how do you get rid of fleas????

Question

i have 2 puppies and 2 cats. we're infested with fleas!!! i've tried front line, advantics, baths, sprays, fogged the house, flea collars-but i can't seem to get rid of them! i haven't bathed the cats-mostly because i enjoy having skin on my arms, the cats pretty much stay upstairs and the dogs down. cats are indoor cats. any suggestions about what else we can do? also does a spray "for cats" work on dogs too?

Answer 1

if you are having a flea problem bathing the animals isnt going to be all you need to do! Its going to take some time to get rid of them.
First you need to get the animals (all of them including the cats!) onto some kind of flea killing meds. this will kill the live ones on them, bathe them and comb through with a fine toothed comb (like you would for lice) this should get rid of all the unhatched eggs.
Secondly you need to treat your house! this is what is going to take the time. Fleas lay their eggs in the carpet down too far for your vacuum cleaner to get. you are going to want to bomb your house to kill the ones that are already out and about. Once you kill them remember there are still flea eggs that are unhatched. How flea eggs work is they will stay unhatched until they feel pressure (from you or the animals walking on the carpet) and hatch. Then your problem starts all over, so this is a process you MUST repeat every few days! (the carpet bombing and vacuuming!) i would say a 2 week time of this should do the trick.. good luck, fleas suck! I heard they were really bad this year. I bathe my Bella often which keeps the fleas down.

Answer 2

We have water traps in use at the moment - it gives you an idea of how successful you are being! We think we're winning!!
A dish of water left on the landing and in the hall, with a low table lamp left lit beside it all night. A drop of washing-up water in the dish breaks the surface tension.
The fleas are attracted by the light and heat - they jump in the bowl of water and drown!
We were catching around 30 a night in each dish - now down to about 7 a night!
This is the first infestation we've had in something like 12 years (house cats only - we think the fleas came via open patio doors from outdoor moggies during the summer) and didn't think to keep an eye on the resident cats because they never went out and didnt wear flea collars, so the insects became well established. It's been a bad year for fleas infestations.
Keep up the frontline, flea collars and vacuuming.

Answer 3

You have to get different sprays for the different species, DO NOT use one meant for dogs on cats or vice versa.

Collars and baths don't work - if you bathed the dogs within 48 hours before or after applying the spot-ons, they won't work.

Stick with the Frontline, Frontline Plus if you can. Make sure it gets on the animal's skin, NOT their fur. It's also important you treat your house, because this is where most of the fleas are living. Get a decent spray from a vets.

Chalice

Answer 4

I also had the same problem last fall and I tried everything spent tons of money nothing seemed to work till a woman at the vet told me to use Borax cleaner and sprinkle it all over your house where ever the animal lays sleeps...etc and under the furniture basically everywhere than bathe your dogs and use the spray on the cats and you can wait 1 day and vacuum all the borax stuff up!! It works miracles I have 4 dogs and 1 cat and I had a heck of a time but now all I use is borax!! You can find it @ Walmart. Good luck to you and your furry friends!!

Answer 5

A long time ago when our house became infested with fleas, my grandmother placed a shallow dish of Dawn dishwashing liquid under a chair that our pet frequented. Then she took one of those bendy-neck desk lamps and directed the light over the dish. The fleas thought the heat was coming from an animal/human and jumped right in the dish. Each day we just emptied the dish until the fleas were gone. It only took a few days max for them to all be gone. If you have heavy infestation I would suggest multiple traps. PS. Use Original Dawn. No bleach or scrubbers.

Answer 6

Make a bath full of really warm salt water (very salty). One at a time, put your animals in there to soak. That should kill alot of the fleas. When they are done soaking, wash them thoroughly in Dawn liquid soap. wash them once a week, until the fleas are gone. You need to put flea and tick dust in your yard to kill the insects outside. Bomb your house with flea and tick killer every week for a month. If your problem is from letting your dogs in the house, you need to stop letting them in. They can bring things in that are harmful to your health. To wash a cat, is nothing. Grab them by the scruff of the neck and hold them in the water. When your wash them be calm and gentle. Keep a firm grasp on their neck. You may have to wear protective gloves in your case.

Answer 7

First you have to go and see a vet......

If u already saw the vet and they told u nothing then u should wash it everynight until they go away. There is also a certain type of shampoo you should use for fleas.

Let me know how everything works out !!

Answer 8

try to give them a bath or go to the vet or some1 that knowes about dogs and they will tell u