The whole thing of dealing with fleas makes most people itch all over. No wonder: these are really nasty, disgusting little bugs.
Not only will they crawl on your pets and suck their blood, but they can also jump on you and bite you, causing much scratching and allergic reactions. Creepy, isn’t it?
Read below for details about flea identification and ways of their elimination.
How to Recognize a Flea
Before proceeding to treatment, it is necessary to be sure that the bugs you see are really fleas. Effective riddance and control depend to a large extent on targeting the right action to the right insect. So, what do they look like?
Fleas are very small wingless bugs that look at the first sight like specks of dust. When adult, the insect is about 0.1 inches long and its color ranges from dark brown to black.- Though these insects cannot fly, they’re extremely good jumpers – they can jump up to 3.9 feet! It is over 100 times their body size! Due to this ability, they easily move from one host to another, and will also land on anything around your home, including you. That is the way infestations are spread.
- There are more than 2.000 types of these pests and they are generally species-specific: e.g. cat fleas won’t feed off of dogs and vice versa.
Flea bites can cause allergic reactions in both people and pets.
- The bodies of the bugs are very flat and resilient to physical damage, that’s why they catching or another hitting. You’ll have to use your fingernails to squash it if you manage to catch one. However, it’s not an effective method of extermination at all.
Step 1: Treat Your Pet
If your pet is losing patches of hair, scratching excessively or developing scabs, you might have a flea problem on your hands. If you part the hair of your pet, you may see the insects running and trying to hide.
Once the enemy is discovered, it’s time for action:
- Start with a very thorough bath. Bathe your pet in soapy water – soap won’t let fleas grasp onto your cat’s/dog’s hair shaft. Thus, they’ll fall into the water and eventually sink. No matter what stage the insects are at, they’ll all die.
Fleas of all stages can be drowned in soapy water.
Optionally, add about a cup of white vinegar to soapy water. The bugs can’t stand the smell of vinegar and will abandon the host. Furthermore, they don’t like the smell of citrus, so you may bathe your pet using ‘DAWN Lemon Scented Liquid soap’. It is a great flea repellent and killer.
You may also use a special pet shampoo such as Neem Flea Shampoo. The mentioned product is natural, eco-friendly and very effective. It is safe for your four-legged friend and doesn’t leave his/her skin itchy or dry. -
After a bath, groom the animal with a flea comb to trap any live fleas left. It is better to flea comb outdoors to prevent the insects and their eggs from falling all over your floors. But if you have to do it indoors, vacuum the area immediately after combing.Here’s what you should do:
- Prepare a jar of hot soapy water (not boiling). You want to drown the trapped fleas in it.
- Begin from the head and ears of your pet. Gently run the comb through the fur and immediately dip it into the water to pull off the accumulated fur and prevent the fleas from springing loose. Also, check under the legs and near the tail. Then run the flea comb back through the same fur areas.
- Repeat the procedure for as long as your cat/dog will tolerate it.
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You may try oral medications, such as CAPSTAR Tablets, and/or topical medications like Frontline and Advantage. The latter typically come in little squeeze tubes and are applied near the base of the pet’s neck and between the shoulder blades where he/she can’t lick it. You should see results within 18 hours after application and keep fleas from coming back for about a month.
CAPSTAR Tablets are remarkably safe and effective. They can be used on kittens and puppies 4 weeks of age or older, and kill the insects on animals within 30 minutes of dosing.
Whatever product you choose, make sure it has IGR (insect growth regulator) on the label. Only IGR compliant products prevent (and kill) the bugs which are still in the larvae or pupae stage.
For the safe use of a product, be sure to use the correct amount for your size and type of pet, and follow the maker’s instructions.
Never use dog flea preventative on cats, as some of the dog products contain permethrin that can cause death and/or seizures for cats. - If you don’t like the idea of treating your pet with chemicals, you may opt for essential oils, such as Citronella, Lavender, and Lemongrass to keep the nasty little bugs away. Moreover, the oils will have a good healing and soothing effect on your pet’s skin.
Alternatively, you can rub citrus rind over the fur. Your animal will smell great and won’t be harmed if he/she licks the juices and oils from the fur. - Keep your animal inside for the next 30 days as much as possible to prevent reinfestation. If he/she must go out, keep him/her away from fallen leaves, long grasses or sandy patches.
It is highly recommended not to use any of these methods separately, e.g. you can use shampoo in conjunction with medications or essential oils with flea combing.
This will help to eliminate not only live bugs but their eggs also.
Step 2: Treat Yourself
Though fleas usually feed off animals, they are more common on people than most think. These little guys can live on any warm-blooded host! You might feel their bites or spot them on your clothes, skin, and hair.
To protect yourself and any family members, check yourselves from time to time on the presence of those dreaded insects, bathe regularly and wear clean clothes. Apply citrus or other essential oils on your legs and feet to stop fleas from biting, or you may try spraying these body parts with original ‘Avon SKIN SO SOFT Bath Oil Spray’ that has proven to be effective in keeping them away.
You can also apply DEET-containing mosquito spray to your socks, the cuffs of your trousers and ankles every day for a month. If fleas are no longer seen jumping around after this period of time, you can probably stop spraying it.
Don’t be negligent in flea extermination! Besides being a real nuisance to you and your pets, these bugs can cause FAD (flea allergy dermatitis), carry and spread such serious diseases as tapeworms, cat scratch fever, typhus, and bubonic plague.
Pests attack! Don’t be a fleas’ ride and spread their dominion. Get rid of them. Find out how to kill fleas in your house with the best flea sprays right here.
Don’t share your food with pests! It’s highly unhygienic. Indian meal moths https://pestkill.org/insect/indian-meal-moths/ feeds on what you leave behind after breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Step 3: Treat Your Home
Statistics indicate that most of the eggs laid on a pet fall from it, lodging themselves in crevices, carpets, and furnishings, and, if not treated properly, can initiate a new infestation.
Typically, the eggs hatch into larvae within 1-2 weeks. The larvae will enter the pupae stage in another few weeks and spin a cocoon around themselves. This cocoon is waterproof and usually protects insects from insecticides.
It is to be noted that fleas can stay in their pupae stage for a couple months or even for a year before developing into the adult form.
That’s why it is important to take the following measures if you want to remove these little buggers completely:
- Machine-wash ALL bedding (including the bedding of your pet), rugs and all other fabrics in hot soapy water. This will reduce the number of eggs and larvae on these items.
Once they are clean, keep them wrapped in clean garbage bags until twelve hours after you have treated your animals and your house to prevent the bugs from crawling onto them. 
Vacuum all furnishings, upholstery, smooth floors, carpets and rugs. Vacuuming will not only suck up fleas, pupae, larvae and eggs, it will also cause the insects to hatch from the cocoons. This will help you to kill more insects.
Seal carefully the vacuum bag/vacuumed material in a plastic bag and place it in an exterior garbage can after you’re done.
Keep vacuuming every day.- Vacuuming will not remove all bugs from rugs and carpets. To kill those that survived, you should use either food grade diatomaceous earth or borax.
Brush the chosen powder into the entire rug or carpet and upholstered furniture. Don’t vacuum for a week or two.
The pupae would emerge within this period of time and die from the borax/diatomaceous earth. Then you may vacuum.
Repeat the whole process after a few weeks.
If there are any fleas in your yard, treat it, too. You can use diatomaceous earth or eucalyptus leaves along with cedar wood chips.
In conclusion, we all can safely say that fleas are unwelcome guests in our homes, as they are both a potential health risk and an irritation to everybody, whether it be pets or people.
Hope this article will help you to resolve the problem and a flea infestation won’t rear its awful head again.
Sandeep, That’s not necessarily true. Because our dog gets rlauegr checkups and is on the preventative the vet wants her on, we were stumped when she started the incessant itching. And telling someone what they should have done doesn’t help them solve the problem. If you were a vet that I used, I would fire you. People don’t write in if they don’t care about their pets.
I comb them every dar and opo them.It is fun and I love to hear it pop! I vacuum. I am the flea stalker,so it gets very hard to find a flea. I keep the vacuum handy, stand on patrol and suck roaches up the vacuum. I love to grab the hose and get the roach.
PLEASE come help me then! ^_^ You sound like a handy friend to have around! Hehe!
I had an infestation from raccoons and a litter that had gotten into my chiminey and the fleas came through an opening in the fireplace. Once they moved on the fleas came into my apartment. My mother who has three cats lives on second floor, luckily, no fleas on her or cats. I hate chemicals too, so I put a raid flea fogged in chiminey and sealed of opening. I treated the floors with diatomaceous earth and eucalyptus oil,also I kept the AC on full blast, they hate cold. I vacuumed, like crazy and left the apt overnight. While cleaning, I did not get bit. I am returning today and hoping for the best. This has been an incredibly stressful event for me. I will update when I return.
I know this is after the fact, but I hope very much that what sounds like a full on and thorough attack of the bug(gers) was successful. I have seen so much change in the durability of fleas since I started working in the Veterinary and Pet field over 30 years ago (as a dog bather) and at the same time I became aware of all the viruses that cats are susesptible to, many more than dogs, If I had a cat, It would be an inside only cat. (Or cats) And I would not have it declawed at all. You have a much better chance of staying flea free that way, and since cats are little lions and leopards, and the streets are full of feral cats, sadly, it is about the only way to protect yours, which only knows how to be a pretend lion.
I gave an indoor cat and I’m sorry to say but fleas don’t care what kind if animal you are or whether or not you spend time outside. I got a flea infestation in my home AFTER many dogs that came in for a dog show stayed in the motel I work at because I was unaware that I had some jump on me!
Please tell me how had your efforts gone? I am having a full scale invasion and am at my weeks end I have bombed once n had a professional spray (what it looks like was precor 2000 concentrate and water) over this last week have seen what seems like a small reduction
Me too and nothing seems to work and I don’t even have pets I don’t know what else to do
Buy lavendar candles lavendar oil they hate it, wipe every inch of your home down with lemon/citrus products mop and vacuum everyday. Treat your car. Buy lots and lots of garbage bags when you take off clothes tie them up and take straight to the washer. Pretend you have ocd and cleaning for a hospital. Oh and buy a mason jar add borax(washing powder) and diatamaceous earth FOOD GRADE turn mason jar into huge salt and pepper shaker. Sprinkle before bed vacuum in morning. Good luck
Get a box of 20 Mule Team Borax in the laundry section of the store. Sprinkle liberally in the carpets and leave for a day or so. Vacuum up and then change the bag or clean the vacuum chamber etc. to get rid of the eggs/bodies. If you just store the vacuum away, they will hatch out and re-infest. The Borax literally burns them up. I used to live in Florida, and you could walk through my house and see them jumping on your pants. A neighbor told me about the Borax thing and we got rid of them forever.
Wow, sounds really easy! What about drapes and upholstery?
Jerome’s a weird one huh. Thanks for the Free advice. It helped give me insight to ridding the infestation in my home. House guest with animals, neighbors that have moved, and change of the season. All equals life.
Brand new flat. Girl nx door letting cats in an out each day all ov a sudden all carpet on stairs as well as all 12 flats infected bites every wher council put mi in temporary an others each flat being fumigated. Weather playing a big part we can’t go bk fa 11 days. …. God I’m itchy
I read on one that they don’t like the smell of citrus. My mom is big in oils so she has a lot of bottles of oils around the house. I put citrus oil on my wrists, ankles, behind my ears, and on my chin just to be safe. I also have an oil difuser just to be safe. Hopefully this’ll keep me from getting bit tonight so I can deal with them tomorrow
get some dog perfume that smells like it and spray it on him and it should prevent fleas from getting on him to.
I took my dog to the vet for the first time dealing with fleas and the receptionist made me feel like we put the fleas in the yard! Tell me how to get rid of the problem please!
Question about treating your home: In one bullet point, in bold, you advise us to vacuum every day. Then in the very next bullet point, you tell us to use diatomaceous earth and NOT vacuum for a week or two. Which is the better way of controlling fleas in your carpet?
What she is saying is you vacuum for a few days everyday for like a week and then u use diatomaceous earth and vacuum every day
I was reading up about the diatomaceous earth and it said that the stuff of fatel when inhaled :O I recommend not using this in a home, nor on animals :/
(To this site) Why on earth would you recommend to someone to use this stuff?
Pool grade and food grade are very different. Pool grade would be very harmful if you used it around your pets or on yourself. FOOD GRADE is safe, however I wouldn’t suggest snorting it.
FOOD GRADE!!!! Got to use food grade. The other stuff that you get at pool stores and garden centers that is not food grade has other chemicals that are dangerous, even deadly to animals. Borax – NEVER NEVER… it is one of the deadliest things on earth. To everything.
A lot of people Drink some food grade DTE in Water, or whatever, and report wonderful health benefits. I would have to really study up on this a bit harder and get amounts correct. I wonder what it would do to put some in dog water for internal parasites? I’m not suggesting IT. Just maybe research it. From what I know right now, I don’t think you can buy Droncit OTC for tapeworms which come as a biproduct of fleas being ingested by animals. But I know DTE works by slicing up the exoskeleton of things with exoskeletons. People in the US ( esp the white kind) forget that they too can become prey to internal parasites (worms and stuff) These can cause huge and irreperable damage to animals as well as humans. Tapeworms alone can eat into muscles and even brains. Swallow your pride, take in a poop sample to your doctor and your dog’s vet. Tapeworms, if you don’t already know, will frequently show as wiggly grains of rice in your dog’s (or your?) or your cats feces, or maybe a few just wiggling around by the anus. These are segments of the host tapeworm, and the animal gets them by nibbling at and subsequently ingesting fleas, the host of the tapeworm. Your vet may just give you droncit if you have good rep. with him or her
Borax is a safe and natural product. I don’t know where you are getting that’s it’s dangerous.
Borax is banned in the uk
Maybe Boron is banned which is sometimes called Borax, but Borax, the stuff you get for laundry is supposed to be safe for humans and pets.
