worried about the yard, I believe that if you apply predatory nematodes they also will eat flea eggs or larvae, and you should be able to get those from an organic garden story (might want to make sure of what kind to get). Unfortuantely, that has to be a seasonal thing, it won't solve an acute problem. But might be worth looking into if you think they're being tracked in from the outside environment.

I can look up the spray I used if you want. I never bombed the house, and the spray seemed pretty effective. Also, fleas can be dormant in your house for a really long time. My MIL's dog picked up its infestation when they ripped up a bunch of carpet and were redoing the inside of their house, fleas had never been a problem before. Those little buggers are a real PITA, especially if you've got family members that are sensitive/attractive to fleas (they love DD and me).

 

[lilylove]

Moved to Pets

 

[LiLStar]

If you sprinkle borax in the carpet/anywhere the cats like to lay, leave it there for a couple hours, then vacuum it up it kills the fleas.

 

[alegna]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rebelbets It's really not that odd, even for a strictly indoor cat. My two cats are indoor cats, but I will notice them scratching if I let too much time lapse between their flea treatments. Even indoor cats need a regular flea prevention regimen. We use Advantage.

We have had very good luck staying flea free as long as there are no pets in the house that go outside. When my sister lived here and let her cat out we had problems. Once we got rid of those fleas we've gone back to flea free.

-Angela

 

[Potty Diva]

I hate that fleas lay dormant for so long- ugh!

Thanks for the heads up. We just went to the vet a few days ago because of two of our cats had this black "junk"on their chins. The vet said, "fleas." We had went off Advantage for a few months and now are back on it. I've been bitten twice. Hopefully we'll be good now

Staying on Advantage has kept us flea free, even when the kids were going outside (we call our cats, our kids).

 

[Birth&Bunnies]

I have House Rabbits, one of them has been spending her days, by choice on the patio. She has picked up a flea or two. I never see the eggs, just the little scab bites. We are moving soon and the patio where she's going to be for a few weeks has half dirt. I plan to use some essential oils, but I don't think I can get garlic down her

. What can I do to the dirt to kill the fleas that may be there? I can try looking around at the Natural Food store and see what they have.

 

[oneKnight]

Easiest way we ever got fleas out of the house was to go on vacation, without the blood we successfully broke the life cycle. We were just starting to get them though, sounds like you already have larvae.

Hey, any excuse is good for a vacation, right?

 

[2bluefish]

Well, I seem to be having some luck. I'm going room by room, washing all the linens, drapes, anything that can be washed. Vaccuming and dusting. Throwing out trash and putting things away. And then I "fumigate" by diffusing essential oils.

I found a spot on treatment for the cats at the store that is made of essential oils, and it swears that it will kill them on contact.

Got to thinking - maybe this is the original reason for "spring cleaning" - you know, everybody's been inside all winter in close quarters, the vermin start to multiply? The thought kind of makes me enjoy the cleaning better.

I put baking soda on the carpet - I wonder if it works similar to borax? It did seem that I got more fleas to come up after letting the baking soda sit on the carpet for 30 minutes. Fleas can hold on tight and won't let go.

 

[rebelbets]

Quote:

Originally Posted by alegna We have had very good luck staying flea free as long as there are no pets in the house that go outside. When my sister lived here and let her cat out we had problems. Once we got rid of those fleas we've gone back to flea free.

You are lucky! We have no outdoor pets - only the two indoor cats - and they will still pick up fleas if too much time lapses between their treatments. We've never had a bad infestation or anything, but I'll notice them scratching. We're in south Louisiana, though, so maybe that's part of it.

2bluefish, my mom swears by moth balls in her vacuum cleaner bag. It smells like grandma's house, but it will kill the flea larvae you pick up from your carpet. Worth a try, anyway, especially if you're trying to stick to natural treatments.

 

[tsume]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rebelbets You are lucky! We have no outdoor pets - only the two indoor cats - and they will still pick up fleas if too much time lapses between their treatments. We've never had a bad infestation or anything, but I'll notice them scratching. We're in south Louisiana, though, so maybe that's part of it.

Same here. The vet said the fleas will catch a ride on our socks. We also treat our yard with something we get at the feed store. I'm sure it's not natural.

 

[2bluefish]

I bet you all are right about the south - we are in deep south Texas. It is a weather emergency here if we are going to have a freeze. So things that would be killed off other places, stick around here.

I have a bagless vacuum; I wonder if I can put moth balls in that? It is nice that I can vacuum and then immediately take them outside to the trash can, and not have them hanging out in the vacuum cleaner.

I haven't seen a single flea today, so maybe what I've been doing is working. We used to diffuse oils all the time, but we have been forgetting about it. Maybe that is why we never noticed fleas before?

 

[alegna]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rebelbets We're in south Louisiana, though, so maybe that's part of it.

Well, we're in south TX so it's about the same

-Angela

 

[alison_in_oh]

Be very careful with essential oils around cats. They are highly sensitive to some substances that we have no problem with (eucalyptus and tea tree come to mind.)

Also watch out for Borax around kiddos. Boron kills living cells, including those in humans. If the kids aren't in the room when you sprinkle and if you vacuum it up thoroughly it should probably be OK. But I'd lean toward diatomaceous earth (NOT pool-grade but food-grade) around kids.

Between moth balls and spot-on flea treatment or oral flea treatment, I'd go with treating the pets. It might not be the most natural, but at least it's probably not carcinogenic.

Parasites prefer unhealthy hosts, so you might reevaluate what you're feeding your kitties, and also consider if there might be a health issue lurking that they're hiding from you.