Is anyone else suddenly having a flea issue?

[kagordo4]

We have three fuzzy kids: two cats and a pug.

It warmed up in Florida about a month ago and suddenly the cats and the pug are covered in fleas. I don't understand. We buy Advantage (vet recommended) monthly and my boyfriend vacuums daily. Frodo, the pug, is so pathetic. He is chewing so badly that he’s leaving welts.
The vet recommended vacuuming with borax (?). He also suggested flea combing which we do pretty much every day.

Does anyone have magical advice? I feel so terrible watching them scratch like crazies. My cat is white with black spots (think of a cow : P ) and she’s totally covered in flea excrement.

 

[TravelingGal]

We had a flea problem every year that started in March/April. We didn't have pets, so it was even more infurating.

First of all, no borax if you have cats. Double check, but it's not good for them.

Second, do a search on here on fleas for some good home remedy advice. I've participated on a few flea threads around here.

Third, don't do any home remedy stuff. Seriously, you don't wanna know how fast those things breed. Call a professional, stat.

 

[TravelingGal]

btw, if you are vacuuming daily, you need to throw out the bag each time. If it's bagless, that gets dumped each time too. Vacuuming is only good for sucking up adult fleas, and for maybe waking up those eggs so they hatch. But they'll keep on coming!

 

[Gypsy]

I have no good advice. Even with 5 cats we have (thank you lord) not had an infestation because we keep our (all indoors) cats on flea meds year round due to allergies-- we use Frontline.

But I just had to say, this thread brings back memories of creative solutions others have offered for flea infestations. My favorite EVER was Erica's advice to T-gal to use flea collars as a necklace and bracelet for Amelia. Still makes me LMAO.

Flea infestations are NASTY. My best advice is... move out for a couple of days. Bomb the house professionally. Dip the pets then use Frontline on them. Wash all your clothes. Follow up with a professional house cleaning including a professional strength vacuuming before you move back in. Keep pets on Frontline.

 

[yssie]

Ditto - vacuuming isn't going to fix a bad infestation, unfortunately - there are probably fleas/eggs in the upholstery, curtains, anything the cats/dog may have brushed against, sat on..

Having been through this once and been completely baffled as to why the powders, vacuuming, frontline aren't working.. all I can say is BIG ditto Gypsy - get it taken care of by a professional asap, before it gets worse - it sounds like it's past the DIY point. And keep vaccuming and wiping and laundering bedding/curtaining/chair covers, etc. in hot water once they're done! One tip I learnt on here is to put a flea collar in the vacuum canister if it's bagless. Treat pets w/ flea meds and keep treating them year 'round to make sure you get rid of the full cycle of adults/babies/eggs, and keep bathing them w/ flea shampoo regularly after the dip. For some reason the frontline we were using just stopped being effective (not a clue why, but the vet said it happens sometimes) so we switched to advantage, and we've had good luck with that - maybe a change in medication is in order? If you're finding that you're getting bitten you could try keeping the house cold for a few weeks, should help a bit - though the larvae won't develop as quickly I think so you'll have to stay on top of the treatments.

 

[sparklypoodle]

I'm having this problem too My poor little poodle keeps licking and scratching, he now has welts all over his body. I'm on my way to vet this morning actually. We tried everything; advantage, baths, collar, you name it. And I am like a clean and neat freak, so this really grosses me out! We've never had it as bad as this, I don't know what is going on. I'll keep checking this thread to see if anyone has come up with a solution I can try. A collar in the bagless vacuum is a great idea! I'm going to try that today.

 

[sparklypoodle]

Oh, and I am NOT a tradeperson. I have no idea how I became one all of a sudden!

 

[MichelleCarmen]

We've never had a problem till we moved into our current apt. What we did was put advantage on kitty EVERY week and I vaccuumed and emptied the canister every day. I also shook out all the blankets every day, washed them every other day, AND used a lint roller over all the blankets and couch to yank up any flea eggs.

Fleas are gone now...the pet store said this season is worse than ever. Diatomaceus earth is suppose to work well. The only problem is it's very expensive...like $25 for 1,000 sq. feet. It's a lot cheaper online. You want to ge the FOOD QUALITY stuff. (and it's not safe to breath in, so maybe just use it once or twice. A few times is okay, but not on a regular basis.)

Oh, and just to add, you can get Advantage on eBay for a lot less $ as well!

 

[LGK]

Ditto to needing professional help. I had an apartment that was just constant flea hell (upstairs neighbors I think were the true repeating source). And the DIY stuff just doesn't cut it when it's really bad.

Keep a very close eye (ew, sorry) on your pets to see if they got tapeworms from the fleas. Also another fun, fabulous side effect of a bad flea infestation. Our guys *always* got worms from fleas, every single time. And it takes awhile to actually, uh, tell. Anytime the fleas came back, actually, I'd just go get them de-wormed as a matter of course.

 

[kagordo4]

Thanks, everyone.

TravelingGal, we have a bagless shark vacuum that gets emptied then sharked (the steamer) out. BF also steam cleans the carpet weekly. This week he's done it twice. I'm not allowed to use vacuums or the steamer I have a bad habit of breaking them beyond repair... something about paperclips.

We aren't allowed to bomb per our lease. I think our stupid neighbors are the cause. There cats are outside all the time, they don't use any flea prevention and they "stopped in" to say "Hi" the other day. I think they just wanted to be nosey (we just got a new TV that was being delivered). Their poor cats scratch themselves until they're bloody.

MC, awesome idea on the lint roller, I'm going to steal that We have like 10 with the pug-who-sheds-a-lot.