No it’s not.. I just bought 5kgs of the stuff.
Borax is VERY SAFE. I have used it for years. 20 Mule Team borax has been around since since 1883. The only reason people say it is dangerous is because the name is boric acid. Not every acid is dangerous especially boric acid.
Do you know that is what is added to the spray by many pest control companies when they get calls FOR flea AND tick AND ant infestations. Even kills fire ants. It is better than anything else.
Get powdered sugar and mix it with 2x the amount of the boric acid. 1/4 cup powdered sugar and 1/2 cup boric acid. Sprinkle it outside around the ant hill. Ants are drawn to the sugar. They feed it to the queen, she dies and the entire colony will die. Ants do not accept new ants into another colony. I place the mix into the hills at night after night falls completely. Soldier ants are in the nest and you don’t get ant bites. I use a funnel that I push into the hill and then pour the mixture directly into the hills when there is a large infestation. Also KILLS TERMITES. Which are just wood eating ants.
fatal..yeah everything is fatal if you inhale enough to choke on it!! friggin moron! food grade diatomaceous earth contains mostly silica which is a trace mineral is required by tendons, cartilage, blood vessels, and bones. get your shat together before you speak!
Silica? Kind of. The reason it’s dangerous to inhale is because microscopically diatomaceous earth looks like shards of glass. This is why the flea dies upon jumping on surfaces that contain DE. After a few jumps the sharp crystals cuts their exoskeleton body and the flea dries up and dies from dehydration. DE is potentially harmful if snorted like the one guy said, so don’t be dumb and snort it. As for breathing it, our mouth throat trachea bronchioles and lungs have a marvelously helpful mucous lining which moistens the DE and once wet the crystal like shards melt and go soft. Thus, you and your pet won’t be harmed by having it in your home. FOOD GRADE ONLY. And please note that using too much DE will be heavy lifting for your vacuum. It’s a very fine flour like substance. Im an ICU nurse and dog trainer.
You must use the edible, they sell it at most stores now…humans can ingest it I’ve been using it for years, it works on anything w an exoskeleton. ..good luck
you are correct about de, it gets into the lungs of cats and shreds the lungs. It should never be used around living things.
you want to buy food grade DE. Any feed and farm store sells it as well as Tractor supply. 12 dollars for a 20 pound bag. It is designed to mix with farm animal food as a natural parasite killer. I have been using it for years. Use caution with anyone with a respiratory condition such as asthma and cover fish tanks. It is simple and works like a charm. As a side note you can fill and old sock with it tie the sock in a knot and dust your pets fur…. they love it…
no it doesn’t. it turns to soft mush as soon as it contacts moistur. it won’t even kill fleas once it is wet. MY grandson drinks a mixture with it every day the last few years. still alive and feeling healthier than ever.
The food grade has been approved for humans and pets, the other forms it comes in should be handled carefully and are dangerous to humans and pets causing fatal respiratory problems.
FOOD GRADE diatomaceous earth!!!!!
I believe I was taught to use some type of flea control soaked rag or other full spectrum flea killer in the vacuum bag itself, even if you empty it immediately into a tied off plastic bag and throw it into a dumpster . We can’t forget that we need to work together in this for humanity’s (and all creature’s ) sake. Yeah, I hate using poisons, but when the Black Death consumed Europe time after time before, during and after the middle ages, they weren’t shy about trying EVERYTHING to kill an ailment, (mercury for VD, etc) I imagine they tried some pretty toxic organic remedies to save cities, countries, and municipalities from the scourge, and IT DIDN”T WORK. I bought the Only Flea Killer (yes, a neurotoxin, I hated to use it on my dogs) that was still working on Fleas in April, it had the only five star rating, it worked then, but the next month it did ABSOLUTELY NOTHING> Kinda scary
I comb my dog every day and pop them when they get stuck between the comb teeth. I love to hear fleas pop! pop pop pop. The more the merrier.
Instead of popping … you should grab them and put them in soapy water.
Wood ash.. sprinkle a lot all over your carpet it’s going to look like a dirt exploded but it’s worth it leave it on for 7 days and then 14 more days to ensure that you kill the eggs… I also used ..salt…. ever wonder why dogs roll in the dirt… they can take a dirt bath I spread ash all over my cat and I’ll explain how it kills fleas.. ash under a microscope looks like tiny shards of glass fleas have exoskeletons it gets in the plates and slices them up and they bleed out…. now I just sprinkle my rugs and carpets and give my cat an ash bath at least once every two weeks… we are flea free hooray
What is mixture for an ash bath on your cat?
Ummm, I know this is old, but I wouldn’t take that advice. That’s the silliest thing I’ve ever heard! Ash and/or dirt is going to make your carpet filthy! Salt can also cut into a fleas’ exoskeleton, but it doesn’t kill the fleas effectively. What it will do is dry out the eggs before they can hatch, or dry out the pupae if they hatch. The only thing that kills fleas is a poison. So, you can either use a poison, or continue to wash your dog very, very thoroughly (and rinse even more thoroughly) with a mild shampoo (essentially you are just washing the fleas down the drain, but again, not killing them unless you use a shampoo with poison in it), and then the dog will continue to pick up any adult fleas in the house. If you have stopped the flea eggs from hatching, eventually all the fleas will be gone as you wash them down the drain off of your dog. This could take up to two months, and you will certainly need to treat your yard with some type of poison…unless your dog doesn’t go out and uses your toilet! lol j/k But it’s the only way to go if you don’t want to use poisons on your dog or home. You can also make flea traps and put them in the places your dog hangs out the most to catch some fleas. Just add some soapy water in a shallow bowl and place a desk lamp (the kind with the bending neck) over it, and it will catch some. You can also move that around to all your dog’s favorite hangouts 😉
Really? No other way? Do you work for one of those poison companies? I have successfully killed fleas and flea infestations and have NEVER used poison.
That’s right…there is no other way to KILL fleas unless you use poison!
And no, I don’t work for poison control, you ninny. I have been all over the internet looking for a way to REALLY kill fleas without poison because I have little ones in our home, and they are with my pets all the time…I have tried every silly thing people like you have claimed works and pft…none of it worked. Even bathing them every three days had only held the fleas at bay…didn’t eradicate them.
I finally had my yard and inside my home sprayed by a (*gasp*) poison control company, washed my pets well, laundered everything that could be washed in a washing machine, and paid a lot of money to have them put on Trifexis for prevention. Guess what, problem solved…truly solved, not just “in my head” solved!
You’re probably one of those people who would take a holistic approach to cancer treatment. Whatever…
Right, so everyone who has managed to get rid of fleas without the use of poisons must be crazy! Because you couldn’t figure it out must mean there is no way. Of course that makes complete sense, after all as long as you are happy what does it matter if you hurt animals and the world?
Poison works the other stuff does not at least in Florida.
My home has been exterminated 4 times with pesticides and I still have fleas. Borax de,baking soda salt they don’t work. Vaccum everyday doesn’t work and no amount of hot water hot dryer has worked in this house. They only good thing is my dog doesn’t have any fleas on him thank to bravecto and his seresto collar but Iam the target . I hate fleas they just won’t go away.
Unfortunately a lot of those chemicals DO cause cancer, spoken from a cancer survivor.
Could you tell me is there any kind of residue left on the carpet, I want to do this but I’m afraid of that. I have tried everything, getting so tired of fighting it, ready to call in a proffesional
nothong else works but poison. i tried borax. the real borax not 20 mule team. i tried diotamaceus earth. that didnt work either. it slowed them down but did not eradicate them. i spent over 1200 bucks on my flea problem this year. bombs foggers carpet powder. nothing is workin. the exterminator is coming tomorrow. if that doesn’t work im going to set my house on fire
oh G-d lol Iam going to set my house on fire haha I NEEDED A GOOD LAUGH
Seriously I get it
I BOUGHT ADVANTAGE 2 AND PUT IT ON my 2cats and now they both have sores all around necks 120 dollars later and then flea spray from Canadian tire didn’t work Ihave cats that were ferial for 1 year before I got them I am seriously considering a bath of vinegar and dawn soap problem is there soars oh G-d and with no job no money and one thing after another happening worst summer ever 2016 unemployment gone spent over 2 hundred on st clair collage which looks hopeless dr pissed off owing 60 dentist owing 50 debt of 1000 dollars I too want to set my house on fire and for a very rare reason cant get rid of wall to wall carpeting rats under house in crawl space and without cats rat will get in I am scared to death I feel like im cursed thankyou so much for the laugh I neede this so very bad I want to throw everything out of the house around back deck its opened I wished id listened to my realastse agent DO YOU REALLY WANT THIS HOUSE PLEASE PRAY FOR ME
Yep. Right there with you. My dogs fur is thick like wool, and the fleas hide in the tail and around his butt. Food Grade DTE does s!ow them down but I’m ready to strike a match also.
Those exact words just came out of my mouth today. I couldn’t even believe it when I read your post! To funny,
Damned fleas, what a pain in my ass!
Man I feel you!!! I watched my friends dogs Jst for a couple of days. He was moving. We brought in some of his stuff also. I left for a week & came home to a full scale invasion!! The most irritating part is he doesn’t belive they came from his dogs or his stuff. Even though I told him I saw ass loads of them a text his house. I didn’t think they would follow his stuff & his dogs around the corner. It’s been 36 friggen days now. I’ve tried everything and all I can say is if you got rid of an infestation with all that other B.S. You didn’t have an infestation at all. I can’t even hardly stay at home. I have to go there every 2 days to clean and spray. The Exterminators have come out twice and are probably coming out a 3rd. Every time I think I am winning the battle they must regroup and get more troops. And The mental part. I think they are on me all the time. I feel like a crack head; picking at myself, looking at every speck of dust thinking it’s an egg or larva. Ok. Sorry for the rant. This is the only place I’ve seen with people with the same intensity of this problem.
S.M.H.
I am sooo ready to set my house on fire as well.
Good luck everyone!!
As for me; it’s back to the Frey.
LOL its a process….fire might work on the indoor flea nuisance but i’m pretty sure they will survive in your yard…as an addendum to DE post you must treat the pets and use a highly toxic poison such as permethrin sfr liquid in the yard…wait 14 days and poison the yard again…DE does not work outdoors because the slightest dampness deactivates the ability to degrade insect exoskeleton….
2018. Sept. started fighting fleas in the home. treated the animals with their monthly advantage2, locked them in the kitchen for two months (they were fine with it-indoor cats) used flea professionals twice! vacuumed, mopped, used safe wonderside spray killed them but only for a day ,salt , earth D stuff, cider spray, ciderdawn mix, STILL FLEAS but they are micro smaller, cant see them except with spy glass and also larva. Somewhat less around certain areas but still bad and biting. washed clothes in HOT water/Dried in HOT dryer, STILL here so I want to move out. Its March and still biting me . used profession spray in my car 3times/also vacuumed car. still micro fleas biting . Taking 2showers a day. I am out of options and money. thrown out bed, bedding, clothes, I am a clean person !
Its been a month – I know just how you feel when you posted this. I have a dog and since its been a Terrible humid Summer and we live near Estuary and its swamp like conditions with much wildlife running amuck- every time he goes outside to do his business he must be bringing a pesky flea back in – very unhappy- very exhausted and very sad to see my old dog so flea bit. ( really just one, two or three every two days- but I repeat this cleaning process, and take precautions, and alas the dog is allergic to drops , and collar ( siezures) Holistics havent worked – due to the fiesty nature of the bugs in this environment. I am however grateful that it its fleas, not ticks .
Ok. How please?
There is an entire article here plus lots of comments. They will tell you how.
What did you use???
Plz tell me how you did it
People here have used many things to rid themselves of fleas. From poisons to DE, to nematodes, to salt, to ash. You just have to read the article and the comments. I personally don’t recommend the poisons, I use a mix of frequent baths, flea traps, DE, and essential oils. But the mice keep reinfesting us :(.
What have you used I’ve tried professional and are still being attacked
i would just love to have seen you take care of the flea outbreak we had at our house and yard without using poison.
Well it’s very simple, vacuum 3-4 times a day, wash all bedding set every day, scrub floors with Dr bronners (mint/citrus/lavender or whatever you like) 1-2times a week. Bathe pet every other day with very mild shampoo. Add extra oil to pets food, sprinkle DE inside and outside. Mix essential oils into spray, spray self and pet (if not putting DE on pet).
And when I get tired of doing all that work on top of the normal housework and full time job I remind myself that I don’t want anyone suffering from liver or kidney failure because their bodies couldn’t process anymore chemicals.
You aren’t just “washing fleas down the drain” if you use soap. You do understand how soap works, right? It “thins” the water, thereby drowning said critter.
There’s a reason they say to use the powders on carpets and not the pets themselves. Wood ash, borax, diatomaceous earth are all things that can be inhaled by your pet and potentially become dangerous. You really should try to minimize this damage and not rub it all over your pet. It’s bad enough that they are so close to the carpets when these items are used, and can breathe it in that way, or get it on their paws and lick it. Bathing them in it is just inviting trouble.
Actually diatomaceous earth isn’t harmful. It can even be ingested by pets and kids with no effect since it’s the same stuff they use to treat noodles and breads against bugs. It’s not harmful unless you’re planning
on sticking your head in the bag and inhaling it. The only thing you would have to worry about is getting it in the eyes of you, your pets or your kids.
However if your pet starts sniffing the carpet you can potentially have another vet tri
Just like above said… unless your pet sticks their head in a pile and suffocated there will be no need for a vet trip if they smell this. How ever if they smell or lick the chemicals they could at the worst die at the best damage kidneys and liver
What is the best way to disperse the DE
on your pet: get s squeeze bottle (like old picnic style mustard and ketchup containers) fill bottle and sprinkle everywhere making sure you get down to the skin. Avoid the nose and eyes.
on your carpet or around your house use a sifter like you would for flour, sprinkle it everywhere use a broom to brush it into cracks and concentrate it at the baseboards. if you have carpet make sure it gets down through the fibres.
make sure you are feeding it too and that you are using food grade only.
