Calling all pet owners-fleas

[Hudson_Hawk]

So much to our chagrin, we discovered this weekend that we have fleas. We suspect they originated in the room that''s DH''s office. It was the former tenant''s dog''s room and seeing as we''re not in there often, we''ve not noticed the problem until now. The other night DH had two jump on him. We thought we were in the clear because the animals don''t go in there often, but we noticed that they''re all a bit itchy lately. Admittedly, once the weather got cold we fell off the Frontline wagon and lapsed in treating them. Now I''m thinking that what I thought were itchy dry skin bumps on my legs might be bites. So we treated all of the animals with FL and now we''re going to bomb the house. I''ve never used a fogger before. Do I need to do the entire house or just the rooms with carpet? Do foggers kill immediately or will we need to wait awhile to see results? I know I should segregate the animals, how long do they need to be out of the room for? And what brand works best? I know there are all sorts of powders and sprays on the market. Is a fogger the way to go?

Any guidance would be greatly appreciated!

 

[TravelingGal]

Date: 12/28/2009 12:08:55 PM
Author:Hudson_Hawk
So much to our chagrin, we discovered this weekend that we have fleas. We suspect they originated in the room that''s DH''s office. It was the former tenant''s dog''s room and seeing as we''re not in there often, we''ve not noticed the problem until now. The other night DH had two jump on him. We thought we were in the clear because the animals don''t go in there often, but we noticed that they''re all a bit itchy lately. Admittedly, once the weather got cold we fell off the Frontline wagon and lapsed in treating them. Now I''m thinking that what I thought were itchy dry skin bumps on my legs might be bites. So we treated all of the animals with FL and now we''re going to bomb the house. I''ve never used a fogger before. Do I need to do the entire house or just the rooms with carpet? Do foggers kill immediately or will we need to wait awhile to see results? I know I should segregate the animals, how long do they need to be out of the room for? And what brand works best? I know there are all sorts of powders and sprays on the market. Is a fogger the way to go?

Any guidance would be greatly appreciated!

HH, consider me the local flea expert, hehehe. We had infestations EVERY summmer since 2006, through no fault of our own (we don''t have pets). It drove us insane and finally we moved into the house we are in now.

After years of dealing with them, I''ll say this, don''t bother with foggers or any other over the counter remedies. Fleas breed FAST. Call a pro. And even then, it might take more than one visit to exterminate.

I tried everything before. Foggers. Borax and salt swept into the carpet for 24 hours then vaccuumed up (that worked the first year, but I didn''t do it after Amelia was born. Also if you have cats, not a good idea.) Sprays. None of them work for a real infestation.

The problem is that it will kill fleas already hatched, but it does not kill the eggs. The life cycle of a flea is 14 days so two weeks later, you have a new infestation. Borax/salt is said to "dry" out the eggs and we had good results one year, but the other years it did not work, plus boraxing every two weeks is really annoying and is bad for the carpet (we were in a rental so we didn''t care though.)

If you want to see if you have a flea infestation, take a shallow dish (like a baking pan) and fill with water and some dishsoap. Put it on the ground when you go to bed and place a desk lap of some sort right next to it. The fleas are drawn to the warmth of the light and will jump in and drown in the water. Then you''ll know for sure if you have fleas.

The pros spray and you have to be out of the house for about 4 hours. They say that the spray infects the eggs and when the fleas hatch, they eat the eggs they''ve hatched out of and die. But even with this last go around, we had to call the pros in twice.

In the meantime, if you do have fleas, vacuum every day, more than once if possible. It sucks up the living fleas and the vibration helps the eggs hatch (which is why you want to keep vaccuuming). Throw out the bag immediately, or empty the canister if you have a bagless one.

Can''t help you with the pet, but I hear frontline works well.

 

[TravelingGal]

Oh, and whatever you do, DO IT QUICKLY. Fleas can lay a ridiculous amount of eggs. ONE female flea can lay 500 (yes, that''s FIVE HUNDRED) eggs during the lifecycle. So in two weeks, you''d have 500 new fleas. Don''t catch it and those 500 fleas lay 500 eggs, which means 250,000 fleas in a month. Yup, a quarter million fleas. Act fast!!!!!!!