I called another vet today who was thankfully in-office on this fine Saturday and he said to call a pest control agent and that it was probably the stupid neighbors bringing in the fleas. Our other neighbor works for pest control so he'll be coming to spray all our windows, around the AC, the doors, everything. He also recommended Capstar the day of the apartment cleaning/spraying. Has anyone tried this?

 

[iheartscience]

Have you thought about grabbing the neighbor's cats and putting Frontline or Advantage on them? It's not your responsibility but it could help your flea problem and help the poor cats out. If you're more bold you could just say something to your neighbors about your flea infestation and tell them they need to get Frontline or Advantage for their cats. (They probably won't if they're not already, but it's worth a shot.)

And you should definitely complain to your management company about the flea situation and let them know it's most likely the neighbor's fault for not treating their cats for fleas.

 

[iLander]

Here, I have the solution

I have been down this road, and here is the issue; Advantage doesn't REPEL fleas! So they can wander around, laying eggs and bothering your pet for quite some time before they actually bite and die. They can also jump off and nest in your carpet and furniture.

You need to get K9 Advantix (no longer need a prescription) for the dogs and Revolution (script) for the cats, plus cat flea collars

I went down this Miserable road last year; I tried Frontline (there are so many frontline resistant fleas in the South that it is worthless now), I tried Comfortis (again, not a repellant), I tried a bunch of other stuff IN CONJUNCTION with these meds: borax, powders, flea-attracting traps, diatonatious (sp?) earth, flea shampoos, flea bath, the whole nine yards! I did it all. And STILL we were miserable.

But the above bolded meds work. Wait a couple of days after you apply the meds, and pop on the Zodiac flea collars, because they REPEL fleas.

Trust me, I have been there.

ETA; I have had dogs for MANY years and never had fleas. Then, suddenly last year, we got them. I walk my dogs twice a day, the rest of the day they are inside. It's not like they're out rolling in a field all day. I was Shocked when I realized that we had fleas! This is some kind of weird biological thing going on, and the medication-resistant fleas are everywhere, all of a sudden.

 

[waterlilly]

I'd get professional help and keep an eye out for tapeworms in your pets down the road. Injesting fleas is the first step in the cycle...

 

[kenny]

We use Frontline and that takes care of it, but I want to mention again how to save $$$ on it, if you don't have the largest dog.

They sell several of sizes of Frontline for dogs of various sizes.
The concentration of the liquid does not vary, just the amount in a vial.
All the sizes are the same price.

We have 10-pound dogs but buy the one for the 100-pound dogs, but do NOT use the whole vial.
Here's how we figured out how much to use...

The first time we bought the correct one for 10-pound dogs.
We poured it out very slowly and counted the drops, and it was 11 drops.
A drop is actually a very repeatable exact quantity.
I seal the vial with tape and keep it upright tapped to the wall in our fridge.

Now we apply 11 drops from the huge vial.
This is like getting a 90% discount on Frontline.
If you have a 100-pound dog you're out of luck. Sorry.

 

[iLander]

I'd get professional help and keep an eye out for tapeworms in your pets down the road. Injesting fleas is the first step in the cycle...

Waterlilly is right! We had this too! I found out the hard way, when my cat barfed up a tapeworm in the middle of the living room.

Grossest thing I ever saw!!!

Get thee to a pet store and get the meds I listed above. We are flea-free this year. But let me tell, we KNOW when the 30 days of the medication are almost up, they start itching on day 29, so I know the fleas are out there.

Good luck and ACT FAST

 

[iLander]

We use Frontline and that takes care of it, but I want to mention again how to save $$$ on it, if you don't have the largest dog.

They sell several of sizes of Frontline for dogs of various sizes.
The concentration of the liquid does not vary, just the amount in a vial.
All the sizes are the same price.

We have 10-pound dogs but buy the one for the 100-pound dogs, but do NOT use the whole vial.
Here's how we figured out how much to use...

The first time we bought the correct one for 10-pound dogs.
We poured it out very slowly and counted the drops, and it was 11 drops.
A drop is actually a very repeatable exact quantity.
I seal the vial with tape and keep it upright tapped to the wall in our fridge.

Now we apply 11 drops from the huge vial.
This is like getting a 90% discount on Frontline.
If you have a 100-pound dog you're out of luck. Sorry.

Oh, I'm going to try this with the Advantix, Kenny! In our area, the fleas are Frontline-resistant, and the vets have stopped selling it. But I'll check into the advantix formula and see if this will work for our tiny guys.

Great tip!

 

[iLander]

Here is a link to the Drs Foster and Smith Comparison chart.

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/pic/article.cfm?aid=325

Please Note: Only Advantix repels fleas on Dogs! If you do not repel, they will still come home with you. (the Biospot on the chart, doesn't actually work, ignore that)

On Cats, you need Revolution, AND a Zodiac collar! There really doesn't seem to be a repellant flea product for cats. The Zodiac is the best collar, we tried a bunch of those as well.

Reading through the posts, I remembered that last year I also tried 3 flea bombs, flea carpet spray, flea dog spray, and flea spray for the yard. We spent 3 months in "flea hell" as my DH called it. I have done it all.

I know of which I speak.

 

[Cind11]

Do not dip the cats. The dip is much too harsh for them. My Vet recommends a "premises" spray (There is more than one kind out there) as opposed to bombing the house. He said the problem with the bombs is that they go up in the air and rain down but don't really get underneath things. Plus, you have to leave your house. With the spray you can direct it to where you want it to go and do it room by room.