U have to vacuum every day first to pick up the fleas then after few days like 4 stay rug
BRICK?
After staying the night @neighbors In November, my daughter & grandson came home w several red welps on their arms, back, legs. Inside the welps there are several little blisters, a knot forms under welp, then comes itching & burning. After about 5 days the welps disappear. But more welps keep coming up on them. The Dr told us they were coming from flea Iinfestation. The most fleas ive got off my dog at one time maxed out at 6. We dont have fleas jumping outta the carpet on anybody. Last week, just on my right arm, btwen 4 to 5 hr span I had at least 7 welps pop up on me?? I was awake, In the middle of the day, on my phone & felt or seen nothing biting me when I noticed the welps were there?? My daughter & grandson still have them pop up & havent been back at house since that one over night visit?? The flea infestation doesnt make since, we see no signs of bed bugs??
I have similar problem can’t see any fleas anymore but still getting bitten still itchy
Just because you cannot see them doesn’t mean they are not fleas. We went thrust same. THey were fleas.
Probably bed bugs then
You won’t feel the flea biting you… however several hours later your skin will become irritated and the well forms.
yes you can feel fleas biting you
Yes you can correct.
yes you can feel them and see them too it burns bad
This comment is very wrong! You may not feel a small flea bite. However, you most definitely CAN feel medium to large size fleas when they bite! It feels like a needle prick, sometimes a bit worse than that! Trust me on this, I have two dogs (one large the other is small). My daughter has an adult cat and I have two adult cats. We also have one adult make outdoors and I’m currently taking care of two stray kittens and their mom because they were abandoned! I love animals! But it isn’t easy, I’m fighting fleas right now! So please check your facts! You can not, however, feel bed bugs bite. My father had a problem with them. Good luck to everyone!
I’ve been bit but hundreds of flea over the years and MOST OF THEM YOU DO NOT FEEL. Until after when the area swells up.
You’ll feel them crawling before they even have a chance to bite. It’s so creepy/gross.
Look up mild spores
That sounds more like a mite. Maybe scabies. They burrow under the skin and it causes intense itching. There are shampoos to treat them. Check with your doctor.
My dogs cats and myself had a flea infedtation in 2011 mixed with another bug that was living in an oak headboard i found under a tree. Weve been living in misery ever since ive aged my skin has become dry and flaky and has white spots all over. There are black specs tiny black worms and itching biting and on an occassion i will see a teeny black or white fly zip by. The bumps all over our body and scalps are the burrowing of these bugs living under the skin. They live in the seams of my clothes and couches they are everywhere but you really dont see them. My poor dogs its like long black splinters on there eyebrows eyelids snout andon there chin. They are burried inside my dogs paws where he is always whining and crying as he bites his paws. They dont die. They make whole in my porcelon bathtub or wherever they land. Someone please help me what are these. Everynight my dogs cats and myself curl up in a ball when its time to go to bed and cry. The itching ar night is unbearable i just want to die. Drs vets all say the black specs are dirt. Noone has helped us and i feel like we are all getting weaker and dying. Im ready for a solution
Much appreciated
DC Pink
Scabies bites look kindof grey…thats how you can tell the difference and on some may have burrow lines
Sounds like bed bugs
They’re “welts” not “welps.” Good grief. If you got 6 fleas off your dog then there were probably twice that amount you missed. Unless you bathe the dog, picking them off is only going to lessen the amount, not rid them entirely of the fleas. To be honest it sounds more like you are experiencing bed bugs, not fleas. You rarely see bed bugs at all, they are almost microscopic. They remain hidden until the middle of the night where they come out and bite you in your sleep. The next day you will notice you have a cluster (sometimes a line) of 4-6 itchy red bumps. Each cluster is the doing of one bed bug, and by the time you notice the welts, the bed bugs are long gone and back to hiding in the bedding. Fleas of course cause similar itchy red bumps, and they too can stay on you long enough to bite several times in a cluster as well, but they tend to be more spread out. Fleas don’t like to be on humans because we don’t have hair all over our bodies. They jump on, bite, and jump off. Either way you should not stay at the neighbor’s overnight anymore, and take every single thing you had over there outside and leave it outside in the sun. Wash clothes, bedding, etc. THOROUGHLY on hot wash. Turn backpacks inside out. Bed bugs are susceptible to heat. If you bring bed bugs into your home you will have 5000x more trouble getting rid of them than fleas!!
You are incorrect on bedbugs being microscopic. They absolutely are not. Look it up. Even baby ones are easily seen, and the adults can be the size of the tip of an eraser or bigger. They are black or brown, and crawl at night. But in the daytime they hide in cracks and dark places in your bed and carpet. Diatomacious earth is used by many professionals to get rid of them, and it works like a charm. It is about the only affordable home treatment out there that I am aware of, unless you get an exterminator. I have first-hand experience with these awful bugs, which look very similar to ticks. You can find them anytime by flipping over your bed mattress and checking the ticking, the bed frames, and pillows. Look carefully for black or brown blobs that are not moving. Poke it. Poke it again. If it starts to move, you know what you have, and you have to treat the entire bedroom. Follow the instructions you will find online. It is not hopeless. Honest. I have done it twice. The only reason people think they are microscopic is because they rarely come out in daylight. They wait until you are asleep before they attack.
me and my husband both have bits, we are itching, we have never found one flea. we have a cat and ive treated him with advantage drops. we have washed cleaned everything including couch, bed, pillows, bedding, even took the duvet dons quilt to the cleaners, washed everything we could think of, vacumed everyday, haven;t hardly got any rugs, we have wooden floors and no carpet, we are still getting bitten, we have even ordered new matrasses. this is a nightmare, couldn;t find one flea not even on the cat. i wonder where these animals are hidding.
Hey Barbara, I too was having the same problem and the parasites kept biting me and reinfesting my poor indoor cat, just yesterday I was walking barefoot through my living room, on the hardwood floors and I looked down for some reason and to my disgust, there were 3 tiny baby fleas on my feet! As it turns out, they’ll get into the crevices of our hardwood floors and can the pupae can live there for almost a year until a host (that would be us, too not just our pets) activate them into immediately hatching and jumping on to feed. So I’m now going to be searching for a good method for getting them out of the hardwood. I’ve heard that cedar oil works wonders for the animal and the home also. So perhaps that is something to look into. I hope that helped you figure out where they’re coming from!
I have laminate flooring..I bought a Roomba and it works great at getting the larvae to mature. I mop once a week with hot water white vinegar and a little borax..I have three large indoor outdoor dogs on 2 acres in Florida….
This is the worst! Fleas are all over my house and we’ve tried everything and now my mom is wanting to take my dog to a shelter… Guess where my dog got his fleas. At the vet!!! And now they’re charging us big bucks to cure him. FML
crush a clove of garlic in to your pets food fleas hate garlic
Garlic is toxic to pets! Don’t give it to them!!!!!!
I am an herbalist and treat my dog with all natural food and herbs. That is completely incorrect. Garlic does contain a toxic compound to dogs but they would have to ingest A LOT of it to be toxic. They actually can benefit from it but in small amounts. THey amount you yourself would eat. Look it up!
Right!
Garlic can cause anemia in dogs. The same way onions do.
BS. None of these home remedies work . If you have an infestation, you need a powder for the carpet and spray for furniture as found on Amazon.
I rubbed some Vicks on my child for his cough, then immediately reached over and petted the dog. To my horror out crawled about ten fleas to the top of the dogs hair, then died. I am sure the dog hated the smell, I felt bad for getting it on his fur. I need to find out if it is safe, then buy stock in Vicks!!!!! Now I put Vicks on my legs whenever I wear shorts, at least the disgusting little vamps don’t bite me anymore!!
Here’s a better remedy… Coconut oil and eucalyptus, coconut oil actually kills fleas and eucalyptus deters new ones from jumping on. It also makes a much safer vapo rub for your kids since vicks contains petroleum based products.
I have read so many comments on here. I think I am going to try the Vicks. I will put a small amount down the back of my cats neck,in the same place we out the Advantage stuff, and see what happens. My cats, and my house is infested! I cannot stand this. I bet I have 50 bites on each leg, and I never felt a one bite me. My Granddaughter came over to see me yesterday, and I sat there and watched them jumping onto her legs. She had to leave. I have got to get rid of these fleas!
I have a question…I have one cat that has started laying in the litter box…yes, the litter box. He only started doing this the last couple of weeks. It is awful. Is there something in cat litter that the fleas don’t like? Does anyone have any idea what would make a cat do this.
Do yourself a huge favor, for 125.00 I hired pest control. Having seen a flea since.
Hi Nancy, what pest control did you use? we bombed our bedroom last week, and today I put out the water/soap flea trap and caught 3 flees! HELP ME!! we have 4 dogs and 2 cats and one of our dogs is allergic to flea bites. I’m losing my mind and crying every day.
Yes, cats will start hanging out in the litter box when they are trying to get away from the fleas. They also will start perching on furniture, the refrigerator, any high place. They will not want to come down, either, and will start cutting back on their food on the floor because they can’t stand what is on the floor (fleas). You will also see them jump unexpectedly, chew on themselves, meow in distress, and let you know that you need to do something, and fast. I go through this all the time. I lost three cats recently, and I am not sure if it was the fleas, or something else I cannot identify. But cats will get anemic from flea bites, and their immune system can tank, leaving them open to other problems. I hate poisons, but recently I had to resort to some Black Flag Flea spray for the yard, as nothing was working. I also put spot on treatment from the vet on all of them. It is under control, but it is prevention, prevention, prevention, so the infestation doesn’t come back. Awful!
Garlic is TOXIC to dogs and cats!!!!!!!!!!
Again, you really should check your facts!!!! I mean, have you ever even owned a dog or cat? Garlic is NOT TOXIC to dogs or cats! It works better than flea powder externally and even better taken internally! Some pet stores actually sale garlic capsules for people that doesn’t want to use chemicals on their pets! It’s a very effective natural medicine! I’ve used it on my dog and cats for years! Oh, and that’s the little dog! She is about to turn 12 yrs old soon! My cats are 4 and 6 years old! Maybe you shouldn’t make anymore comments. Your just giving bad, unhelpful advice!!!
Garlic is toxic to dogs. Mine got into some and they were throwing up for 2 days. Took them to the vet and even the vet says garlic is toxic to them. Maybe you should do some research and get your facts straight before you criticize someone.
Just how much garlic did they ingest that the garlic alone made them puke? Chances are your vet had no idea and didn’t want to look stupid. In reality all the studies done showed that dogs would have to eat a very large amount to see any Illness. Much more than you would ever give for a flea treatment. Further if your dogs got into one thing what’s to say they didn’t get into something else too?
Garlic pills work better than the actual garlic cloves when feeding it to your pets and less messy
NO GARLIC FOR PETS!
Take your dog to a shelter ?? You mean get rid of him??? Is that what you mean ?? God I hope not that would be … Inhumane … And wrong … Like taking you to the shelter if ur ️SICK and leaving u there .. He is family too ..
We have 4 cats. Took the latest to the vets for routine kitten shots and a week later we had fleas. A week after that came the fleas tagalong: worms. (Thankfully only in the kitten) We didn’t have fleas prior to the vets. I mentioned this when I picked up the worm medicine and was told, ‘you can’t prove it came from here’, well that’s all the proof I needed. All this after I paid for flea treatments and worm treatments. Thought we’d licked ’em, now they’re back. It’s neverending!
So I brought home a kitten for my daughter from a coworker that swore there wasn’t an issue with fleas. I should have capstared him before welcoming him home but no I didn’t even look through his fur for fleas or dirt..DUH me!.. Now we are infested! I have bombed and I’ve sprayed Siphotrol all over today after vacuuming a ton. I have a 10lb bag of DTE but have read that it’s not good to inhale. If I vacuum it up and it becomes airborne do you think it would be enough to harm my daughter and I or the animals? This is so frustrating!
We always take our little Cocker spaniel regally to have her coat trimmed and a bath to the local dog gromer. He now has told us that if she needed a flee bath he cant do it, as he is no longer legally able to buy the special shampoo. If we needed it at the strength he used we would have to go to the vets to buy it.
Has anybody else been told this?.
It is a big run around. When u bathe your animals, your carpets should be shampooed and all bedding and dirty cloths washed on the same day… it is alot of work but worth it. Everything must be done at the same time… and YES AVON skin so soft is magic!
I have had fleas in the house before but never like it is now, we have bought every kind of flea treatment there is, had it professional done. My husband hasn’t been bitten but I have, the only thing is I don’t see any fleas but I feel them biting me and leaving the marks on me. I have used OFF that helps too, if you can find the unscented. I have been to several sites about fleas and I have read that you can take warm water with soap in it and hide it in a dark place, then I seen one that you have to use a lamp for light, not sure of which one it is to find out if you have an infestation. Plan on trying it both ways, I don’t see any, we have 3 cats that our vet recommended to use a spot treatment every two weeks. Frontline didn’t help at all had to get the advantage, seems like its helping with the cats scratching. just need something to make sure they are gone from my house and furniture, it has me at the point of just setting fire to the furniture and the carpets.
I’ve heard that cedar oli works great on pets as well as houses. I’m going insane, I’ve had cats my whole life and I’ve lived in 40k square foot homes with plush carpeting and never had flea problems now that I’ve got all hardwood floors in a small ranch home, they’re everywhere! My poor kitties and myself and my kids are going nuts trying to get rid of them!
Sorry cedar oil
Bugs don’t like cedar oil that is true. Cedar oil only kills via direct contact. It is also toxic to cats like many essential oils.
