Ugh! Overrun by Fleas!

[Tangie]

My cat, Cleo, escaped a month ago, and brought fleas into the house! Now all my animals have it(except for Kiko of course). I wouldn't call it quite an infestation as of yet, but I'm afraid it soon will be. Do any of you have any ideas to get rid of fleas safely around Kiko? Of course I can't use Insecticides, so any other options? Like DE? I heard its dangerous if it gets inhaled by the animals. We have no carpets, so we don't really vacuum.

 

[gracebowen]

You can try doyourownpestcontrol.com and see if they have any bird safe options

 

[MikeyTN]

The way I rid the flea infestation we had here when we first moved on is I give everyone a flea bath with Dawn dish soap. Leave it on for 5 min after rubbing in then rinse. It kills all the fleas on them. Then I got some frontline plus and treated everyone after 24hrs of bathing as they needed time to dry off. It took two consecutive treatment to rid all the fleas. I'm allergic to flea bites so I can not have fleas around. I haven't had a flea problem since.

 

[Minimaker]

I second that Mike. Dawn is great, frontline spray is great. Spray them in another room away from the birds and keep them in there until they dry off so the fumes won't be dangerous. Those fleas won't stand a chance.

 

[thekarens]

One thing that everyone has forgotten is if you have carpet and/or cloth covered furniture, dog beds etc those will also need to be treated/washed.

 

[4dugnlee]

The way I rid the flea infestation we had here when we first moved on is I give everyone a flea bath with Dawn dish soap. Leave it on for 5 min after rubbing in then rinse. It kills all the fleas on them. Then I got some frontline plus and treated everyone after 24hrs of bathing as they needed time to dry off. It took two consecutive treatment to rid all the fleas. I'm allergic to flea bites so I can not have fleas around. I haven't had a flea problem since.

This is what I do every spring with my dogs. I have tried using garlic pills made for dogs to get rid of fleas. While it did seem to work okay, my dogs stopped willingly taking the pills and would find them and spit them out when I tried to hide them in something. I don't think it would work on an infestation though...JMO.

 

[Minimaker]

I have no carpet, but I've heard that you can sprinkle powdered borax in your carpets and it will kill fleas without having anything fumey or wet. Anyone tried that? I don't know how well it works, but it's a dry method.

 

[Flboy]

After the bath, the flea drops should fix everything. Yes, the eggs can last forever, and, in it's first stage of life, a flea will live over a year without eating. That's the bad news!
But the good news. With your pets, the fleas will not go dormant and will die from the frontline.
FYI, the frontline is the same strength no matter what size dog, just different amounts per vial. And the same price! You can google the dose. I buy the largest size and split it up across 5 small dogs. I think frontline is the one that is safe for cats too. Label will say.
Costco, BJ's, and Sams clubs carry it around here.

 

[strudel]

I think frontline is the one that is safe for cats too. Label will say.

There are different products for the dogs and the cats. Always get the feline version. There's also Advantage. As well as using the spot-on, there are tablets called Capstar. They kill the fleas. All the fleas on the animal. The spot-ons chemically stop the fleas from breeding as well as just killing the live ones. One of my dogs had a bit of a problem with fleas. Capstar and changing his spot-on fixed it. Sometimes one or other of the formulations doesn't work as well. Your vet should have all of the different ones, but they usually do a good job.

After you've treated everybody and vacuumed, dispose of the bag outside so that any eggs don't stay in the vacuum bag.

 

[MikeyTN]

We had carpets in every room that time during infestation but they do need a host to feed on so they jump back onto the dogs. So it took two months to rid all. Plus I'm the type of person that's very cautious to put any sort of powder substance into my yard or carpet due to my animals.

 

[Tangie]

I don't think I will use any powders or sprays, but I will do the Dawn bath and the flea drops. I heard that only 10% reside on your pets! I was kind of thinking I shouldn't use Flea Drops because lately there have been incidents where the animals are reacting bad to them, chemical burns, ect. Especially Advantage. But I'll try Front line Plus and see how it goes. I'm not worried about my dogs, but my cats are extremely sensitive, so I have to take that in consideration. Thanks for the help, guys!

 

[MikeyTN]

If you get frontline get the big tubes and divide between everyone as cats receive .5 cc each and dogs depending on their weight.

 

[Minimaker]

Fleas can make your cat way more sick than frontline will, I assure you. My mom found a stray cat covered in fleas and it was pretty sick. She took it to the vet and it was too late. It had a disease the fleas transmitted to him and he was so anemic from blood loss he was at death's doorstep already. His gums were pure white from the fleas sucking his blood. There was nothing to be done for him and he died shortly after that. Here's a link with other answers on the subject:
https://answers.yahoo.com/question/...2xvA2JmMQR2dGlkAw--?qid=20090818141158AATSfbM

 

[strudel]

I heard that only 10% reside on your pets!

They feed on the animals and jump off and breed elsewhere. That's where the spot-ons with the "chemical sterilisation" come in. They disrupt the breeding cycle so that the whole lot of them get wiped out, not just the ones on the animal.

I was kind of thinking I shouldn't use Flea Drops because lately there have been incidents where the animals are reacting bad to them,

There can be adverse reactions to anything. There's no need to avoid something unless you know that there is a particular sensitivity. Some cats do react to the spot-ons, it makes them sick/wobbly for a little while afterwards. My cats have never had any issue with any of them. Use the right dose and watch her afterwards. If there's any adverse reaction, consult your vet.

Leaving the fleas to breed can also cause issues. Flea dermatitis is no fun. Again, only some animals get that, unless your pet is affected, it isn't a concern.

 

[EllenD]

Fleas are difficult, I'm sure you know...the problem with not using anything and just bathing the animals is not only the eggs, but it only takes a couple of stray fleas to make thousands...I'm not a fan of any of the spot-on stuff either, many dogs and especially cats have gone into a constant-seizure-state from all of the them, especially the cheap brands like Hartz, Seargent's, Pet Armor, etc., so never use any of them...

They do make a natural product for both fleas and ticks that I've found to work extremely well for killing ticks, and keeping fleas off of my dogs, as I've not ever seen a flea in my house, and I live in State College, PA, the freaking Deer-Tick capital of the world (no joke, it's a serious issue here)...It's main ingredient is Eugenol (Clove-Oil), and you can buy the spot-on form, the shampoo form, the spray, the collar, or the powder form, and it's leave ticks floating in the bath water...and I have a collar on both of my dogs and it's worked perfectly, and is certainly safe for the birds...I buy it at either Walmart or Petco, they both sell it, it's a green and tan packaging, it's the only one that uses Clove-Oil...

Keep in-mind that if you actually do have a flea "infestation" in your house, and after you bath all of your animals and clean up the house and you still have fleas that are visibly hopping around, you'll need to call a professional exterminator and tell them you have birds, see what they suggest, because once you get an actual flea "infestation" in your home, it's a ***** to get rid of, and will just keep repopulating...

 

[ChristaNL]

Not to be used in the bird-room because of naked flame ...
(or near any pets whatsoever)

one of "grandma's olde tyme remedies":


take a shallow plate with water and a few drups of washing up liquid
put a small candle in the middle of it
and let it burn through the night


The idea behind it is: if it gets colder, the fleas start looking for the next warm body,
are drawn towards the candle (light and warmth) and will drown in the water (because the washing up liquid will reduce the surface tension).


It is not a good way to get rid of fleas... but a cheap and easy way to see if there are any left...


We used it as students to see if our cheapskate landlord should be fixing certain problems (again!).
Not sure if it works when the roomtemperature is already pretty high