Any suggestions for stopping a flea biting you?

Question

My son just spent 3 weeks in hospital and we stayed with him the whole time so my Mum came over to feed our cat and let him out and so on. But in that time the cat got fleas and my Mum did not realise as she was coming straight to the hospital every day so the fleas have had the run of the house!!! I have now spent £70 on treatment from the vets and I am still finding live fleas and the little critters have got a taste for MY blood! How can I make myself less tasty and how do I get rid of them?

I have treated the cat and the whole house twice!

Answer 1

bite the flea back!

Answer 2

What have you used exactly, on the animals and in the house? A spot-on presumably - Frontline, Stronghold? Did you make sure you got it all on the skin of the cat, not the fur?! A common mistake! Frontline is a bit hard to get all on the skin because it pools and floods on to the fur, you have to put it on to a few different spots to avoid this.

Which spray did you use for the house? Indorex, Acclaim, Staykil? These are good, but sometimes you have to spray again after 2 weeks, to give any remaining eggs time to hatch out so they can be killed.

Don't think there is a way to make yourself less tasty - possibly eating large amounts of garlic could help! But the only real way is to get them off your cat and out your house.

Chalice

Answer 3

Ooooh I know how miserable it can be when the fleas LOVE you!
You've got to do three things - treat the house, treat the cat and treat the yard.

Sounds like you've already treated the cat, so you'll need to concentrate on the other two.

The absolute best way is to have a professional exterminator come and treat your house and yard. Around here, they offer a guarantee and will re-treat for free if the first round doesn't get the little b-stards.

It can be expensive, but at what cost is your sanity?

If you want to try something yourself, and is less toxic, get some powdered Boric acid and sprinkle it liberally around the areas where your cat goes - carpeted areas, couch, chairs, etc. It could help a little bit.

Answer 4

[edit] For the home
Combating a flea infestation in the home takes patience as for every flea found on an animal there are many more developing in the home. A spot-on insecticide, such as Advantage, Frontline or Revolution will kill the fleas on the pet and in turn the pet itself will be a roving fleatrap and mop up newly hatched fleas. The environment ought to be treated with a fogger or spray insecticide containing an insect growth regulator, such as pyriproxyfen or methoprene to kill eggs and pupae, which are quite resistant against insecticides. Frequent vacuuming is also helpful, but you must immediately dispose of the vacuum bag afterwards.

Even though organophosphate-based insecticides are still sold as flea collars, flea powders and flea shampoos, those are not recommended. Many strains of insects have become resistant against that class of compounds, and they display an unacceptably high level of toxicity against mammals.

Diatomaceous earth can also be used as an effective home flea treatment in lieu of acetylcholinesterase inhibitory treatments or insecticides which carry with them a risk of poisoning for both humans and animals. Diatomaceous earth absorbs lipids from the cuticle, the waxy outer layer of insects' exoskeletons, causing them to dehydrate and can be purchased at most gardening suppliers or online. It can then be evenly distributed around the house (especially in corners and near furniture) with any type of shaker (salt shaker, spice shaker, etc.) and then vacuumed away after about 7 days. Diatomaceous earth also has the added benefit of killing many other types of insects that might be residing in your house.

Answer 5

Eat garlic. I was reading up on natural ways to get rid of fleas as I have 3 children in my house and would prefer not to make it a toxic environment with a bunch of flea killing chemicals. I guess fleas hate garlic and the taste of it gets in your blood when you eat it. It's not safe to feed cats raw garlic so don't give it to your cat. Fleas also prefer the least healthy living thing in the house so try improving your health anyway you can.

Answer 6

Theres nothing you can do to stop them biting. I know, I lived in a house were the previous owner had 15 casts and flea problems. You can prevent them, just use those flea bombs you get from stores and if you have carpeting vacuum regularly. Next, as for your pets, get them flea dipped regularly and have them wear flea collars until... no more fleas. This wont happen overnight, it took about 1 week for us to get rid of the fleas completely and only 1 flea dipping to get them off our dog. Also, if your case is like mine was, the previous person who lived there had the fleas, you should not let your pets into the yard if their pets had fleas and played in the yard, the fleas lie dormant w/in the grass. I know, bcz after we flea dipped our dog and used flea bombs, we let her play in the back yard and ooppps! The jumped onboard and got in the house again. Thats when we put the flea collar on, and didnt let her play in the yard and then, no more fleas.

Answer 7

sprinkle table salt on all cloth/fabric/carpeted surfaces. Wait at least 8 hours then vacuum. Repeat in a week if you see more fleas (it can't kill the eggs, just the fleas). The fleas eat the salt, get dehydrated and die. Also treat your yard by sprinkling the salt in the yard and leaving it. I've had great success with this inexpensive and non-hazardous method.

Answer 8

you dont want to stop the fleas from biting you and your family, you want to be rid of the fleas....


the fleas are in your home...even with treatment on the animal to be free of fleas, fleas are still in the home...

i have lots of cats and no fleas in my home..how...i swear by this product ...raid flea killer...sold at walmart and other stores..its a purple can...made for carpets..pet beddings and furniture....you will need a few cans...spray all carpet, furniture and bedding....let sit for a few min...then you must vacuum everything....when done you will need to dispose of the vacuum bag. you will have to repeat this process for about 2 weeks, repeat in 2 - 3 days...each time remembering to dispose of the vacuum bag...until no more fleas. you may even have to spray your car.

repeating is to get the eggs that are in the house and keep them from hatching.

you will also have to get a lawn pesticide, also at walmart.

Answer 9

Try getting flea spray at a WalMart or something

Answer 10

try ebay for advantage treatments, much cheaper. they dont seem to like rubbing alcohol but i wouldnt try that on an animal...advantage is much more effective.