Wood ash.. sprinkle a lot all over your carpet it’s going to look like a dirt exploded but it’s worth it leave it on for 7 days and then 14 more days to ensure that you kill the eggs… I also used ..salt…. ever wonder why dogs roll in the dirt… they can take a dirt bath I spread ash all over my cat and I’ll explain how it kills fleas.. ash under a microscope looks like tiny shards of glass fleas have exoskeletons it gets in the plates and slices them up and they bleed out…. now I just sprinkle my rugs and carpets and give my cat an ash bath at least once every two weeks… we are flea free hooray.. based the animals and lemon scented Dawn dish soap and then sprinkle them with wood ash
Frontline has been on the market for sometime and it is not quite as effective as it once was. Advantage should work much better.
You can also try Comfortis for your pets. I have used that on my dogs and cats and it works very well. Do that in conjunction with treating your house and hopefully they’ll be gone. We moved to VA about a year ago and never had fleas before here. It’s insane!!!
The magic is that this is actually allowed to be sold! Look at the ingredients:
MINERAL OIL/HUILE MINERALE
ISOPROPYL PALMITATE
DICAPRYL ADIPATE
PARFUM/FRAGRANCE
DIOCTYL SODIUM SULFOSUCCINATE
BHT
DAUCUS CAROTA SATIVA (CARROT) SEED OIL
Ingredients in this product can cause numerous health effects including neurotoxicity, organ system toxicity, endocrine disruption, Allergies/immunotoxicity, Cancer, Developmental/reproductive toxicity and is also considered to be ecotoxic.
DO NOT USE AVON SKIN SO SOFT ON ANYONE OR YOUR PETS!
What is the best thing to use in your yard to get rid of fleas?? We torn down our pool last year and the sand is still out there, I think that’s why my dogs are infested and now my house! When I give my dogs a bath I swear blood is just flowing off of them. HELP I will try anything at this point! I’ve used vinegar, dog shampoos, advantage I’m stumped and don’t think my poor dogs want 3 baths a week anymore.
We just gave our dog Nexgard pill yesterday and there were dead fleas in his fur within half an hour. Treating the house today. Vet said the fleas have been very bad this year and have become resistant to other treatments, which I have found to be true. Had dogs all my life and never had flea issues like this before. I cut up a flea collar that didn’t work in my dog and put it in the vacuum to kill the fleas I vacuum up today. Spraying Advantage Carpet and Upholstery Spot Spray where the rugs meet upholstery, and also into dark crevices of mattresses and upholstered furniture, per the vet’s recommendations. All products cost me about $150.
We had a very bad infestation of fleas and used Lyme outside around our home and property. WOW! 3 days later lots and lots of dead bugs of all kinds. Mostly lots of fleas.
If your pet has a horrible infestation you can buy Capstar at your local petstore (Like petsmart). Within 24 hours all adult fleas on your pet will die. It does nothing for eggs, however. This is not a preventative and is safe for pets, even young ones. This will at least stop the infestation on your pet and allow you a breather while you work on another long term solution.
My personal experience has been that each brand varies in effectiveness from year to year if you use the chemical flea treatments. Frontline plus has been effective for our last dog, but did nothing for a rescue we were fostering, and only Advantage worked for him.
For the carpet try food grade diatomaceous earth, sprinkle it in, rub it in and let it sit for a week. While you do this your pets should not be in the room and you should wear a mask. It’s not good to breathe it in. After rubbing it into the carpet let it sit for a week and then vacuum it up, again wearing a mask. D.E. dries up insects by cutting their exoskeletons and is something they cannot grow immune to, like chemicals. It is also effective on ants, mites, bed bugs (though really, don’t put it on your bed, again don’t want to inhale it), cockroaches, and so forth. If you have a week where you are going on vacation, this would be a perfect time to use it not only on your carpets, but in all crevices like wood floors and such. Vacuum it up when you come home.
You will hear/read people say to feed your pets garlic, all bulbed plants are toxic to dogs and cats. It doesn’t kill them outright, but causes red blood cell damage that can harm them over time. I don’t recommend it, personally.
Good luck to you.
its been a few months since i noticed some fleas on my dog and i told his vet and he said he had some kind of allergy so he gave him steroids and a shot for allergies we told him again and he kept saying he didnt have and once we took him to his regular groomig and they noticed them too so they recommend frontline so we bought it ” DIDNT WORK ” they told me about apple vinagrett baking soda salt and warm wAter DIDNT WORK already put so many things on carpet and nothing has done the job ..what do you guys recommend or what can i do to get rid of them ..im running out of options!!
I know this post is old but I’ve seen this come up on a lot of sites, you are not suppose to combine all those ingredients together.
Here’s the method: let your pet soak in water for 8-10 minutes soap up everything that cannot be submerged. After 8-10 min soap up the rest and rinse off. Pour apple Cider Vinegar and work it into the coat to the skin, if your dog is sensitive you may want to dilute 1:1. Do this every other day. Make sure you are using the most gentle shampoo you can find. Add extra oil (salmon/ krill/ coconut etc) to their food and on them if they get any dry spots. Around the house spread the baking soda it will dehydrate and kill the eggs. You could do a mix of diatomaceous earth and baking soda to take care of adults and eggs. Sweep and vacuum this up everyday-every other day. It takes 12-48 hours to kill so adjust as you see fit. Make sure you wash all bedding yours and theirs at least every other day. Treat the rest of your furniture the same. Get some flea traps (made by vector) and place them in various areas of the house. I keep 1 under the bed 1 in my dog’s daytime resting area and one under other furniture. Keep an eye on these, they will tell you how bad your infestation is and while they are not sticky enough to hold a full grown mouse, I did find a baby deer mouse in one. Not to worry he’s perfectly fine lost a little fur and a few skin cells from his tail.
Important!! DON’T wash or rinse off the vinegar.
I work for a vet. There is literally no conspiracy to make sure your pets have fleas so we can sell you more. Maybe a few rare vets hike prices out of greed, but if that is your get you should find a new one. A good chunk of our clients don’t even use flea prevention in winter because they don’t need it and we dont push it on them beyond asking if they need any. Though we do remind them the flea meds we carry also help prevent roundworms and hookworms.
Additionally, the profit margin on our flea control is also not that high. Those products cost a few hundred dollars for a package of 10 boxes.
My cat and kitten has gotten fleas, I’m new to all thia need help with solutions my kitten it’s too little to put treatment onto as she is only 8 weeks old
I did find one for kittens 4 weeks and older but you will have to treat everything else in your home this only kills all live fleas on them within 6 hours… its dog and cat md Quick tabs 2 to 25 pounds… the other one is capstar but its about ten bucks more for 6 tablets it is safe enough to use daily… and it does help…
So, I had this roommate who lived with my boyfriend & I. A couple who owned a cat. Our house is very clean I work hard to keep it that way. No clutter, no bacteria, and no extra moisture anywhere the fleas can lay eggs. He got fleas somehow and in turn infested the house. About two weeks ago they moved out and left us with the fleas. I know it may sound like bad pet ownership considering he has been bothered by fleas for so long, but trust me I did everything I could to help this little guy when his owners wouldn’t. We were having a hard time treating both the cat and the house, but once they moved the cat out we assumed that we wouldn’t have anymore trouble. I have followed all of the steps for weeks now and nothing is working. I have even been to the vet to buy multiple sprays they promised would work but after a second time I’m beginning to think it’s not doing anything. Before I read this article again I sat down in the living room. I looked down at my sweatpants when I immediately felt a bite. There were about six fleas on each pant leg and a few on my ankles I could feel. I think my situation might be getting much worse. This article was very helpful and in most cases I see this working. What I want to know are the extreme measures I can take to insure my house is flea free. How can I treat my sofa? Is it possible I need to throw it out? How do I make my house unpleasant for the fleas?
I would say you need to call a professional exterminator and see what they have to say. They maybe able to do more for you than you think b/c sometimes home treatments only go so far. Also, I would try diffusing citronella and/or lemongrass in your house. They hate the smell.
No clutter, no bacteria,……….. BS. Stopped reading after that stupidity. No bacteria? None? Really? Do you live in space?
I have always used natural methods to control fleas on my three dogs, diatomaceous earth and home made citrus spray, this year it hasn’t worked and I got frontline that did nothing. Now I’m at a loss, I vacuum every day, wash bedding every other day, I let dawn sit on my dogs full strength for ten minutes before rinsing off, still can’t get rid of them! I’m going to give another dawn bath and start feeding garlic to them, don’t know what to do.
Please NO Garlic!!!! It’s poison to their system!! please look it up. The Diatomaceous earth did not stop my flea’s either we are still fighting them frontline sucks!! The capstar and dog and cat md Quick tabs work pretty well…. ( Nitenpyram) I found it cheaper on Amazon then at petsmart pet co etc… my vet told me to buy good old raid flea ender to kill the fleas I am giving it a try this week..
Please don’t feed garlic to your dog, yes it stops fleas from biting him but it destroys his blood.
I have researched the garlic, the study was giving the dogs one clove per pound of body weight which would hurt any dog. Articles I’ve read about it working on fleas say one clove a day for large dogs is safe and effective. But my dogs spit the garlic out when I hid it in cheese, anyway so I will not try that again. I found a good article, you bathe your dogs,then slather on coconut oil, the oil really helps repelling the fleas but you have to re apply daily, and you mix equal amounts of coconut oil and brewers yeast, pour in molds and give as an anti flea ‘ treat’ daily, I have a good feeling about this, I hate to have to resort to chemicals that are poison! I’m going to stock up on coconut oil because I have three large dogs, plus a daily massage is good for them in many ways
I was worried all I knew was it was bad for them in any form. I know something that works at least for the dogs but is very messy.. vaseline… I am trying to figure out how to use it without destroying my house at the same time My vet said Flea ender( Purple can) by raid really helps. I sprayed my entire house today. I will let you know in a couple of days how it went… I also off labeled used the insect repellent on the beds … dunno but I have tried many many things :/
I fed my small cat a single pearl garlic per day, and it really helped to repel fleas. they don’t like it so you give it like a pill. Pearl garlic is the very small bulbs that are the seeds of a garlic left in the ground. I grow my own but you may be able to find them at a farmers market.
Garlic is poisonous to cats. They don’t like it bc it is bad for them so don’t make yr cat swallow it.
I think you mean one flower not one individual clove, a clove is the segments a flower is the whole head. But yes you are correct it’s only the vets that haven’t updated their degree that are still spreading the ‘garlic is toxic’ lies.
The problem is that you have to repeat the cycle every two weeks for at least three to four months as even the strongest stuff will not affect the cocooned larvae. Raid Flea Ender is great. They do have Fumigator Dry Fog Bombs that work very well but you and your animals, sensitive plants, feed bowls, water bowls, etc. have to all clear out for 4 hours plus vent time. Advantage II works very well on the cats. Permethrin SNR 38+% for the yard but you MUST mix it with an IGR (Insect Growth Regulator) like Archer or Nylar to get long term results and set up a regular schedule. This year is really bad but when you read that the pupae can stay in that form for over a year until the right conditions exist, it is understandable that it takes awhile for the situation we’re dealing with this year to unfold. Perfect storm type of thing with the weather conditions.
These fleas this year must be super immune monsanto fleas or something.. I’ve had dogs all my life and never had a flea problem until this year. It’s driving me crazy, I tried everything. And I was diligent, and its still a problem. The one and only thing that has helped is to rub a bunch of coconut oil all over them, but you have to do it twice a day, I found out, and I have a three big dogs, that’s a lot of money on coconut oil. Idk what to do, and I do put a bowl of soapy water under a nightlight and the fleas go in it and drown. I tried everything, frontline, cedar oil, brewers yeast on food, diatomaceous earth, lavender oil..Dawn baths…what do I do?
Did u ever find out what worked I’m having this issue right now and I tried everything too
This year we did things a little different and it’s working! Switched to raw food and added apple Cider Vinegar to it. I have multiple flea traps around the house and if I see evidence on fleas on the dog she is in the tub soaking right away. I never use pesticides or poisons, no special shampoo, I did put diatomaceous earth at the doors, but that’s more for spiders.
Wash your bedding (and animals bedding) in the hottest temp. It can stand. Once it’s done in the washer, leave it in for about 5-10 minutes, then put it in the dryer on the hottest it can handle. I have learned that when fleas are larvae, they will fight for any food they can get. So keep your stuff sealed, and clean. Wipe counters everyday, don’t leave food out untouched, don’t eat without something under it (ex. Don’t eat a cookie in your living room without something under it. Also, when you are done vacuuming, dump out the gross dust and stuff and take out your garbage bag and replace it with a new fresh one. I use lemon smelling ones, because of the smell. They hate it. If you can, keep your house cold. I know it sounds weird, but fleas can only get out of their cocoons or hatch from their eggs in warm temperatures. Sprinkle Diatomaceous Earth (Food Grade) on your carpets, under beds and couches, in corners of a room, close to cats food bowl, in between mattresses, the crevices of your bed, on or under rugs. Also, Diatomaceous Earth will take some time since it can only work when fleas are adults. It’ll take a couple of weeks, but it will most likely be worth it in the end. Leave the diatomaceous Earth wherever you put it for 2-3 days. Then vacuum or clean up, leave without anything for about an hour, and do it again. Make a cycle. Also, wherever you keep your clothes, I suggest leaving a bowl of something citrus, coconut oil, eculptus oil, or anything else next to your dirty/clean clothes, next to each pair of shoes, or in warm areas. Also, make a barrier of bug spray around things you are always around (your bed, couch or sofas, tables, fridge) if you are really worried. Hope I heled! Best of luck.
PS- I have 2 grown cats and I have been in this situation more than once.)
