Indoor cats covered in fleas! HELP!!!!?

Question

We just moved into a rental house that had a bunch of dogs in it before, now my poor indoor cats are covered in fleas. The fleas also for some reason like to bite me. My feet are covered in flea bites and it sucks. I vaccum often, and have bathed the cats only one will wear a flea collar. I also use a natural flea powder on them it smels minty. And I am constantly putting DE (diatmacious earth) down on the carpet. Nothing works please help.

We just moved into a rental house that had a bunch of dogs in it before, now my poor indoor cats are covered in fleas. The fleas also for some reason like to bite me. My feet are covered in flea bites and it sucks. I vaccum often, and have bathed the cats only one will wear a flea collar. I also use a natural flea powder on them it smels minty. And I am constantly putting DE (diatmacious earth) down on the carpet. Nothing works please help.

************Sorry I forgot to mention that I add garlic to their food and I have used those drops that you get from the store,it caused one of my cats to lose his hair in that spot.

Answer 1

I'd go with Advantage. According to my vet, using it on one animal will kill all fleas in the home within 48 hours. If you have no animals that go outside one treatment should do the trick. Though I would suggest using it on all of them and possibly doing a second round of it the following month just to be sure that they don't come back. As added protection get some 7dust from the garden section of any convenience store. It's in a red bag. Sprinkle it around the outside of the home to keep the fleas away, and put a little in your vacuum bag to kill any fleas that are living in there. Change the bag after vacuuming and take it outside immediately.

PS....You can even sprinkly the Se7in Dust on the cats directly, but I wouldn't recommend inside the house.

Answer 2

First and foremost STOP USING GARLIC! Garlic is good for people b/c it shortens the life span of red blood cells, it does the same for cats and dogs however they cannot produce new cells fast enough to keep up with the sudden increase in demand which leads to anemia.

Don't use flea collars, don't use flea shampoo, don't use natural flea dust for the carpet. Do not use over the counter flea products either, I see at least 2 dozen deaths every summer from owners who used that stuff on their cats. Over the counter fleas products absorb into the bloodstream, this combined with often improper labeling lead to toxic doses which cannot be rinsed off b/c it is already in the blood stream.

The top two flea products are Frontline ( also called Topspot) and advantage. Both work very well, however advantage has a faster kill time. Apply the advantage to the cats and let them be the flea control for the house, as the closest warm carbon-dioxide emitting thing to the floor the fleas will naturally go to the cats, therefore the cats will be the flea control for the house.

As far as bathing them goes DO NOT USE FLEA SHAMPOO. It is horribly caustic and has no lasting effect what-so-ever. Use dawn dish detergent, it is mild and safe for the cats and will kill the fleas. All shampoos can kill fleas but flea shampoos are awful and I refuse to sell them at either my hospital or my pet store.
Good luck

Answer 3

You're not using any treatments that are likely to work. Powders, collars, garlic - all pretty outdated and ineffective methods.

You need to pop into a vets for some proper treatment. Frontline, Revolution, Advantage - all excellent spot-on treatments that, if used regularly, will keep fleas off your cats.

Cat and dog fleas always bite humans. They will live both on your cat and in your carpets - you need to get a housespray to treat your home with. Once you have got rid of the current infestation, you should use Frontline Plus every 6 weeks - it's the best treatment available at the moment as it treats both the environment and the animal.

Do not use ANY store bought products - you're lucky hair loss was all your cat experienced.

Chalice

Answer 4

Bathing the cats will not help since fleas live in carpet and now your furniture. Plus over the counter meds are poisonous to pets as well as fleas. DO NOT USE ANY OVER THE COUNTER PRODUCTS...this includes that flea collar. the flea collar can poison your cat and the radius that it covers is about the head and shoulders-that is why it's not working. Flea collars are a waste of money. You need to get a perscription from a vet for advantage or another cat friendly medication. These are easy to use and will work. As mentioned...DO NOT use over the counter medications...my cat almost died on me due to one of the products who claimed to work better than advantage. Since fleas are already in your carpet and furniture, suggestions would be to either be patient while the advantage works on the pets-they will eventually get on your pet and die...or remove your cats COMPLETELY from your house (have they boarded) and treat your entire house with a flea bomb. The only thing is that you'll have to wash everything that your pet may come into contact with after its use since again-it is a poison. GOOD LUCK!

Answer 5

You need to pick up flea medications from your regular veterinarian for your cats and thoroughly clean your household. Vacuuming the carpet is not enough. You need to shampoo the bejeesus out of it with a product that will kill flea eggs. You might want to look into a professional service.

Also, wash any furniture, bedding (including your own), and anything else you have that is fabric because those areas are where the fleas lie their eggs.

Flea collars do NOT work. They only repel fleas around the neck area, which doesn't really do much good. Look into getting a topical medication such as Revolution from you regular veterinarian.

Answer 6

To start with I wanted to say it could be an allergy to the fleas. My youngest female recently had an allergic reaction to the fleas she had got in the hot weather in the summer and was covered in scabs and I took her to vets and a small injection cleared them up for her and I started using a stronger flea treatment on my three cats. However the one thing that stops me from thinking it is an allergy to fleas they may have had, even if they are gone, is the fact that it is all six of them that have the scabs. What do you use on the dog, for example any cleaning products? has the dog got any scabs anywhere? Mites could be another reason as they are contagious. Unfortunately I think a trip to the vets is probably your only way of knowing 100%. Most allergies need treatment though. Maybe take just one cat, of course, to the vet to start with to see what is wrong.

Answer 7

Go to ebay and get some advantage. When my cat had kittens, she ended up getting fleas, and the kittens were too young to take the advantage, but by just giving the mom cat the advantage, the fleas died on the kittens. If I were you, I would get some and put it on my cats, then get some carpet flea powder, and vacum it up. That should take care of your flea problem. ebay has advantage for very cheap prices, and the sellers usually wave the shipping fees. Vets in your area should also carry it. You should be able to just get a single dose of it at your vets. I pay 11.00 a tube.

Answer 8

go to the vet and get flea medication for the cats. flea collars do not work. ask them what products to use to flea bomb your house. do not bring the cats back into the house until it has been treated. since its a rental, ask to take the cost of the bombs off your rent or you can report them for not maintaining a healthy living environment. fleas drink blood, they dont care what kind of blood they drink as long as its blood so they are going to bite you, and any other warm blooded thing in that house.

Answer 9

get real flea medicine, not powder, go to the vets and ask for it, you dont have to pay for a visit, just walk in and say how many you need. then put the cats in the garage or something and set of 1 or a few flea bombs. thats poision, take the pets out first, and make sure your treating your pets regularly. this is not fun for them either. so, do the right thing, and do the job right. get the advatage or advantix or whatever ya like, and bomb the place.

Answer 10

For an all natural alternative, buy some brewers yeast tablets at a health food store or Wal-Mart. Crush them into a powder and rub into your cats fur. Also, mix some into some wet cat food. It helps alot and will not harm the cats. It worked for me.