Getting rid of fleas: Part II?

Question

So, kitty snuck out of the house and came back with fleas. After posting a question on answers, I went to the vet and they gave me Capstar, which was supposed to kill the little buggers within 30 minutes and then Promeris, which is a preventative medicine lik Revolution that goes on her skin to prevent reinfection. Neither worked...kitty still has fleas and the are getting worse since I can see them hopping around. I was thinking about bombing the house, but I am five months pregnant and nervous about doing so. The hubby is frustrated. He hates kitty to begin with and wants to try Heartz products (flea bath/flea drops), but I am nervous about doing that because I have read a lot of horror stories about their products. Have you used a medicine that actually worked? Do you know of any "natural" remedies to get the fleas out of the house? I know they lay eggs and whatnot. I have vacuumed, dusted, and sprayed orange essential oil (read somewhere that might help), but no luck.

Answer 1

Hartz has toxic products, the internet is full of lawsuits against that company.

Spend $10 and get Advantage from the vets, that'll kill fleas on the cat and not hurt the cat.

There was JUST an article on Yahoonews today about how vaccuum cleaners kill 99% of fleas vaccuumed up, the pull of the suction does a great job, much better than anyone thought it would do, they had to repeat the experiment multiple times because the kill ratio was so much higher than anticipated--so get out the vaccuum and use that.

Answer 2

I have never heard of Capstar or Promeris. All I have ever used for fleas on my cats (long haired and medium haired) is a product only available at the Veterinarian's Office. The product is Advantage. I prefer it because it kills 99% of fleas within three minutes. I have put a cat filled with fleas in a cardboard box and appled Advantage and all of the fleas were attempting to jump off but they all died on the bottom of the box. There were hundreds and hundreds of them. Front Line Plus is known for its' ability to kill larvae and will stop flea eggs from being hatched two weeks later so it should not be a problem if you ask your vet if you can use Advantage to kill all of them and then use Frontline Plus later for the two week later flea egg hatching. I would be interested in the vet's response. I will look up Capstar and Promeris. I promise.It is also a good remedy to use the pet flea bombing ensuring that when you do press the button on the flea bomb(put it on top of cardboard with newspaper on it so it won't fall over). no cat or person is there. Put it in as many rooms as the bomb indicates it covers. Make sure all windows are closed securely.Immdiately after flea bombs spray is released, get outta there with all animals. They should be outside already in cages or safe outside before using the bomb. After the waiting time indicated on the product,immediately open all windows before letting animals back in (at least 20 minutes) since their sense of smell is greatly heightened compared to ours.

Answer 3

I am sure you are aware, but for others who may read this topic, I want to bring up the dangers of over-the-counter flea medications like Hartz. My friend gave Hartz flea drops to her cat, and it almost killed him. If a cat has a bad reaction to the stuff, it happens within a few hours. They get siezures and drool uncontrollably until they die. It is horrible. If my friend had gone to bed early that day, she would have lost her cat. Please do not use these products on your cat. If grooming and bathing do not take care of the flea problem, it is time to cough up the extra money and get a prescription treatment like Advantage. By the way, it is very important to take care of fleas because not only do they make your pet miserable (how would YOU like being eaten by bugs all day long?), they carry tapeworm eggs and will almost always infect your pet, which can be very dangerous or even fatal. Do the right thing. You would never give your child an inexpensive medication that kills a small percentage of children every year. Do not do the same thing for your pet.

Answer 4

Advantage for cats is the best I think. To get them out of the house, you really do need to do a flea bomb. I know you are scare, but they will not die until you use the flea bomb. Hear is a plan for you. Have someone set the bombs off in the morning and you go shopping or out for the day, then when you come home the flea bomb should be done in a matter of few or more hours. After that I would have the carpets cleaned, and clean the whole house. And if you don't get ready of them, you could actually get them yourself.

Answer 5

They have a hard exoskeleton, and if it's cut they will die. Put Borax on the floors. This cuts their exoskeleton and they die pretty instant. The chemical is harmless to you unless eaten, so make sure kitty doesnt try eating it. (although that might make your hubby happy if he did.) Then, simultaneously use the hartz products(they worked for me) and do this every other day, because once a flea bites kitty it immediately lays a dozen eggs. Keep vaccuming, but put flea powder on the floor first. Vaccuming them only traps them in the vacuum. they can get out. If they are in their with the powder and borax they will die. The strongest harts flea meds are the small tubes that you put like one or two drops on kitty a day. All these items may come out to about 20 bucks, but its worth it. Good Luck!!

Answer 6

I swear by Advantage. Using it for over seven years on three animals with no sign of fleas ever! Unfortunately, I understand why you'd be nervous about bombing while pregnant, but I don't know of any other way to get rid of the buggers in the house. Good luck!

Answer 7

One product that i have used with success is a lawn and garden product called 7 dust> I would sprinkle it into the carpet and broom it in and sprinkle the yard starting at the House and work your way out. So you drive them away from the house. Works on fleas and ticks. It is even safe to put on dogs but I don't know about cats. It does dry their skin which was great on our oily skinned saints. But also used it on our other dogs.

As I think you are aware. the fleas and ticks feed and then drop off into furniture,carpet,lawn to lay their eggs so you can suffer another bumper crop later.

luck

Answer 8

Try Advantage for the cat - it kills fleas and keeps on killing. For the house, try a flea killing powder in the rugs and furniture; flea bombs are useless and just stink up the place. You'll want an area treatment with an insect growth regulator; many vets and some pet stores carry them.

Answer 9

We use advantage, but you are going to have the bomb your house. Vaccuum really really well before and use one of those heavy duty flea and tick bombs. As long as you don't hang out in the house with the bomb going off, you'll be fine.
You might want to get kitty wormed too. Fleas when ingested sometimes cause worms.

Answer 10

Read carefully: A D V A N T A G E.