Can fleas live inside walls? I have 10 animals and the fleas are worse in the basement where there is no carpet as opposed to upstairs where we have 3 rooms of carpet.
seems like I am having the same issue as everyone else. I vacuum almost everyday, steam clean the couch (they do not get on) and treat the rugs. On top of that I give my dogs baths every other day (I sleep less because I work 12 hour days and still do all of this) and even use pest control on my yard and still I have fleas.. All of those medications DO NOT work, frontline and advantage is a joke and my vet said fleas evolve to not have it kill them.. I tried lavender and vinager but they are scratching so much the vinegar hurts them. I am at a lost.. Oh, and I bombed my house 3 times (please don’t bitch at me I know that’s not good for me and them but neither is them inching till they pull out their hair and have cuts) so I do not know what else to do.. This must be a bad year to have animals…
Wally, I am with you there. I have 5 cats, 2 of which are indoor/outdoor (I live in a rural area on an acre) and two large dogs. I am OUT OF MY MIND with fleas. And I NEVER have fleas. Even with living in the south, and expecting TO have them, I don’t. I am dubbing this, “The year of the flea”, simply because I have never had to have Terminix spray inside of my house, UNTIL this year. My poor kitties are just miserable. My beastie, who is around 20 pounds, and goes outside the most, is pulling his hair out, and has large patches that I have had to treat to prevent infection from these small but ruthless MONSTERS! I am with another commentor on here: Ready to burn it all! (except my babies, of course). This year, that would just start it all over somewhere else, however 🙁 I am SO ready for a VERY cold snap. I never thought that I would say that. C’mon mother nature. Freeze em’ out for us! I would happily leave my doors and windows open!
Have you tried tee tree in a spary bottle with water or eucalyptus in a spary bottle with water?
Tea Tree oil is HIGHLY toxic to cats. It can be used highly diluted on dogs. However if you have cats it’s best to just avoid it altogether.
I’ve been vaccuming 2x a day, bath every other week, coconut oil on them each day, and putting coconut oil and brewers yeast on their food…about 2 tablespoons a day per dog of the yeast, same for coconut oil…and washing all bedding each day..(they get on all beds) and diatomaceous earth on areas in home they are at the most..this has been working. I’ve tried everything and all this has helped finally. It’s a big pain but has to be done until the warm weather ends around here because the fleas are crazy this year..mutant fleas I guess…
A few weeks ago i recued two little kittens from the dumpster where i live. They were dying. I went and bought flea shampoo, and cat fomula. And they had infected eyes too. I bathe them and tryed saving them, but they died the next day. And a few days later my eyes were infected. And found my cat infested with fleas and eggs and now they are biting my 14 year old doughter. I feel lost. Where do i find wood ash?
Me mums car is indoor/outdoor, we got him the comforts pills and gave him 1. The next day we vacuumed really well and dumped it in a trash bag and sealed it. Then used the raid flea ender (purple can) spray and sprayed everything. In the yard we used ortho bug b gone granules and even threw them over the fence into the neighbors yard. No more fleas! Then we walked my brother through the house wearing white socks to make sure… If there is a flea or mosquito in a hundred mile radius it will find him. Lol
Well, the flea problem started when our momma dog had puppies and they were hanging out under the front porch. I have a 4-year-old daughter and these ruthless things have terrorized her for 2 months now. She has bites on her feet and legs mostly, but they are also in some random places all over her body. We went to the doctor he gave us a prescription strength hydrocortisone cream, but it doesn’t seem to help at all. The puppies have been gone for 1 1/2 months and momma dog disappeared 4 weeks ago. Currently, we have 0 animals. The exterminator has been to the house 3 times to fog under the house, yard, etc. He also came inside and sprayed. He had insecticide specifically for fleas. I went to our bedroom today and 3 jumped on my feet. I haven’t seen them anywhere else in the house for several weeks. So, definitely something going on in my bedroom, but not in my daughter’s room. I’ve sent my husband to the store to get witch hazel lotion/liquid for her itching and calomine as a backup. He’s also going to get DE powder for the carpet in the bedrooms and rugs. I am going to continue to vacuum and the sheets and comforters are in the washer now. I’m going to cut the air down and let it run all day. I’m not the best person with laundry. It’s in baskets in both bedrooms, bathroom, and of course laundry room. I’m guessing that I’m going to have to break down and do it all in a day or two. I just feel like a terrible mother b/c they are terrorizing my baby! I know people look at her poor legs and think “why doesn’t her mother put bug spray on her?”. I do put bug spray on her when we’re outside, but it doesn’t have DEET in it.
I use tee tree in water. It really helps to keep the fleas off our clothes, furniture and even our hairs. I put 5 drops of tee tree in 2 cups of water in a spary bottle.
Hi I have 2 pitbull lab mixes and they are super sensitive skin. Fleas are so bad , I’m at a stand still it feels. I have tried everything, front line, flea shampoos, oils. The only thing I have tried is the flea pills. Does anyone know how effective they are.
yep johnsons flea tablets work!! kills all fleas within 12 hours but they only stay in the bloodstream for a couple of days but you can give them a pill every 24 hours but if your home is infested then it a never ending battle!. you have to treat your home aswell by hovering every day and washing pet bedding and eventualy you will find that a tablet once a month will keep fleas at bay!!
I’ve been dealing with fleas for 3 months now I’m going crazy people are telling me to get rid of my pets and I don’t want to. I had fleas 3 years ago and was able to get them gone very quick. I have 10 cats and 2 dogs which I comb on a daily bases. I spary my whole house with water and tee tree oil which is keeping the fleas off of us and my furniture. I bought DE and was very disappointed with the product it didn’t kill any fleas it made my house look horrible I had to clean my all my dishes and screens for my windows and everything it took me 2 weeks to get my house looking normal. A lot of people are saying to use skin so soft. So if use skin so soft do the flea just jump off??? I won’t buy the stuff at the vet due to a lot of people dealing with fleas and saying they aren’t working it will cost me almost $400 for one month of treatment. Rather not waste my money on something that might not work. So if anyone has any advice for me that would be great. If oils make the fleas just jump off I’m all for that. Thank you
How do you get them out of car,and can you kill them by too much heat like a bedbug?
I agree with mutant fleas and “the year of nasty flea season”. I want to burn my house down and everything in it. I found a flea on the bathroom floor of my work 5 hours into my shift and I KNOW it came from me! Now I feel like some crackhead pucking at my cloths, animals, couches, counters, pillows, whatever because I’m sure its some form of a flea. My family, pets and I are going out of our minds! I’m going at it again this weekend. I’m going to bag up all clothes and bedding and take them to laundry mat. The other thing I didn’t think about was my throw pillows. I can’t put them in laundry. I heard bagging up things for two weeks will kill them and I already have daughters stuffed animals in bags, but what if there is super larvae and mutant eggs that can last up to a year on things. How do I treat the things that go near our face or daughter plays with without spraying a toxic chemical or washing. I’m losing my sanity by the minute finding new places they could be hiding that I didn’t think about.
I too have tried everything even the new Bravecto pill, that seemed to help for about 3 days. I have used Nexguard, Advantage drops, and the Seresto collars. Frontline is a joke. I have sprayed my house with lemongrass oil, eucalyptus oil, permethin flea killer, peppermint oil, white vinegar, apple cider vinegar and plain rubbing alcohol. I have tried DE, boric acid, and salt inside and outside my home. I have treated my yard 12 times this year using both sprays and the pellets. I have two small dogs and thank God they are pad trained, they haven’t been outside in weeks because I was told if I kept them inside for 30 days that would help solve my problem. It didn’t. I vacuum daily and sometimes twice a day. I mop my floors daily also. Lately I have been giving my dogs daily baths. I use a flea comb on them daily. Out of desperation, I covered them in olive oil. All that did was make a huge mess in my house. I wash their bedding and mine at least 3 times a week. I have already bought 6 new dog beds this summer. I have been battling fleas since June, when I realized Trifexis was no longer working. I have ordered some Neem oil and I pray that works. Like everyone else, I am praying for cold weather before I strike a match and walk away.
I have never had a flea problem up until three weeks ago. I have been bathing my cat twice a week washing beding in hot water it helps for awhile, but I live by the woods and they jeep comming. . I have grandchildren in my home every week. Where do I buy tree tea to kill then. I have been using a flee and tick spray under my mattress that did help. But my cat fur keeps getting infested. I’ve even seen them crawling on my cloths. What do I do. I have a fire place but do not use wood only story logs will that help on carpet. I too am at my wits end. My apartment has all wood walls as well. Help anyone thank younger
I recently moved to TN from MI. My dogs and cats in MI would have fleas from time to time. Maybe once in 5 years did I ever have a flea jump on me and bite me, and the house never got infested. I don’t know if it is the climate here in TN or if this year is just terrible for fleas, but I now only have 1 cat and she has somehow infested the entire house. I treated her with Frontline 4 days ago. It seems to have drastically reduced her scratching but she still scratches sometimes and I see a flea on her right now. Yesterday we used a whole can of Raid in the house and used indoor/outdoor roundup on all the edges inside the house. We till see fleas today. My poor 11 month old has bites all over him, as do myself and my husband. Not to mention it is embarrassing! It’s impossible for us to put DE on our floors with the little one crawling around. I didn’t want to use the chemicals but it seemed like I had no choice. I am going to try Skin So Soft, Tea Tree Oil and Advantage on the kitty (after a couple weeks since she JUST had frontline). I hope it works. But this is THE WORST! I have never ever experienced anything like this infestation. Anyone have any other ideas that might work for a half carpeted house, pregnant mama and 11 month old?
Hi I am with you combating this right now. I washed all bedding and counters, placed salt and sprayed lavender cleaner on my carpets and pillows, couch ect . even sprayed it on my bed mattress and let it dry for three hours still have salt on carpet. Vac today. Its helped a lot. I live next to woods and just had a new grand son last week. Lots of baths and bathe cat regularly. Mine hates baths but I learned to sits bath and rinse in two bowls it has helped. And fleas are horrible this year. Good luck
I’ve just found a plastic play equipment on the side of the road. I’ve scrubbed it but I’m see flees I think all over it. How can I cure this and protect my family also. We have no pets at all. I look forward to your help if you can offer any please.
The Neem oil has helped tremendously! I am still battling but nothing like it was a week ago. Although neem oil smells horrible it is repelling the fleas. I mixed a small amount in baby shampoo and bathed my dogs with it. I saw many dead fleas in the water. After their coats dried, I massaged some into their fur. It hasn’t been a cure all but I have had more luck with it than any of the flea medications.
Have any of you used a professional service like Terminix? They are coming tomorrow and I’m wondering if anyone has experience to share. I’ve bombed, vacuumed and borax the carpets. Only getting 1-2 in the traps at night, and in some rooms 0. I found 2 dying under my cat last night.
Amy, Terminex is coming here tomorrow as well. Bugs in general make me insane. This is my first time with fleas and my dog is 8 years old. I’m hoping Terminex works. They offer a warranty and continued service at a discount and treat your home for more than just fleas. Here’s to hoping!
Im still having no luck. 🙁 Last night I typed in Google flea like household bugs. I’ve come up with maybe a nymph dog tick. Very similar but should be identified and searched. They seem to multiply faster than fleas and can live on any surface. Crawling on walls even! So far the only thing I’ve seen is get professional help for your house and maybe suggest to vet to identify. I read about treating dogs with an antibiotic. Gonna do more research and call vet and exterminator tomorrow.
My house has fleas also. I have treated my cat and Clark is coming again in a few days. I have been vacuuming like crazy every day some times twice. I have removed all throw rugs from the house as well. I can’t stand the fleas on me so I keep a bucket of soapy water in my shower. I put my clothes in it to soak while I lather up head to toe.
I have found that the adhesive lint roller works wonders for getting fleas off of me also. And I use the adhesive lint roller to check the effectiveness of my vacuuming by rolling it on the carpet and the floor to see what it picks up.
want to get rid of fleas TEMPO SC ULTRA inside your home and your yard . this stuff works.
So does suspend sc and nyguard
something’s been biting me in my sleep. small spots all over my body with a tiny pinprick bite in the centre. a little bit less itchy than mosquito bites, but with a bigger bite hole in the middle that takes longer to heal and sometimes leaves a tiny scar (or bigger if i scratch). thought it was just summer mosquitoes but it’s now october and i’m still getting new bites.
the house is an old one (1914) and there are definitely rats in the roof – we hear them at night. they haven’t come into the house but they are infesting the roof and maybe some parts of the walls and basement.
could the rats in the structure of the house be letting rat fleas into the house? how would the fleas get in, if the rats are only in the roof or walls? can the fleas get in through the walls or windows?
sounds like bed bugs, it is possible that rats or any warm blooded creatures have brought in fleas, Diatomaceous Earth (Food Grade) will kill anything with an exoskeleton. Put the powder in a squeeze bottle (like picnic ketchup bottle) and dust everything. leave it down for at least 12 hours, repeat at least once a week. make sure at the same time you dust shoes and wash all beddings, dust under your mattress as well.
People , to get rid of fleas ! first wash your pet ,try to keep most his body under water for at least 8 mites this will drown the fleas adult one ,makes sure your suing lemon soap, i buy lemon juice to add to water. once the fleas are in the water flush but make sure you flush after taking dog out of tube wash towels immediately , the thing is you need to get all dead fles and live once in te washer
now take bleach and bleach the drains, now get carpet scents lemon and sprinkle it throughout you carpet thickly , next vacuum it, this cut the fleas and their eggs up, now get rid of that vacuum bag out side, burn it or bag it tightly for a yr , now you take a bath cover yourself with lotion or oil , wash your cloths now, flea collar for your dog and home defense for you home , watch for dark wet warm areas, home defense is great , now if dog goes outside he will get fleas
so a bath once a week and plenty of fleas guard, eggs can hatch up to a hr, so home defense is great keep it spread on the wall boards and dark wet ares, remember fles are not bad to get only bad to keep , make sure you keep the leaves cleaned up and grass short just like tics fleas are the same ,i in the summer shave my dogs and cats they love it and it keeps home cleaner
What does it means when u put flea powder down on your carpet in u see the powder it self pop up???
