Help!! Fleas~ - Frankfort,IL

You can use frontline on the cat and dog or you can get reveloution which is for fleas and heartworm all in one.
As far as the house we used a "bomb" which I bought at petsmart and it's just an aerosol can that you set off in the house and then we all left for awhile. Problem solved.

We had the same problem a few years ago. Our neighbors house was literally infested with them.... to the point that the state came in and took the children and considered the house unlivable! Unfortunately we found out fleas travel! In the neighbors case they actually had to call in professionals who ran out of the house doing the heebyjeeby dance and were covered in 15 seconds! They came back with Tyvek suits and respirators... there was also rat problems! It was disgusting... but goes to show you just never know about your neighbors!

When I noticed our dogs scratching and my son who I also thought had mosquitto bites was bitten by fleas I went and spent a small fortune on the flea stuff from Petco... bombs, sprays, baths etc... none of them worked and the fleas were still here...Grrrrrr ! They go for a certain blood type I found since my husband was the only safe one in the house!

I finally called the vet who told us not to waste money in all the products out there except for the Frontline we got from him. No need to bomb the house or call in Orkin- which was my first thought! We were to just vaccuum every day in the morning and night and as the fleas jumped on our dogs they would die off. It took about 2 days until we did not notice any problems with itching and I did not see anymore of those nasty things!. The good thing- no harsh chemicals in our house!

I would not worry about your sons stuffed animals since they do not have blood and if they are on them they are just traveling through to get to the dogs or cat and once they go to the vet will die once they hitch a ride on the dinner train!! Watch your son for bites. Not sure of the age recomendations for Off but we all (except hubby) wore Off around here which stopped us getting bit for a few days.

Ohhhhhhhhhh now I need to go shower since I feel like I am crawling with bugs! Ughhhhhhhhhhhh Good luck to you and many blessings!

We had that problem at our duplex. The girl who moved out had a cat that had fleas. And both sides ended up infested. My sister and her husband moved in. My sister was 6 months pregnant at the time and I had an infant. We did research on home remedies. We used a vaccuum with great frequency, but their side still had to have carpet torn up and replaced. We read that light or the warmth from them attracts fleas. We set shallow pie pans of water under reading type lamps at night. Come morning we flushed the dead fleas. For some reason, Lysol kills the little buggers. So we bought gobs of it and sprayed the carpeting, couches, etc. Believe me, you have my sympathy!

i had an infestation about a year and half ago. i was so creeped out i wanted to just burn my house down. we had someone come out and look around a bit. he said that flea WILL bite females because of the hormone levels we have, but we taste bad thats why fleas bit more than once.(trying to find a good taste i guess) the guy said to vaccuum every other day and to make sure you edge the base boards and under the furniture. fleas like dark place, he said that he finds them about and inch under couches and entertainment centers. what i found to also work is the lice spray. i sprayed it along the base boards and couches then waited and vaccuumed. it was under control in a few days a week at the most.

You don't need to do flea bombs or Orkin really. (I went through this same thing about 20 years ago and back then, that is what we did.) Now, though, there are meds for animals that make them unappealing to fleas. Like the other moms said, talk to your vet asap. My ex-husband is a vet and he would recommend Revolution for your pets, which is applied monthly and it really works. The pets are the fleas' food source, so if they have no food source they eventually die and all go away! Their eggs can live in your carpets and stay dormant until a pet comes along and then they hatch and jump on. So it's very important to treat all your pets monthly FOREVER. Revolution also protects against heartworm. Just keep vacuuming and treat your pets. Good luck!

