Help! Fleas won't go away and I am stuck in a lease until fall 2007! How do I get rid of them?

Question

In October I moved into an apartment with two girls, one a friend, the other a stranger. The roommate I didn't know personally had not been treating her two cats for fleas. I was getting bitten by what I assumed to be spiders (I have never encountered fleas, the signs were not obvious to me) for a month before I wised up.

I have done everything I could think of to rid the apartment of fleas, with little help from my roommates: I have vaccummed the entire apartment, mopped, covered all the corners with IGR flea powder, washed all my linen, and we have fumigated the apartment twice with two different types of foggers--one specifically for fleas. My roommate has Advantaged the cats. After a two week absense, the fleas are back.

I want to get an exterminator but my roommates do not want to pay for one, and the cats are illegally hiding in our apartment so they are afraid to draw suspicion. One other thing: we do not have a carpet, only hardwood. What should I do?

Answer 1

get the idiot hu is not treating the cats to give them garlic this will kill the fleas and wont go back.

Answer 2

I have had up to 15 cats and 3 dogs living in my house so I know what I'm talking about. If the cats no longer live in your home flea bomb it once a week for 3 weeks. Make sure you have a bomb in every room. Don't use the cheap stuff. Use raid. It is the best. The fleas keep coming back because of the eggs but if you bomb once a week they will die before they can make more eggs. If you ever have cats move back into your house use advantage on them a couple of days before you let them in it will keep the fleas from coming in on the cat (or dog). If the flea problem is really really bad I would bomb once every month and a half after initial treatment. I have 5 cats and 3 dogs now and no flea problem.

Answer 3

Well, they are not your cats, so the roommate who owns the cat has a choice: pay for an exterminator, get rid of the cats, or move out. Tell her she has to make a choice. You are getting bitten by fleas and it is her fault. The reason the fleas are back is that the eggs on the cats have now hatched. One more time with the flea bombs and the fleas should be gone for good. Make that roommate help you.

Answer 4

Go to a pet store and purchase Diatom Dirt, it's about 14.99 and you put the dirt (it's like a fine fine powder) on the carpets and the furniture and the mattresses. Rub it in and then put old sheets over the furniture mattresses and leave this Diatom Dirt on it for about ten days then you vaccuum it up. It works really well, I even swepted and scrubbed with floors with it. Use gloves and wear a mask until it settles down, put the animals into another area so they won't get sick from it. It kills the eggs as well as the fleas thats why you need to let it sit for 10 days, just follow the directions on the bottle. The dirt is amazing but don't be fooled because it says its a natural product. I didn't use a mask first time and my tongue was numb and my hands. Scrub your floors, and when you vaccuum (the furniture as well as the carpets be certain to empty the vacuum bag and clean the vaccuum outside. It took time but I won the battle, my neigbour's cat had them and they moved from one apt to another, What a pain they were. Good luck. And tell the roommate its' cruel not to treat her cats monthly with a VET approved flea medication, they really suffer as well.

Answer 5

This is the best thing I have found that worked for us. Buy some night lights....plug at least one in every room(close to the floor). Then, get some kind of containers that are low to the floor. Used small butter containers are good...you can just toss them out later. Then mix any kind of dishwashing liquid and water. But in containers, then place them right below the night lights. The will gravitate towards the light...and will end up in the water...and they can not jump back out. You may have to change the water and soap every week, depending on how many fleas you catch. I am agsinst any kind of chemical in the house. This works on carpet as well as solid floors. But also bathing the cats is a great idea.

Good luck!

Answer 6

Frontline is the best flea treatment available for cats.
You need to go to the vets and ask for a spray to treat your house, it cost about £15 but is very good. ( shop bought treatments are not great). Also foggers do not get into cracks, skirting boards etc. the spray from the vets treats the whole flea cycle, eggs etc and will work for 12 months.

Answer 7

First of all, bathe the cats either in Dawn dishwashing liquid or Seargeant's Flea and Tick Shampoo (both are cheap and work wonders on eliminating fleas). Next go to the vet's office and buy a bottle of $12 flea spray called "ovatrol" or something like that. Spray the cats down with that, then spray the furniture and any cloth items that cannot be washed in the washer. After this, put flea collars on the cats. You'll probably want a bottle of Febreeze for the smell... that stuff is powerfully strong smelling.

Answer 8

You may have to remove the cats for a while and unfortunately re fog the entire place again...leave all bedding and drawers open and wash items about 12 hours after fogging...as eggs need to be fogged to be killed....the wash cycle doesn't kill them...also this summer we moved to the country and were bothered by fleas....I used a flea shampoo to soak laundry in....I'm not sure if this will help....but it may be cheaper to just get someone in and exterminate....check the advantage too...as sometimes the animals need treating more frequently in extreme infestations...

Answer 9

Is your apartment on the ground floor? Is there a crawl space under the hardwood? Also, Advantage sucks, use Frontline MONTHLY, do everything you did once again and vacuum EVERY week or even twice per week. If there is a crawl space under your house there may be wildlife or feral cats under your place that are harboring the fleas. If that is the case, then you need to call your landlord to have THEM trapped and removed.

Answer 10

Flea bomb the house. One in each room and clean dishes after you air out the house. Then in two weeks do it again the same way, or you will have fleas again(there eggs hatching).To be on the safe side do it once more two weeks later. Remember that the flea eggs hatch after two weeks and you need to kill any fleas before they lay more eggs. Treat cats with Frontline, or get rid of them.

Answer 11

You need to let the apartment staff know, it is their job to rid the fleas. If that doesn't work give everyone notice that you can not live with fleas and tell them why. I would say 3 notices in writing. Then go to the court house and get released from your lease. You can get any deposits you paid back.