Help! I’ve never had a flea problem like this before! My poor pets are scratching relentlessly as are my husband and two boys. I feel like they are on me and it’s disgusting not to mention humiliating. They seemed to appear out of nowhere. I’ve had our dog for five years so it could have come from our cat that we got earlier this year. This infestation sprang up just a month ago. We are giving our dog and cat a flea bath every other day and they are still heavily infested with fleas each time. Even as we are shampooing we can see the fleas are still alive. This is insane. Only once did we not find any fleas on our dog but two days later they were everywhere. We are also spraying all the rooms with something that claims to kill eggs and larvae and keeping the pets away until it dries as well as washing all the linen. We found a spray at the pet store to apply directly to pets and are spraying our animals as well. This made our cat sick one evening so I haven’t sprayed her with it anymore. I am vacuuming as often as I can. We’ve already invested so much money in this and we are poor. I’m at my wit’s end. I’m going to try lemon scented everything on top of all this. I have a clean home but I feel gross. I’ve been trying to keep visitors away. Will they really disappear in the winter? Is this the hope?
You are not alone! They are terrible this year, worse then I have ever heard of or seen before. They seem to be resistant to most conventional chemical sprays or drops.
I made the mistake of warning the people I work with that we have fleas and they have been hounding me to use chemicals all over the house. The problem with that is a/ I have rabbits who can’t be near the chemicals and b/ since the pests are becoming chemical resistant it is likely that I would just be adding to the problem.
They will not die off in winter if they are in your house unless you have a house with no heat. They will go dormant and potentially die outside however. Don’t fret there is hope. Keep working at it, keep up with the baths, add a bit of apple cider vinegar to the water (this will not only kill fleas but reduce the itching as well.) I personally don’t use flea shampoos because of the chemicals, I use regular pet shampoo that is chemical free. after bathing there are a few things you can do: coconut oil dips where you cover your pet in coconut oil for 12-24 hours then rinse off, like an intense conditioner and once they are completely dry dust them in Diatomaceous Earth (food grade). Sprinkle DE all over the house in every little crack and crevice, in shoes carpets etc, leave it down for 12 hours minimum and repeat at least once a week (maybe once a day for really bad infestations) DE kills anything with an exoskeleton and it is very drying, so it will kill adults and potentially put a dent in the egg and larve populations. Adults live only a week if they have no access to blood, 100 days if they do. Eggs hatch from 2-14 days, Larve live on crumbs and kibble plus blood for 4-18 days. The pupae however is virtually indestructible, they take 10-14 days to hatch into adults and start the process again.
i am so happy to see that i’m not alone in this! been battling these things for months and nothing helps at all. bombed the house, sprays, powders, DE everywhere(making me very sick) salt everywhere. all clothes are soaked in blue dawn before washing then bagged again. still nothing helps. i have de and salt under my bed and de between the mattresses BUT every night at 12:30am, they crawl all over me and the cat (my 6 year old sleeps with me and they don’t bite her) but at 5:20am, it seems like all hell beaks loose. tiny ones crawling everywhere, biting in my hair, crawling in pjs. cat scratching like crazy and 6 year old scratching her head. what am i doing wong?? the bed has been repeatedly sprayed with vinegar and blue dawn and still they crawl
If you are using food grade DE it should not be making you sick. More than likely any ill feelings are coming from the bug bombs and the soaps. Here’s what I would do, based on what you have told me, vacuum everything (hardwood, tiles, beds, blinds etc) put a little DE in the vacuume bag/ canister, frequently empty it outside. Assuming you have already given your cat a bath for the week/ month and they are completely dry, use a squeeze bottle to spray your cat’s and dog’s skin with DE. It is important that it reaches the skin level and that it is good grade. Put a little in the ears too. In a continuous sweep of the house use the same bottle to spray DE everywhere (beds, couches, drapes, shoes, rugs, tiles,) leave your cat in the bathroom with the fan on and take your dog for a walk, just a short one to give the DE a chance to settle. Don’t forget to treat your car too. Leave the DE down for 12-24 hours then vacuum and repeat (don’t need to repeat on the animals every day) keep doing this for a week. If you don’t see any improvement or things get so bad you can’t stay call an exterminator! While I don’t like using chemicals myself your family’s health and safety is the most important. Good luck, I hope to hear good news from you in a week :). Btw DE is very dusty, if there are allergies best to take medication before using and keep a hepa filter by your bed.
We just had a black lady move out of the house we rented. She violated our pet rules and had two large dogs inside. The house is flea infested!!! Nasty people !!! I cannot believe people are like this!!! We walked inside to check the house and saw flees crawling all over us. It’s nasty!!!Worst experience ever renting out a home. Never again!!!
(RENTER) Your comments are not very nice. You must be a very unhappy person to say those disrespectful comments about black people. Your life must be terrible.
I guarantee that being Black has nothing to do with the flea infestation.
You’re right. Being black has nothing to do with it. But there are a certain class of renters (regardless of race) that unfortunately give a bad name to renters in general. These trashy people (sorry, there isn’t a better word to describe them) care nothing for the property and generally care little about paying for the privilege either. What’s even more unfortunate is that this isn’t a fringe scenario. While certainly not all tenants are bad people, there is a huge population of renters that must have not been taught how to behave when they were children. It’s really just disgusting.
Your renter’s skin color matters because???
Well, here it is December and I am still battling. I have battled fleas since May. I have tried everything. Professional exterminating twice, Food Grade DE, Precor 2000, vinegar (Apple Cider and White), 91% alcohol, Pine-sol, Lysol, Raid, Hot Shot, Kill A Bug, Neem Oil, Salt, WitchHazel, essential oils, Pet Armor, (Seresto Collars, trifexis, nexguard, for my dogs) baking soda, Listerine, Ammonia, Peroxide, Oxy- Clean, Super Washing Soda, Borax, boric acid, and probably other products that I have forgotten about. I vacuum at least once a day, sometimes twice. I purchased a new high dollar vacuum cleaner thinking my old cleaner was part of the problem. It wasn’t, my problem, the fleas are in my clothes and the house keeps getting reinfested from my clothes. My clothes have been steam cleaned more than twice, washed at least 6 times, I have buried them in salt for 2 weeks, I have soaked them in every cleaning agent possible. I have boiled my white clothes for 30 minutes and they still have flea eggs hatching. I bought the bug eradicator laundry additive and it did nothing. I put them in the freezer for a week and that did not work. I tied them up in garbage bags , added salt and let them marinate in the sun for a week. I bought a new washer and dryer because everyone told me that washing and drying the clothes would kill the fleas. They were wrong! I have spent so much money trying to kill fleas that I can not possibly go buy a new wardrobe for a family of 4. If ANYONE HAS ANY ADVICE, PLEASE RESPOND! I am desperate.
Ok slow down! First how you use the products is just as important as what they are, there is no way in one year you have been able to properly try every single thing you have mentioned, there just isn’t enough time. It leads me to believe you like many others assumed that those products are instantaneous and have not given them enough time to work. DE for example can take up to 3 months to fully eliminate bad flea infestations.
Second just washing your clothes would kill fleas and flea eggs are not sticky so they fall off of what ever they were laid on, so your clothes are not the reason you still have a flea problem.
3rd Adult fleas can only live for 1 week without bloodmeal so keeping you clothes in a sealed bag for 2 weeks would have killed any adult fleas.
SO where does that leave you? no it’s not helpless, but it is going to take time, continue with your vacuuming but make sure you use what ever product you are using in your house inside your vacuum too (in the canister/bag) and empty it outside, make sure you treat all animals and house AND YARD at the same time, follow directions to the letter and be patient. leave a comment here if you have questions on a particular method and I will try to get back to you as soon as I can. Good Luck!
Suspend Sc and Nyguard and they work re directions and treat with each product twice, say two weeks apart. After 3 months of doing everything else imaginable we went this route with pro products and what a difference. My home is getting back to normal but you will still have to allow approx 30 days to be 100% flea free but 80% will be taken care of first spray or within 3 days or less.
C, I promise you the fleas eggs are in my clothes. I took all of my clothing out of the house and bought a couple of new outfits for each family member. I treated my house and for weeks no fleas were in my house, until I started washing and drying my old clothes. Two out of four of my family members are covered in flea bites when we wear the clothes. When we wear the new clothes, no one gets bit. I keep the clothes in individual ziplock bags to keep from being totally infested again. The clothes are the problem. I did bag them for 2 weeks and I have always had animals but never had fleas like I have this year. I put out DE every day for over a month and it makes a horrendous mess and my child has asthma, so DE is not a good alternative here. I am not the only one with this problem, I have talked to other people and no one can get rid of them. My dogs do not have fleas, they take oral flea preventatives.
As I said “DE for example can take up to 3 months to fully eliminate bad flea infestations.”
You have to make sure you get all of the life stages of the flea, You don’t have to have pets to have fleas, if you are not taking flea preventative they they could be eating you and any other warm blooded creature in your house, some people are asymptomatic as well.
If you still think you have the only fleas that have sticky eggs in your clothes then the only choice you have is to burn them, save the rest of the world from these horrific abominations of fleas.
Flea eggs can be dormant as well DE doesn’t kill eggs, only adults. Good luck I have no advice to offer you.
I am baffled at how hard it is to control fleas this year. I also tried everything! Everything!! I just bought a natural flea shampoo that has tea tree and neem oil, it worked better than any shampoo I bought, BUT, the next day they were itching again. I vaccum twice a day, all furniture , too, I wash all bedding every day. Bathe my three dogs every two weeks, brush daily outdoors…..the ONLY thing that helped was when I was Giving them fresh raw garlic with coconut oil and brewers yeast together, but, the hate it, it was so hard trying to find foods to hide the garlic in, I know garlic CAN be toxic, in LARGE doses, but many have had success with no ill effects using garlic as flea control, but it got too hard giving it because they hate it so I stopped. Now, my flea problem is not and was never a big problem, I don’t see fleas on me or carpet..etc. But I see them itching and look and see a few fleas when I search in their fur. It’s so incredibly frustrating, I just want to kill the fleas once and for all. Although I only want to use natural treatment like I always have with great success, the fleas are crazy immune to anything I tried, I may get the seresto collar, I’ve heard it works great, but, its chemicals that I hate hate hate to use, but I don’t know what else to do!!!
keep doing what you were doing!! hide it in some canned food, tripe if they have really good noses.
People have mentioned here….. suspend sc, tempo sc ultra and nyguard. What are these products & where do you get them?
i just moved to a newer region and not use to wet environment or warm environment. Ive never had a flea problem on the dogs until now. Now my house is infested and doing its cycle. The fleas are in my back yard in the grass and weeds. I found premethrin and IGR (Insect growth regulator) which im told kills the cylce of eggs, larvae, etc. Its a hormone so its not toxic. you mix it in with the pesticide or water, etc. I ordered them on amazon with neem oil and paid $50. I just fumigated the house today and sprayed my yard with pesticide. My amazon order should be here next week so when i get it Ill be spraying every crevice of the house and yard with that stuff over a span of weeks to months and see if that works. Suspend SC and tempos sc are on amazon as well and run around 40-80 dollars. ill keep everyone posted.
Just moved to a new place. Turned the heating on once id properly movwd in and bam! Flea fest 2016. I dont even have pets. Im trying Indorex spray in conjunction with hoovering and perpetual washing of clothes. Only been 3 weeks so far. But these things are biting me 24 / 7. On my way driving to work and everything. Tried permitherin powder too for a while but that didnt work. Done a lot of reading and the consensus is off the shelf products don’t tend to work. Time to bring the professionals in I think. I like the idea of the clothes in the plastic bag. Will give that a try. I’m not seeing many fleas anymore but they are seeing me. Persistent little critters they are.
Look forward to hearing everyone’s updates and advice.
I just got a 6 week old puppy yesterday. Came home put him down for ten mins and then gave him a bath a noticed fleas! I freaked out of course and searched what to do so i let him soak for 15 mins in warm dawn dish water and killed all the big ones i could find. Now i put fkea powder on my carpets but what else can i do to prevent an infestation? Tpi cant visably see eggs on him so he is not as bad but still!
First don’t use dish soap. A little vinegar in the water and any pet safe shampoo will do the same thing without stripping your dogs natural protective oils. Flea powders are not recommended for puppies especially because they like to eat and taste everything in sight and you just covered everything in poison. So make sure you have the vet on speed dial and don’t let the dog out of your site for a minute.
Now please go back and read the article and all the comments. In most cases puppies that young are not able to use chemicals unless you get them from the vet. As I said bathe them in warm water with some vinegar, soap up their head and neck first as the fleas will be headed there. Use a gentle pet safe shampoo. Let them stay soaking and soapy for at least 8 min and make sure you have gotten all the air from their fur out so the fleas will drown. Dry them completely and make sure they are warm the whole time. Once completely dry apply diatomaceous earth to them and the entire house. It will take time and you may have to repeat this once a week. Please refer to the above for more detailed instructions. If you have any other questions as you can probably tell I am notified when someone leaves a comment. So let me know.
