When I searched this site for "fleas," I got as many hits as potty training! LOL.
Yes, in following up to "my cat is more work than my daughter," I had to exterminate my house today. This is after two days of trying OTC flea bombs and having a snarky "I told you so" moment with DH. Told you so in terms of needing an exterminator.
So $600 later, I am hoping the exterminator did as much damage to the critters as our wallet!
Anyway, I am convinced that our house is full of carcinogens now and that the bombs are more damaging than the fleas!
I'm airing out the house, vaccuuming as prescribed twice daily to maximize flea death, and washing down the counters.
Anyone else have any post-flea treatment remedies?
Oh, and yes, we did treat the (arrrrrgghhh) cat on Saturday.
Jo: $50? From an exterminator?????
$600???!! They better have picked up the corpses for that!!
Granted it has been years but it only cost 50 to have my house bombed!
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Yup, for 100 they deal with freaking yellow jackets!!
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I had mine done professionally but they used some sort of natural thing - shot it under the house. Guy was done in 15 minutes - cost us $600 but it has a one year guarantee and we have had absolutely NO PROBLEMS with fleas from the minute he got done!
I think all that's left now is for you to relax.
And get the cat a flea collar!
I'm a day late and a dollar short...so sorry I didn't get to you prior to your $600. I agree with Jaimee about the Diatomaceous Earth.(It's simply sea plankton) It is COMPLETELY safe (safe enough to ingest) and kills not only fleas but all exoskeletal bugs (even bedbugs). It is messy but it's super cheap. Fleas will come and go over the years so I think this info could possibly come in handy one day, if not for you, someone you know.
God bless!
M.
I live outside of Boston and the exterminator we called for wasp nests in the attic was close to $300 over 10 years ago, so I think the $600 amount makes sense. Our appliance store repair guys costs $75 just to show up!
No offense to cats, but at least you can vaccum a dog. Anyhow, make sure you throw out the vaccum contents or bag each time you vaccum. Our vet said the fleas can actually crawl back out of the vaccum. Don't forget that if the flea problem is that bad....Sorry, but....You and your family are also inadvertantly bringing in fleas on your pants. Fleas go for warmth. You probably should try to put some stuff on the lawn to get rid of the little buggers as well. Fall is the worst time for fleas, so you really have to make sure you've put that stuff on the cat or put some garlic and brewer's yeast into the cat's food.
I'm a bit late with this answer, wish i got to you before you used all those chemicals! but i'll still say it incase you ever have to do this again, flea treatment has come a long way... and i've seen hundreds of families with bad cases of fleas get rid of them without any "bombing" or exterminators. We don't recommend those anymore, we actually recommend avoiding them :(
So if it ever happens to you again, consider using only a good prescription topical treatment on the cat (NOT an over-the-counter one because i've seen cats get very sick from those and they rarely work, but one from your vet like Advantage or Revolution)...
I've worked at a cat-only hospital for 9 years, and the topical treatment will maybe cost around $100 for 3 months of treatment. Nice thing is these are really safe & companies stand behind their products with a guarantee that they'll work (but only if you buy from a vet, not if you buy online, because they don't sell directly to petmeds or any of those other online pharmacies, that's shady stuff & a whole other story!).
When your cat has this treatment on board, they become a "walking flea bomb" around the home... as the fleas hatch they jump on the cat to feed and die before they can lay more eggs, stopping the cycle until they're all gone! It can take a few months for flea eggs to hatch though, so that's why you need at least 3 monthly treatments for each pet. I've never seen it not work!
It always makes me cringe to see people use all those chemicals in their home around their children and pets when there's such an easier, safer way. Hope things clear up for you soon!!