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

Thanks for your input TGal. We''re 98% positive we''ve got them as DH has caught a few jumping in the office. I''ll look into a pro ASAP.

 

[DivaDiamond007]

Luckily, we''ve never had a flea problem, but put a flea collar in your vacuum canister. It will kill any survivors that you sweep up. Good luck!

 

[Mara]

we had portia bringing in a few fleas from the grass outside last year and the year before. we have a lot of cats and squirrels that run through our yard and leave friends behind.

problem is with her that her hair is longish and so even IF we do treat her with Frontline which we typically don't, they have to make it to the skin, bite and then die. what was happening was they were hitching a ride on her leg hair and then jumping off once they got inside. thankfully it was just a few here and there, but TG is right, an infestation can happen FAST. they breed like crazy. we actually didn't want to do the fogger and other methods, so we did the diatomaceaous(sp) earth route, you can get it at the hardware store and you mist/puff it around and into the furniture, bed legs, walls, crevices, carpet etc etc. it dehydrates the fleas (and other small bugs like spiders etc) within about 24 hours and then they just die. the good thing is that even if there are eggs and they hatch, the DE will take care of them too. the DE lasts a few months as well so we didn't have any other issues after that at all.

but i don't know that i'd do this for a serious infestation. if it's just a few fleas here and there in a few rooms, i would definitely go this route over a fogger or using pesticides kinda thing. we only found like 2-3 fleas on the couch (where she likes to hang out) and then one in our bed when we did the DE route. we treated any area we found fleas at the time. and now when she comes in from the yard we give her a rub down on legs and arms to make sure that she isn't carrying.

 

[TravelingGal]

Date: 12/28/2009 1:22:45 PM
Author: Mara
we had portia bringing in a few fleas from the grass outside last year and the year before. we have a lot of cats and squirrels that run through our yard and leave friends behind.

problem is with her that her hair is longish and so even IF we do treat her, they have to make it to the skin, bite and then die. what was happening was they were hitching a ride on her leg hair and then jumping off once they got inside. thankfully it was just a few here and there, but TG is right, an infestation can happen FAST. they breed like crazy. we actually didn''t want to do the fogger and other methods, so we did the diatomaceaous(sp) earth route, you can get it at the hardware store and you mist/puff it around and into the furniture, bed legs, walls, crevices, carpet etc etc. it dehydrates the fleas (and other small bugs like spiders etc) within about 24 hours and then they just die. the good thing is that even if there are eggs and they hatch, the DE will take care of them too.

but i don''t know that i''d do this for a serious infestation. if it''s just a few fleas here and there, i would definitely go this route over a fogger or using pesticides kinda thing. we only found like 2-3 fleas on the couch (where she likes to hang out) and then one in our bed when we did the DE route. and now when she comes in from the yard we give her a rub down on legs and arms to make sure that she isn''t carrying.

Yup, the DE or Borax route does work better than the fogger. But for the aggravation, I think it''s so much easier to call the pros. Worth every penny. Just check to see what their policy is for a reinfestation and how many times they will do the house for how much.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

Date: 12/28/2009 1:21:49 PM
Author: DivaDiamond007
Luckily, we''ve never had a flea problem, but put a flea collar in your vacuum canister. It will kill any survivors that you sweep up. Good luck!

GOOD CALL!!!

 

[yssie]

Ugh, yes, fleas

Our ex-stray brought them to us in droves, unfortunately.



The apt complex dealt with the fogging and first round of borax/steam cleaning, and the vet gave us flea collars and told us to use baking soda on the carpets instead for a month - safer for the cats, worse for the carpet though, I believe.



The flea collar in the vacuum canister is a brilliant idea!

 

[iheartscience]

I had them at an apartment a few years ago (the upstairs neighbor had a dog and I think that''s how we got them) and what really seemed to work was spraying all the furniture, mattresses, etc. with a special flea killer spray for furniture. I took all the sheets, blankets and throws and washed them in hot water, too. I also fogged once I washed everything and sprayed all the furniture.