If you have a dirty house Fleas will stay around, so clean dog , i have raised many animals , we take them bath them hold al of their body ,not the head, under water for five minite with soap all over them this drowns any fleas, then rinse then add pure lemon juice ,if there were any fleas hiding this brings them to service dead, wash them off repeat , i know this seems hard especial with big dogs, but think how your dog feels, after last bath, rub the lemon juice all over them like a cologne , place the lemon juice in a bottle for spray, this way when yoru dog goes out fleas will not jump on after you spray them first before going out, next in the house , this is easy, take a mom on all services that can be mopped with bleach and water , they cannot stand the smell and it chokes them off it even melts the eggs raccoon if any around, , for carpets, it like your cloths shampoo it!, the thing it don;t use a lot of water fleas love damp wet ares , use as little water as possible put a fan on it to dry after your done turning the heat up only makes moisture, , then take your lemon juice and spray a mist all over it when dry, vacuum real good smells god and if fleas come in they go back out , fleas are a tiny bug stop fabricating about their size ,if someone brings their dog or cat over tell them they have to be sprayed before they come in this helps deter people from bringing their pet , spray them too, some people just do not get themselves and animals clean ,sad but true and don;t place dirt in yoru carpet it never completely comes out don’t believe me look under carpet , always vacuum carpet on high at first then if you want to fluff the carpet lower it but high will have more suction power ,oh and clean vacuum out before you suck and after the eggs are in there ,and last pray to God infestation do not come near you and yoru animals ,do not use straw for bedding use cedar shavings ,if you have a coon dog use cinnamon in saw dust or lemon juice cedar shavings take the smelling sense form a dog
we’ve vacuumed, washed all bedding including the animals, flea bombed the house, shampoo’d the animals and put the flea liquid on their backs. A week later the dog is covered in adults again! I am going to try the borax all over the house, reflea the dogs…again and rebomb the house. I will have to get the yard done too. This is bloody expensive. The fleas dont bother the humans at all but the poor dog was nuts tonight.
I’m sorry your having so many problems. First thing I’m going to suggest is check what brand you are using and research what others have said about that brand, there is one brand out there that I have heard consistently does not work. Second are you vacuuming everyday? Did you retreat the house 14 days later?
Today we are starting a strict regime. First treat the dog with recommended stuff. Then use borax around all the house and furniture. I think we will get rid of a lounge the dogs sleep on. It is ruined anyway and difficult to get into the appulstry.All linen and curtains washed and bagged. And rebomb. Outside we will spray the 2 areas the dog goes to scratch. But cant until the rain stops.Lawn clippings around a tree will be cleaned up and dumped at tip too. Then i will repeat the process in 2 week increments. Meanwhile vaccuming obsessively. It isnt bothering the himans and we dont have fleas on us or even visually see the adults but the dogs are just sick of it.
In NZ and had cats for 21 yrs without flea infestation. Bitten and I do feel them. I put white printer paper on floor as can hear them land and put finger down fast to catch them and squash them between finger nails. Fast little beggars though and tiny. Also bowl of water as fleas fall in when jumping. I have tried 2 flea raid bombs and one bedroom ok but the other still seems to have some. Going to try the lemon juice spray. Washing everything and then see that you have to bag it – aggh. As all on my kitchen table. Feel like throwing blankets but hung on line in heat and don’t seem to see any fleas as yet in sitting room. Cats were frontlined but didn’t seem to work. Will try advantage and buy online as much cheaper than vets. Feel like a leper. Left work as was sick with migraines and after effects of stomach op and then to have fleas on me was the last straw mentally. Countdown and they don’t want me to have 1 week notice. Probably cos may bring in fleas. Soooo gross
Wow so many flea nightmares.
In sydney
I gather the longer warm weather (climate change) and possums in my roof and wooden floor boards with cracks in them have created the perfect flea storm.
Omg, we are all dying in my house.
I want to break my lease and move out.
I’ve tried borax, treated my dog.
But yep the possums are in the roof prob spreading them in the yard.
My poor dog is suffering and I’ve washed him.
I will try to use warm water and all other suggestions to wash him.
Everyone’s input has given me guidance .
Only thing is I think I will be moving out somehow cause it will keep costing me and my dog our time and sanity.
Though I need to basically wash bag and treat everything before I move out.
Yes more oils and more hard work to fight the war on fleas.
On a last note ,
How’s everyone’s war been with the fleas, hope u have all killed them once and for a all.
I have had a flea problem for almost a year now. A constant barrage of bites at night…and until January I had no pets! I think I brought them in from my Dads house a year ago, his dog had fleas. My daughter moved in with her chihuahua in January, and as far as I can tell, the dog DOESN’T have fleas! My daughter is not being bitten either, and she is now in the bedroom I was in before she moved in. THEY FOLLOWED……ME!!!!!….INTO MY BEDROOM! I have been using diatomaceous earth (DE), but I suspect I haven’t been diligent enough about vacuuming and re-applying, etc, as well as washing bedding and clothing….but I am glad to see I am not alone here! Thought I might be going crazy, cause I can’t find them! Put some soap-water traps out once, and didn’t see a single flea! Going to try it again, as well as putting some printer paper down to see if I can hear them maybe?!?! I know this isn’t bed bugs, I had those 6 years ago and know what to look for, it’s not them, but I wonder if it could be mites or something else…..but I’m pretty sure it’s fleas but why aren’t my daughter and her dog getting bit? HELP!!!!!!
Thought I would share a newish trick that worked for me this year… I live in a “hot spot” for fleas, mosquitoes and ticks. We do not use chemicals or pesticides on ourselves or our pets. As soon as the warm weather hit I saw a flea and when you see one there are hundreds more! Right away got my Giant dog in the tub made her lay down in the water for 10 min, soaped up every part of her that wasn’t under water. That drowned quite a few, I then set up flea traps by vector they caught a few as well. Here’s my real secret weapon, I switched her food and added in Apple Cider Vinegar! Over the winter I got a little lazy and she was eating kibble, after switching her back to raw and adding in 3 generous tsp of ACV they have not come back and I check all the animals regularly along with the flea traps.
Hi
A few weeks later of flea infestation
First I had to segregate my dog and not let him come inside for a three weeks.
I treated him outside with a flea bath and soapy warm water.
I also used the white vinegar on him.
I put cushions and linen in black bags and let them sit in there with a spray of tea tree spray on them.
Washed and cleaned everything.
I did borax powder the house and vacuumed it.
Then I bleached and moped the floor after.
Finally no fleas, after weeks of torture.
They were fleas for me as I seen them jump on everything and on the whole family.
We had bad flea bites but I used scabies cream on our bodies as a precaution .
Fleas are a nightmare .
Good luck but it takes lots of cleaning to get there.
Segregating my dog and us was hard but that’s the only way I could tackle the issue, step by step.
Worse thing was no one got how bad it is.
coconut oil? like for cooking ?
I might add that the only proof I have of the fleas are the bites, which are quite real……all my research indicates they are flea bites. I haven’t seen a single one. My chihuahua has been to vet recently, no fleas. I decided after the vet trip that if the dog doesn’t have fleas, I don’t have fleas! The problem was much less noticeable, almost to the point where I kinda forgot about them (I had treated my room with DE and used lemon spray and washed a bunch of clothes), but now I have fresh bites again, the problem is rearing it’s ugly head again…..I’m starting to think there is some validity to the ‘clothes’ theory, C, as it seems it’s worse when I put certain clothes on that I haven’t worn in a while…….oh well, off to vacuum and re-apply DE…….
Are you 100% sure they are bites? I get rashes that look like bites from certain chemicals they treat clothes with. It doesn’t happen all the time just when my immune system is low. If you are the only one in the house getting bit, you haven’t seen any and they followed you it is highly doubt it’s fleas. Give your clothes a nice long soak in the hottest water you can and take a look at their composition usually rayon or anything wrinkle free does it to me. If you still think you have fleas get a flea trap (by victor) and set it up at night.
BTW, where do you all get or make your lemon spray? How about the essential oil sprays? Has anyone tried the Avon Skin So Soft Bath oil spray?
Avon products are loaded with chemicals!! Not safe for children or pets. Read the ingredients!!
Lavender is poisonous to cats. Try Advantage II for your cat and Enforcer brand products for your home
Wow! I am ecstatic/depressed to read all these. I’m happy because I now know I’ve not lost my flippin mind. I’m SO sad because I now know the fleas will win. haha.
My father died and I came back after being gone 2 days to find my cat and apartment infested with fleas. Indoor only cat, upstairs apartment, lived here three years with never a flea.
I put advantage 2 on the cat and went to work. Came home and the cat was /so sick, throwing up and lethargic. Rushed him to the vet. Don’t know if he had a reaction to the Advantage, but found out he has diabetes.
Meanwhile, the Advantage did not kill Flea One.
Got him Capstar. Got some spray for the house–cedar, cinnamon and clove oils. Sprayed the Entire house and washed all the bedding.
Don’t worry, PETA, no fleas were harmed in the making of this drama.
COVERED my entire dwelling AND the cat in DE powder and washed all the bedding.
Didn’t sit on furniture and lived covered in powder for a few days while the fleas jumped out of the powder onto my feet and legs. Vacuumed up all the powder, changed the bag, washed the vacuum hoses and heads, changed the filters. Washed the cat with natural oil flea shampoo and slathered him in coconut oil. The next day picked more than 60 live fleas off the cat.
Steam cleaned, with a cedar and sage oil and alcohol cleaner, the only two rooms with carpet and the small area rug in the living room. Steam mopped the rest of the tiled apartment. Washed all the bedding. Gave the cat a new topical poison.
Finally!!!! There were NO fleas. Not on the floor, not on the cat.
For 12 hours. Came in today to find One Lone flea on me.
F*ck it. Tomorrow I’m fogging the Sh*t out of the house. :/
Due to our super wet Spring several of my neighbors and myself have Flea Infestations.I have had my cat treated with Cap Star;she still scratches from “new” flea bites. However the Vet assured me ,she is Toxic to fleas…I have sprayed with Spectracide….with some luck. However these “boogers” keep showing up in my bathroom. I have sprayed it 5 times. I have a good way to “check” if fleas are still present. Use a shallow dish- add a dash of Dawn Dish Soap – place a tea candle in the dish– add a little bit of water. Place the dish in open are where there have been fleas or near where they were. Light candle….turn off any lights. If you still have fleas they will be in the soapy water and you will need to re-treat. If soapy water is clead of spects…good luck..
I have done all of this and it’s been a month and no relief. I have no carpet, removed all the clothes, the dog gets bathed daily. I have used every product available and now am trying the D Earth but four days later just as many fleas as ever.
Natural methods like DE take longer and require more work on your part. Fleas don’t need a carpet to survive any cracked will do. Remember there are more than one stage in a fleas life cycle and DE and bathing only kill the adults. You also have eggs, larvae and pupae to worry about. Next time you put down DE mix it with baking soda that should kill eggs and larvae. Keep doing this every other day, it takes time for it to kill them. Pupae hatch into adults in 10-14 days but if this infestation has been going on for some time now you may have some hatching every day.
I’m living in an apartment with a flea infestation for about 3 months now. I don’t have pets, but think maybe the previous renter did as the apartment is 90% carpet and the fleas randomly starting coming out this spring. I’ve tried essential oils, DE, foggers, powder similar to Borax and professional services to spray. Still getting bites! We are moving out of this apartment in less than 2 weeks. How can I ensure these crazy things don’t follows us to the new place?! I am already getting rid of some furniture and starting new. Any other suggestions?
does anyone know how to get rid of a flea infestation in your back yard? I bought a yard spray by ortho and it worked for my front yard but my back yard has no grass, it’s mostly dirt and it didn’t work. my dog is an outside dog so i cant bring him in. I have him on our patio area and I have sealed off access to the yard. The fleas stay in the dirt area. Everyday I spray raid where the dirt and patio meet so they haven’t cross over. Raid seems to be the only thing that kills them within 45 seconds. I’m looking for a spray that will get rid of the fleas fast.
use permethrin and IGR (Insect growth regulator) on the yard even the dirt. I have read success stories with these. I ordered some today on Amazon. the IGR kills the larvae and eggs and stops the cycle supposedly. the fleas are coming from my yard and keep re infecting my dogs which then infiltrated my house. i have never had fleas EVER. this is all new to me and it sucks
My brother has a dog and we look after her, he’s busy a lot of the time so she spends most of her time at my house. For the past few months we have been trying to get rid of the fleas on her as my brother won’t go to the vet, although he keeps saying he will. We have tried everything but they just keep coming back. What can we do??
Name it, we’ve done it. Our guys are on their second dose of Capstar, they’ve had 3 baths, we’ve used the Diatomaceous earth on everything and we’ve vacuumed so much the damn thing is overheating. It has been working though. We didn’t have what I would call an infestation, and none of us have been bitten, so that’s good – but they’ve still got em. We check right when and where they are scratching and have been able to grab em and drown them. One thing not mentioned that we do is set a trap so we can see where most of them are camping out. Set out a shallow dish (we use a pie tin) filled with dish soap and water and set it under a light (we used a desk lamp) overnight. We’ll have several floaters in the morning. After this last bath we went old school with flea collars, but it’s still the “Itchy and Scratchy Show”. So, while I think our efforts are improving, we haven’t eliminated the problem entirely. Also, if you have other animals like hamsters, clean out their cages and throw out any bedding that you may have stored and start over. Replace dustbath with the Diatomaceous earth and if you don’t give them dustbaths, now is a good time to start. If the dogs are miserable from scratching you can give them 1 benadryl for every 25 pounds. Really helps calm them and let them sleep as well as reduce itching.
I think my cats have fleas I have treated them but the problem doesn’t seem to be going away and the straight thing is none of us (2 adults and 2 children) have not gotten a single bit! I thought the problem was resolved so my youngest cat resumed sleeping in my bed curled up right beside me he’s like a 3rd kids you’d think I would have been bit! What should I do that won’t cost an arm and a leg! I’ve tride the dawn bath, vinager, and the front line that goes on the base of the neck
Sorry for the misspelling auto correct !!!! Please I need advice I can’t take the itching from thinking about it, don’t want my cats getting sick! Advice appreciated greatly!! Thank you
Bravecto is amazing. Its a chewable that starts to kill flees in 2 hrs all flees on dog dead after 12 hrs and lasts for 3 mo. Only down fall is need script from vet. My one dog is allergic and we had serious infestation and tried everything. Bathed with dawn, used powder, spray, neck drops, flea collar, bombed house. Finally with Bravecto my dogs are flea free but still working on house. Its a battle but one I am now winning. You must treat carpet, bedding, furniture ect… I was also getting bit on ankles and that has stopped as well.
we treat our 2 cats every month with special treatment and our home is clean and tidy and vacuumed at least once a day however we can not get away from the problem of fleas this year.
we have treated and sprayed our home regularly but some of the fleas have become resilient to any method we have tried.
however the more people with pets we talk to we are finding that they also are having the same problem.
