flea help!

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  • #11929
    spacecowgirl385
    Participant

    i have a 6 month old male kitten with fleas. hes an indoor cat (a friend of ours, their animal had fleas and must have jumped a ride with him lol). he is the only animal we have. so last week, we gave him a bath, put frontline on him, and bombed the house. we’ve been trying to vacuum everything everyday. he still has them. my boyfriend brushed at least 9 off of him last night. we have set up the “light trap” (soapy water in a pan under a light) before we go to bed for them to jump into. i dont know what else to do. help!

    #80536
    GreatDane
    Participant

    We need Anncetera!

    #80537
    Catwoman
    Participant

    I don’t think you can add this to Frontline, since you have already applied it but I use Revolution. I haven’t seen a flea in years and I have 7 cats! I only use it in the summer months since with this many cats I can’t afford it year-round.

    #80538
    anncetera2
    Participant

    Spacecowgirl38, I’ve posted elsewhere on TDK about diatomaceous earth (horticulatural or food grade, not swimming pool filter grade). I’d HIGHLY recommend getting some, and using it generously on the cat and all carpeting and upholstered furniture in the house. I used only about 1/2 pound to treat a mama cat, her 3 kittens, an upholstered chair & ottoman, and the floor & baseboards in my house.

    It’s a white powder, fine, much like flour or confectioner’s sugar. It is COMPLETELY NON-TOXIC. I made a shaker can to distribute mine; drilled holes in the top of a Pringles can, filled the can halfway, went to town.

    I sprinkled some into my hands, and then petted the cats all over; belly, back, neck, tail, and head. Legs, too. Feel free to use a lot; if your cat is black, he will look a dull, dusty black when you’re done, and his coat will feel almost tacky, not glossy.

    You will want to use it generously enough that for at least a week, preferably two, it will look like you set off flour bombs all over your house. (You don’t have to dust your bedding, but you should wash it all and dry in a hot dryer. You will want to dust the pillows, mattress, and under the bed.) If you have hardwood floors, you’ll have a dusting of powder all over. If you have carpeting, you’ll work it into the fibers by walking on it.

    You don’t want to inhale it, so turn off any air circulation while you’re spreading it about, and close any windows. After you’ve spread it, you’re good to go.

    In a week or two, go ahead and thoroughly vacuum or sweep the house. It does no harm to leave some under the baseboards; it kills all soft-bodied insects.

    Good luck!

    #80539
    anncetera2
    Participant

    I should mention, diatomaceous earth is inexpensive. I picked up a 4 lb bag at a local garden supply store, and it treated my entire house with hardwood floors, area rugs & tile.

    #80540
    anncetera2
    Participant

    Doh! Meant to say, the 4 lb bag was $9.99. Look online if you call around and can’t find it locally; it should be comparable.

    #80541
    GreatDane
    Participant

    See, Spacecowgirl, Anncetera knows!

    #80542
    MerD
    Participant

    Hey anncetera, where did you buy it. My ssister in law owns a kennel, but cannot find it. It is expensive to order,

    #80543
    spacecowgirl385
    Participant

    thanks anncetera! so i just want to make sure i understand this. i use the powder, and then dont vacuum for a week? or do i use it every day and vacuum everyday for a week?

    #80544
    anncetera2
    Participant

    Actually, apparently some folks have used it with success by only leaving it down for a couple of hours, then vacuuming up. However, I had *such* a persistent flea infestation, and had already spent so much money on products to treat the problem, that I left it down for two weeks. I also dusted the cats with it, working it into their fur and being careful that they didn’t inhale any. I also dusted the upholstered chair & ottoman with it, and didn’t vacuum until 2 weeks later.

    The flea life cycle is a bit involved, but basically, those 9 fleas you saw on your cat (if that’s every single flea) indicate a fairly serious infestation. Adult fleas are typically only 5% of the population; flea population is typically made up of 50% eggs, 30% larvae, 15% pupae and 5% adults.

    I leave the stuff down thick enough and long enough to break the whole lifecycle, not just the adults that already exist. I want to catch the larvae and pupae as they come out. And eggs that hatch into larvae. Eggs hatch anywhere from two days to two weeks after being laid. They’re typically found indoors in floor cracks & crevices, along baseboards, under rug edges and in furniture or beds. As well as on the pets!

    (So I leave the stuff down for 2 weeks, figuring that’s doing a better job of breaking the lifecycle.)

    Basically, if you have items that are upholstered and/or not washable (rugs, curtains, mattress, cat bed, decorative pillows, etc.) it needs to be treated.

    You DON’T want to breathe this stuff. I wore a respirator when I was applying it, which freaked out the kittens a little bit. But my cotton gloves took up plenty of DE when I dipped them in the bag, and then rubbed it into the cat fur.

    You DON’T want swimming pool grade diatomaceous earth. (The particles are too large to work effectively.) You want food grade diatomaceous earth. If you find horticultural grade, be sure to check the labeling to make sure there’s NO PESTICIDE in it. There shouldn’t be anything in the list of contents except diatomaceous earth.

    I purchased my from a local lawn care store (Suburban Lawn & Garden), but you can purchase it online. I bought a 4 lb bag, and it was plenty. I found it at:

    http://www.agecology.com/products/showprod.php?ProdID=252

    http://www.dirtworks.net/Diatomaceous-Earth.html (fossil shell flour)

    http://www.extremelygreen.com/Product.cfm?Name=Diatomaceous%20Earth%20

    Good luck! It really does work; within 3 days my cats had stopped scratching, and they’ve not had fleas since.