K.,

First of all, calm down! Fleas are not like lice. They are a lot easier to get rid of and do not prefer biting people. It may take a month or more the get rid of them completely, but they will mostly be in the carpet or on your pets. Your son will be fine. Fleas do not spend their entire life-cycle on the animal like lice. The eggs fall off the pets wherever they are. A good vacuuming of all floors and furniture(a bagless vaccuum would be ideal because you should throw out the bag after every time) will get rid of a lot of them as well of washing pet bedding. The larvae don't like light much and will stay under furniture, so spraying under furniture helps. I don't know if an entire fogging by the Orkin man is necessary, but I'm not sure what they recommend. Your vet should recommend a good topical product like front-line monthly. This is the worst time of the year for fleas, so preventative is highly recommended every year. I'm a veterinarian, its going to be okay. Believe me, I've dealt with lice and fleas in my home, and I'll take fleas anyday. I just read through the other advice you've gotten, and it all sounds good except for the lady who recommended flea dips. She must have had her problems before the invention of products like Front-line and Advantage. They are far superior (they stay with the animal longer in the fat-layer of their skin, but I will tell you that if the infestation is bad enough, you may need to put it on more often than once monthly. It is safe for every two week usage). Also products like Capstar that help get rid of the fleas on the animal faster may help (its oral). Also, cat owners seem to like Advantage better, and dog owners like Front-line better. I'm not sure why. Its not a big deal since its a different product and dose for dogs and cats. One more thing, it sounds like your cat may need antibiotics or even steroids for a flea-allergic dermatitis, but I will leave that up to your veterinarian, of course.

Our house was infested with fleas when we bought it (they had outdoor cats, the house was carpeted, and our pets got the fleas.) We used the bug bombs successfully, but we also had to comb the dog repeatedly, and treat the house several times. It took what seemed like a long time - a month or 6 weeks? We had Frontline, but we also had to do the combing every few days. It was frustrating at the time, but it really is just a matter of time and persistence.

That was before we had kids, though - I think I would try to avoid bug bombing now (but we've also pulled up all the carpeting, so it would be easier to clean the floors by vacuuming now, too.) If you do the bug bombing, make sure you read up on the products and stay out of the house for the recommended time.

Been there dealt with fleas.

I found that frontline doesn't work as well as advantage does for cats. I order from 1800petmeds.com The drops, not the collars.

As far as the house infestation goes, Raid for fleas works wonders. We sprayed it on carpets, curtians, couches etc. Much cheaper than calling in the pros too.

Hope you get this dealt with,
K.

Go get Frontline. It will solve all your problems. The fleas need the animals to live. With the frontline, they lose their food source, so they will die. Vaccum a great deal more than usual and you will be fine. Do not worry about the clothes and carpet and stuffed animals. The fleas are not interested and if they were, their life cycle is very short. Vaccum them up!!! Good Luck!

As I am sure your vet told you. Use Frontline for both pets as long as they are old enough. Frontline is the best product you can use. I had this happen last year. I Frontlined everyone and I used Capstar, which is a pill they take and it kills every flea on them within a hour. You can have someone come in and spray, but what I did was just vacumn a lot and cleaned out my vacumn everytime. The frontline and capstar work really well. Hope this helps.

We had to same problem about a year ago when our cats brought home fleas after staying with friends for a while. We treated the cats (it took two cycles of the meds so make sure you check with your vet about this too so he can give you more meds to give in 3 months). What we were told by the vet and also the reps at frontline was that the fleas prefer the animals to humans so don't lock your pets in another room or outside...let them roam the house so the fleas primarily feed on the pets. After the pet is treated the fleas will ingest the medicine and die off. Yes, the actual fleas have a short life span, but don't forget about the eggs (sorry to gross you out even more...). That is why we needed to treat more than once...the first round got rid of the live fleas and the second got the new ones...after two rounds, our problem was over. As for stuffed animals and such, the fleas probably are not a problem there, but if it would ease your mind go ahead and throw them in the dryer on high heat. Oh and keep your child away from the treated animal (just don't let him or her hang on the pet) for about 24hrs while the medicine is still on the surface. Also like everyone else has said vaccuum like crazy for a little while. That will pick up some of the eggs too...just make sure your dispose of your vaccuum bag outdoors. I know it sucks, but it will be over soon! Good luck.