To me this is very serious as the more fleas become resilient to all treatments, the more fleas there will be.
There is most definatly a worrying epidemic of them and even more worrying is the fact that there has already been a plague because of fleas.
The beubonic plague or (black death) was because of fleas that traveled to the U.K.and Europe from China.
This is why I’m a little bit worried.
Before any of you think that the plague was eradicated years ago then I’ve got bad news for you.
The beubonic plague still lives in places like Madagascar and Africa.
IT ONLY TAKES ONE FLEA!
Our boy had infested my untreated cats 3 Years ago and I ended up tearing up carpet. So now they are on topical flea meds 100% of the time along with our dog. 3 weeks ago I found a few fleas on my dog and so I capstared and treated him 3 weeks early with vet approval.. my cats were clean. We vacuumed very well everywhere for 2 weeks and had the carpet cleaned. So far so good. My vet has told us if you keep vacuuming and treating your pet with a good topical you will get rid of them because there is no place for them to live. Carpet poison sprays can speed up the process, but are not necessary. However, treating your outside yard it helpful. We treat our pets inside only pets too, on time everymonth to keep fleas at bay. If it was really that awful, why do we still have pets? It sucks, but you can get rid of them with time and effort. I asked my mom what she did 50 years ago when she was a kid and had pets. Her answer, flea bath… no collars, no treatments, no sprays, heck we didn’t even vacuum. We never had terrible issues. It’s just nerve wrecking when you get online a read all the horror stories and probably from many who don’t treat pets regularly. I hate the Internet, but here I am reading people’s horror stories. lol some do not like to use topical meds, but I do to keep my pets from having other issues these little vermin can cause.
What about wooden floors? I just found out today my dog has an infestation and I am going crazy
I need help! My cats have had fleas since August. We have been using frontline and have sprayed our house. I also steam clean our wood floors. I stay up until 1 am cleaning our house every night. I’m exauseted and frustrated and about to loose my mind. The vet said they would be gone In three months. I comb hundreds of fleas off my pets a day. It never lets up. My house must have billions of fleas in it. I don’t know what to do. I’m in tears as I type this. It’s so horrible. Help!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i used a lint roller on my wooden floors where the fleas were the worst, around chairs and my cat towers…they stick to the roller quite nicely
my dog is bleeding from the back and is infested with fleas and she keeps trying to itch all day and its getting worse. i want to get her a cone for her head but i dont know what to do specifically. anybody have any ideas?
Found a box of kittens that some horrible person abandoned on the side of the road .( I obviously kept them all). Now my dogs and other cats have a massive infestation. I refuse to use anything toxic in my house . Three weeks of relentless combing with this many animals it takes roughly 4 and a half hours to wash and brush them all daily . We don’t have any carpets . Only hardwood. The infestation has only gotten worse . I shall surely be trying some of these . We have 50 acres surrounded by 16,000 acres of crown land. Not really sure how to treat the yard or where to even start. Hopefully the snow kills them .
Another good way is to put a little soapy water in a plate, put a teacup candle in the middle, light it, turn off all the lights and leave the room and they will jump to their deaths.
I’m going crazy!! My sisters cat had fleas and we took them home with us! I’ve caught a few and killed those buggers only found a few so far bites on my ankles gaahh will try steps above
Fleas Suck!!! Call your local exterminator. Yes, they are expensive {125.00} but if you are desperate like I was you have already spent three times that much.
Don’t buy anything OTC either, none of it works. Go to the Vets, believe it or not their meds actually work plus they are cheaper. We would all love to save the world, go green, leave no footprints, Ha I just want to kill some flea.
Help!!! I am going on week 5 of serious flea treatment in my home. I have had the inside of my home professionally sprayed 4x (once we went strong and left house for 24 hours), my yard has been professionally sprayed 3x, the dog has been groomed and treated with trifexis & capstar, I have vacuumed a minimum of 5x a day, thrown rugs away!!!! They are in my hardwood floors! I keep vacuuming up live ones off the bare floor! I am bagging and removing each vacuum from inside home! I just don’t understand! What else can I do???????
Ha done company come in twice. I’ve had Terminix come at least 15 times. Used foggers, borax, vinegar. Vacume everyday. Washed anything that was fabric. Rented a vacume To clean carpet with hot water and soap twice. Moved out and into a new place and after a year and half of repeating everything I’m still where I left off. I am so paranoid I feel like they aren’t bitting me every second. Only to look down and nothing is their . Now I can’t even have treatment because I have a 2 month old. My three year old has bites on her stomach and back. And now my husband has brought the fleas to work with him!! This is just instance!! My life revolves around fleas. I will die with fleas and I’m sure they will follow me to my coffin….
I do like vegetables. Orange is one of them. I would not want to put it in my skin.
BORAX IS FATAL TO CATS ** DO NOT USE ANYWHERE NEAR THEIR ENVIRONMENT!! ** If they sniff it or get some on their tongue it can be fatal!! Believe me, I lost 3 cats after my Borax box spilled in an inconspicuous area frequented by my cats. ***BORAX IS FATAL***
DE earth is not harmful unless inhaled. it can cause major lung damage. it is like microscopic shards of glass.
has anybody tried permethrin? you spray it on stuff, including clothes, and let it dry, before contact. it works on mites, chiggers, ticks, an skeeters.
Honestly tried to read everything, but it was just too much. But i have heard that if you don’t want to use DE you can use plain table salt and shake that on your floor. it supposedly does the same thing as DE, cut their exoskeletons and dry them out.
i have a serious flea problem that has been going on for almost a year now. When we got my cat she apparently had flea eggs on her but we didn’t know that. Now you can’t even walk into the house without having 12 baby fleas jump on you. We have tried everything pills, collars, sprays, baths, washing the entire house, but no matter what it doesn’t work. My mom wants me and my dad to throw Dairy outside and let her be an outside cat but i don’t want that and neither does my dad. I’ve also seen fleas on his girlfriends cat but i’m to scared that she’ll get mad at me. Honestly i don’t know what to do anymore and i’m just about ready to give up on life as a whole.
For me I used a pesticide for fleas locally made here in Africa and as I am talking to I feel free after just spraying a day, I had to let my cat outside because it was so frustrating and irritating I tried to keep her but these fleas are he on earth, I even cry but now at least I can today just a day and I feel happy my God I have never felt like for months now, I will continue with the spray process though they are still there u will know they have reduced badly I feel like just one that is still g
Jumping o. .e but sure I will get rid of them after 3 days it’s feel good to sleep again
WHAT the H??
A flea just crawled over my laptop screen as I am reading this thread. This nasty buggers don’t really know when to stop. HELP!
A large pan you can fill with soapy water, throw a light over it about 3 inches off the water. this will catch a ton of them. just turn the radio on and turn the volume up to a volume loud enough not to annoy neighbors at 1-3 in the morning and leave the house for a few hours… the vibrations from the sound waves are gonna wake them up and all insects are attracted to light so this is the only light in the house you are going to leave on.
This was the worst feeling my entire life, I have a cat, use to allow it enter my room, soon I began feeling itchy and it is really really irritating, I have not slept in weeks, I use a mosquito net but that proves to be the worst, now they are increased in numbers the worst is that I don’t see them, but I feel when it jumps and make a silly sound as a result of its jumping, I have tried and tried done so many things cause I swear I feel sick I keep scratching my body I can’t get visitors it was literally hell on earth, till I wen5 and I bought a these spray for fumigation, I did the mixture my self as instructed and I then put it in a spay can I spread the whole room, cleaned everywhere now I can breath in my room, thoughh they were still remaining they little continue spraying the room and around your homes too, too bad my cat hates showering I had to stop it from entering my room, fumigated the whole for a week and I can sleep with out crying, just buy a pesticide for fleas and do what I told u
PLEASE DO NOT PUT CITRUS OR ESSENTIAL OILS ON CATS!!!! Citrus will make the cats little noses raw and oils are bad for cats. <3
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ESSENTIAL OILS KILLS CATS IF INGESTED, THEY RUIN THE KIDNEYS AND THERE IS NOTHING THAT CAN BE DONE, THE CAT WILL NEED TO BE PUT DOWN!!!!!!!!
once i had to spray the chemical SEVEN inside though it is for outside use.Worked like a charm.
For those of you who want a Chemical solution, Precor Plus IGR Fogger is your ONLY solution. IGR is insect growth regulator. Look precor up on amazon. It will explain how it works. I only use this method when there is a major flea infestation.
I didn’t know my dogs had flea eggs all over them until I saw what looked like a very very bad dandruff problem on my black German spitz. I looked it up online and discovered it was flea eggs! There were hundreds of them. I gave him a really good bath and nothing, all the eggs were still there. I love coconut oil and it’s many uses. I thought why not, I’m going to try coconut oil. I rubbed it into my dogs coat all the way down to the skin and waited about 30 minutes. Then I gave him a bath with Dawn dish soap. It worked! No more flea eggs.
For the adult fleas I put salt in the blender until it becomes a nice powder. I sprinkle the powder all over carpets, dog bedding and toys, tile floor, dirty clothes and I wait a week to vacuum. I do this every week to every other week until the fleas are gone. Just make sure to empty vacuum container or bag OUTSIDE.
You can also sprinkle this salt powder on your pet when you see a flea on him. Just make sure you give your dog a bath within a couple hours. The salt can dehydrate your pet.
For those of you who travel with your dogs it’s a good idea to sprinkle this salt powder into the carpets of your car or RV. When we were traveling in our RV we found fleas at one of the campsites. I didn’t want chemicals in such a small space of living quarters, so I used the salt. Gone in a day or two!
FYI, I have tried essential oils and they are a joke. I’ve tried them on both myself and my dogs. All I can say is that they didn’t work for me.
I live in a part of California that does not get a freeze so fleas are able to thrive year-round. I had a dog dying of cancer and every time I’d take her outside to use bathroom, a few would jump on her. I was NOT going to use chemicals on her. I eventually purchased beneficial nematodes, they come billions in a container, and sprayed my yard. It kills the eggs of fleas so stopped the crazy reproduction. It targets only specific types of eggs and flea eggs are one of them (be sure you are getting the correct type of nematodes – different types kill different insects). Then I bought a bar of Neem oil soap online. Bathed dog 3X a week, leaving Neem on for a bit to kill the fleas. i have a Roomba vacume and think this was key – vacumed several times a day, dumping the bin into a ziploc. I put some DE into the ziploc. I also put DE on the carpets and left it a couple days but was very uncomfortable about this as there is long term lung damage caused by breathing it in. My dog was a dachshund so very low to the ground. When her paws would walk on the carpet, a small amount of powder inevitably floated up and of course went into her nose. I used a mask when applying it. People who think there is no risk to DE are not researching it. Because you or your pet are not dead in a year or two does not mean you are not breathing in something that will crystalize in your lungs and over time cause some ugly things like COPD. I think the vacuming is the key – I buy the XL baggies and can see new tiny fleas hatching inside here and there (they don’t last long as the DE kills them). My dog, btw had lymphoma and lived for over a year even though vet said she had 3 months max with a ton of prednisone. I researched cancer and put her on a grass fed meat and organic veggie diet (very cheap since she was so small – I just started feeding her what we ate though raw) along with targeted supplements. Its all on the internet. She eventually died due to something unrelated to the cancer and I believe she had a good quality of life until the end when I had her put down as I could see she was suffering. Her daughter came down with mammary cancer a year later (dummy me, never had her fixed and she was never bred – this DOES set the scene for mammary cancer). Did mostly the same with her and she went over a year without pain. The day I could see she was in discomfort I had her to the vet within an hour to be put down. Sorry, not all related to fleas but just illustrating that you cannot believe what the so-called “experts” tell you. Don’t bomb your house. Don’t sit in a chemical-infested environment and think that you are immune to it. Spend the $$ on a Roomba – a friend got an older model online for $250 and got rid of her fleas too.
I have 1 dog. He is indoor outdoor. I’m in a 35 year old house built by contractors who shouldn’t have been contractors cause I could have done better. Now I’ve been fighting a mouse and rat infestation. To give you an idea of how bad I know what 2 rats fighting under a bathtub sounds like. And yea every couch and mattress had mice nesting in them. Fast forward 3 months and it’s almost under control…. then the true horror came. Fleas. I never thought is say that I’d rather sleep on a mouse infested mattress rather than deal with fleas. I have bug bombed 4 times. While house. Including crawl spaces. I have put 3 pounds of salt into a carpet that 13fft by 14ft. While spraying the strongest poison I could buy. There are still fleas in that room. Specifically that room. All other parts of house are fine. Dog doesn’t go into that room ever. I have eczema. And trust me when fleas are on my skin I feel it. I’m to the point where I’m ready to leave my elderly mother there cause I cant do this anymore. I work 50 to 60 hours a week. I’m exhausted defeated and nothing works. I cant even get a post control company our there cause of the distance. My eczema is the worst it’s ever been. I make a little progress and the moment I start feeling I’m winning. I’m sobbing in the employee bathroom cause I’m covered in fleas. And I dont know if anyone else has ever experienced eczema on intimate parts of your anatomy because fleas have bitten between your legs to the point that your clawing at yourself. Because I vacuumed that room again. I’ve tried everything. I’m literally finding dozens of fleas on me. I dont know what to do
I have been battling fleas since last February. I have done every method I have seen here and they are still here. Our dogs are treated. We still have fleas. Worse yet, I am allergic and have developed a flea caused papular uticaria. I am so done. I also have COPD and cannot vacumn often enough. I am probably going to die from the damn fleas. And yes, we have had a professional exterminator, who promised they would be gone. Its impossible. I am just praying for winter in hopes that they might be dead soon.