    (Maybe the large cracks between my floorboards has something to do with it.)

    #80545

    That’s the secret–you need to treat ALL flea stages—the eggs hatch every 2 weeks. I used to use Frontline and never had fleas. You should check with whomever you got it from–maybe it was old?

    #80546
    SharoninAustell46
    Participant

    Ancetera, I bought mine from Amazon. But there are all sorts of warnings about breathing particulates and use a mask, etc, etc. Did you do all that or did you just go ahead and apply it?

    #80547
    anncetera2
    Participant

    Hi, Sharon!

    Since I had one handy, I actually wore a respirator. But the diatoms are so tiny, I have no idea if it really did any good. I’m not even sure that HEPA filters catch this stuff, it’s so small.

    The important thing is to stir up the dust as little as possible. Have the cats out of the room, don’t have a ceiling fan going, have the windows shut and don’t have the A/C or furnace running. When you spread it around on the floor or carpet, if you use a broom, just drag it around, don’t brush briskly. If you do need to brush to get under baseboards, do it reasonably slowly so as to minimize dustup. You might want to wait a half hour or so before letting the cats back into the room, to let any airborne dust settle.

    There is silica in this product, integral to the diatoms; breathing a lot of it is a bad idea. If you suffer from pulmonary allergies or asthma, I’d wear a respirator. If you don’t, a lower-grade mask will probably help.

    #80548
    SharoninAustell46
    Participant

    Thanks! I didn’t know how much dust would be stirred up with the furs being resistant to sitting still for application. I’ll definitely wear a mask.

    #80549
    AngelaMotorman
    Participant

    Spacecowgirl,

    You’re doing everything right — the problem may be that you did it too fast!

    All of the systemic “top spot” flea preventatives (Frontline, Advantage, Revolution) depend on the oil on the cat’s skin for dispersal, so if you wash the cat (which you did) and then apply the stuff, it won’t be fully effective. You should check the manufacturer’s instructions to see if it specifies how much time must elapse between a bath and application, then ask your vet when it will be safe to apply another dose.

    There are two other possibilities of what could be wrong: you don’t say where you live, but there are some areas of the country (esp. east Tennessee, where I live) in which fleas have developed a resistance to Frontline. The other possibility has to do with where the product was purchased and stored. All of these pesticides degrade unless kept under temperature control. I had good success for years with Frontline Plus until I made the mistake of buying it over the internet. That dose absolutely did not work, but subsequent doses purchased from the vet did work.

    Most recently, I’m advised by our vet to switch brands occasionally, in order to avoid the resistance problem. We just used Advantage this month, and it did a much better job than Frontline Plus. I’m not giving up on Frontline, but the

    idea of switching around makes perfect sense to me in light of everything I know about pesticide use in agriculture and mosquito control.

    Good luck, and happy benadryl to you!

    #80550
    anncetera2
    Participant

    One quick note: fleas do not develop resistance to diatomaceous earth, as it works mechanically, not chemically.

    (I searched for it because my cat Lady almost died from flea treatment. After more than a week at the vet’s, and with a lot of luck, she recovered.)

    #80551
    petpntr
    Participant

    I can’t believe this. Honest to Pete I learn something new every day. Anncetera, this is really valuable information. I was going to write about giving kittens garlic because I have had luck with it not only for fleas but worms in young kittens.

    After having read this I suspect this stuff is more effective and faster. Many people don’t realize if their cat has fleas there is a good chance their house can have fleas as well and you can’t garlic up a house or it would become and Italian restaurant now wouldn’t it. The fact this can be used on rugs and upholstered furniture without harm is such an advantage. Thank you.

    #80552
    krazikat
    Participant

    Something I learned also was to leave some DE in my car. I love animals and would go take care of or visit my friends pets. A couple times we got fleas. My kitty was an indoor kitty with no other pets so I figured out that they were coming home with me somehow. I really wanted to keep her flea-treatment-free if I could, so I would shake some DE on the mat in the car to “treat” shoes I was wearing. I also left spare shoes in the car to swap before I went into the house. It sounds hypocondriac I know, but I would put any clothing straight into the laundry.(Not the laundry she was allowed to sleep in.) And of course I would thoroughly wash my hands before petting her. Once I got in the habit of using the DE we didn’t have fleas ever again.

    #80553
    petpntr
    Participant

    I think you are being very wise Krazikat for taking the precautions you do.

    Where I live my back yard backs out onto a park with lots of trees, squirrels and chipmunks. My cats are indoor cats but since I moved here I have let them come into the yard with me once in awhile. I was afraid of picking up fleas from the grass because of all the animals around. I wonder if it would be a good idea to sprinkle some of this on my own grass to make sure my cats don’t pick up any fleas.

    All opinions greatly appreciated.

    #80554

    While treating your home also run a flea comb through your cat at least once a day and dunk the fleas in the warm, soapy water and pull them out with a paper towel and let them drown. Keep combing the kitty, head to toe, ears, around the eyes (those fleas know where to go) to the tip of his tail. Until the other treatments start that will give him some relief. Good luck!

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