But it was a small apartment and I had all hardwood floors and just one throw rug, so it was probably a lot easier than a whole house with carpet. Good luck...fleas are the worst!

 

[sunnyd]

A roommate''s GF''s dog brought fleas into my house a few years ago, and we fogged the place. Sprayed the couches, bed, animals,

everything!! Disgusting alert - when we came home, you could see the dead fleas all over the bed. Gross! But they never returned.

 

[TooPatient]

Date: 12/28/2009 1:33:00 PM
Author: Hudson_Hawk

Date: 12/28/2009 1:21:49 PM
Author: DivaDiamond007
Luckily, we''ve never had a flea problem, but put a flea collar in your vacuum canister. It will kill any survivors that you sweep up. Good luck!

GOOD CALL!!!

We had a BAD problem a few years ago. I got good suggestions from a pet store in the area and tried their over the counter sprays and powders.

Even if you go with a professional, you might consider getting a powder (your professional may be able to suggest something) to use in between or in your daily vacuuming. The stuff I got wasn''t very expensive and it did a good job. (another plus is that it is safe around kids & animals -- check first since all brands are different).

 

[PinkTower]

I don''t know if you have Black Walnut trees in your area. We put leaves under the edges of our rugs here in the South; it is supposed to be an ecologically friendly flea repellent. They smell good, and they are harmless, so you might give it a try.

Also, I don''t use Frontline anymore. I switched to Comfortis. You can read up on it. I have a standard poodle and a labradoodle. I split the dose for one dog between the two dogs, and find the half dose is perfectly effective.

 

[ericad]

This happened to us once, the summer after our daughter was born. I was horrified to catch a flea on her chubby little leg but refused to use chemicals in the house with an infant. I had lots of success using diatomaceous earth, brooming it into the carpets, dog bedding and upholstery, then vacuuming it up. If you''re patient, it''s very effective, though it may take a couple of weeks and reapplications (depending on the severity of the infestation) to see results.

It''s basically a dust made of shellfish (or something like that) and the microscopic particles cut through the flea''s exoskeleton causing it to die of dehydration (works on other bugs too). It only took us one application and within a week I was finding flea jerky all over the pet beds and we never had a problem with fleas again.

It''s not good to breathe this stuff or make contact with your skin, so anyone using it should take care and vacuum up the dust thoroughly (some remnants of dust will remain behind in the carpet pad and fibers, even after you vacuum, which is enough to slice & dice the fleas but won''t be a nuisance to the people or pets in the house).

I basically just did one room at a time when the baby was elsewhere. It was pretty easy.

 

[ericad]

Oh, and I also suggest buying nematode eggs online to release into your yard! They are microscopic little harmless parasites that live in your yard and feed on flea eggs and larva (works against other pests too!) Beneficial insects are a wonderful natural and preventative pest control.

For those with pets, brewers yeast supplements are great to give the animals, as it's a natural flea repellent because fleas dislike the taste.

 

[dragonfly411]

In our area of Florida, fleas are inevitable in winter time, if you don''t reapply FL in the latter part of the FL month period (IE FL 2 times a month). We are actually about to reapply. I only have one bedroom and a stairway that is carpet, so we typically vacuum thoroughly, including our couch, and just do a spray over with Lysol. The dogs tend to pick them up at the end of the FL period when we walk them outside (we can''t forbid them to potty after all). I''d say fog the rooms with carpet, and just make sure to vacuum any furniture that might harbor anything. Unfortunately when you have pets, and they go outside for any reason, they will eventually have some fleas. It''s just part of pet life.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

I''d just like to say thanks to all of you for your fantastic ideas. DH is home today and Operation Extermination is underway. Unfortunately none of the exterminators will come without our landlord calling and making the appointment, so we''re going to give it a go on our own this time. This has been a fantastic lesson for us, we will NEVER relapse in FL treatments!