Request: Ridding a House of Fleas
Archived on 03/29/2008
How do you get rid of fleas in the basement when that is where the cat lives? That is also where the laundry room is.
Donnis from Missouri
Answers:
RE: RIDDING YOUR HOME OF FLEAS
Spray with old fashioned soap and water. Safe for humans and bathing pets also safe for wood floors, but must be mopped up after drying. Try ivory snow or castile or fels naptha. Soap, no detergent. Tip from knowledgeable chemist.
fran merrill
(02/06/2005)
By FRAN MERRILL
RE: Ridding a House of Fleas
A product called Garlic Barrier http://www.garlicbarrier.com/ may help. I've had no experience with it but their website says it will repel fleas in the yard but will have to be reapplied throughout the flea season. I would hesitate to use it indoors due to a possible lingering smell. This is marketed as a safe, organic spray for crops to repel insets and may also be fed to animals to help repel fleas systemically. You could contact the company for more precise information. Maybe a combination of the soap cleaning inside (the tip from the chemist) and this garlic spray outside will do the trick for you. (06/20/2005)
By Seagrape
RE: Ridding a House of Fleas
Saw this somewhere online. Get a night light and turn it on at night. Put a small bowl of water with a few drops of dish soap in it. They are drawn to the light and go swimming. The soap keeps them from getting out. Make sure young ones are asleep at night before you do this. Remove in the morning. (06/21/2005)
By Judie
RE: Ridding a House of Fleas
My daughter was one when i experienced the same thing. I vacuumed everyday at least two or three times. It took about 2 weeks, but it worked. i didn't have to use any harmful chemicals. (06/21/2005)
By Brandice
RE: Ridding a House of Fleas
Question - are these dog/cat type fleas or sand fleas? If dog fleas - dip dogs or whatever to stop them there and then spray yard - like someone else said vacumn a lot. If sand fleas, basically same treatment except that dogs probably will not be covered in them. Sand fleas (at least my experience with them) was that they bite humans mostly around the ankle - they live in the ground (and will accept carpet as ground!) and jump up - take a bite - and go back to ground thus ankle biters! We used foggers for the sand fleas. (07/01/2005)
By Karen
RE: Ridding a House of Fleas
Regarding feeding garlic to your pets:
Please read this for the safety of your dogs and cats, thank you. It is important information about foods to avoid to prevent illness.
"Spring 2004
Toxicities In Dogs and Cats
While many of us like to occasionally give our precious pets the odd treat here and there, it should be remembered that these tasty morsels, and other things commonly found around the house, can actually affect the health of your pet. There are many, many foods, plants and other drugs that can cause nasty diseases if consumed by your pet.
Foods that are commonly associated with toxicity in dogs and cats include chocolate, onions, grapes, garlic, and macadamia nuts to name just a few. Obviously many of these foods can be given to animals without seeing any immediate side effects, but in many cases ingestion of large amounts of these foods, or small amounts over a long period of time, can cause ill health. Chocolate, for example, contains the compound theobromine that when consumed in large amounts causes clinical signs such as vomiting, diarrhea, tremors, seizures, hyperactivity, and ultimately can result in death. Onions have long been known to be toxic to dogs and cats, causing anemia (low numbers of red blood cells) and weakness in animals that consume it. Grapes, raisins and sultanas have only recently been reported to cause toxic effects, however the clinical signs of grape toxicity were quite severe, causing kidney and liver disease and in the worst cases, death. Garlic, when consumed over a long period of time can cause an anemia like that caused by onions. The easiest way to avoid causing harm to your pet is to avoid feeding them foods that they would not normally eat. This does not mean that we have to avoid giving our pets the treats they love, it just means that we should select a treat that is more appropriate for them, such a doggie chocs (which lack the toxic agent that is present in human chocolate) or liver treats.
Some plants can also be toxic to cats and dogs. Tiger Lillies have been reported to cause acute (sudden onset) renal failure in cats, and daffodil bulbs when consumed can also have nasty side effects. Tea tree oil and aloe vera have also been reported to cause toxic effects. Aloe vera can cause vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal pain when consumed. These side effects are not usually seen when aloe vera is used on the skin (such as in shampoos) although they may be seen if the animal licks an aloe vera based product off its skin. Again, the key to preventing these toxicities in your pet is to prevent them from gaining access to potentially toxic plants, and if you have any questions ask one of our vets.
There are also some products that are commonly found around the house that can cause toxicity to dogs and cats. Lead and lead-based products (such as paints) can cause disease of the nervous system and gastrointestinal system if consumed or if animals are in contact with the lead based substance for long periods. Paracetamol is extremely toxic to cats and should NEVER be given to these animals. The side effects of paracetamol use in cats include swelling of the face, poor oxygen carrying capacity of the blood and ultimately death. No human medication should be given to an animal without discussing it with a vet as there are many differences between humans and cats and dogs, so where you think you may be helping your pet, you may actually be inadvertently causing them harm. Snail poison and rodenticides (rat and mouse poison) are also toxic to cats and dogs, and can even cause toxicity if your pet eats the dead rat, mouse, snail or slug. The easiest way to prevent harming your pet is to keep all chemicals and drugs away from them, and if they do happen to come into contact with any of these chemicals, then contact your vet immediately."
Quoted from this site here:
http://www.compad.com.au/clients/gladesvillevet/indexPrev.php?updaterUrlPrev=articleDisplay.php&artId=153 (07/08/2005)
By Anonymous
RE: Ridding a House of Fleas
I used to pay a lot of money for Flea Busters to come in and rid us of fleas. I found out that what they used is basically salt. You must give the house a very good vacuuming first. Then put a box of salt in your blender and grind it till powder like. Sprinkle with a salt shaker around the perimeter of each room. Place it close to the walls so you pets won't walk in it. It will take a large shaker and a lot of patience. Do NOT vaccuum for 10 days. Also place powder under furniture cushions. After you vacuum - discard the bag. This treatment works for a whole year.
You'll only have to do this once a year. It's VERY inexpensive and it WORKS (07/23/2005)
By Annie
RE: Ridding a House of Fleas
The only TRULY effective way of ridding your house of fleas is to stop them which can only be done by eradicating them. Give your animals flea medicine and spray your home once to get rid of them, if you effectively kill them on the animals as they get there, you will have no fleas, no eggs and no worries, that is what the current flea medicines are for and why they were developed. I fooled for years with everything on the market, sprays, collars, home remedies, bombs, etc. As I said the only TRULY effective remedy was the development of the current flea meds and if you are going to cry that "they are not safe", then you will have to put up with the fleas. (07/23/2005)
By fauxpaslover
RE: Ridding a House of Fleas
I don't like to use harmful chemicals. I have used both the salt and the light over a pan of soapy water. It got rid of the fleas. It's not an overnight thing but it will work. I would use these before I would put chemicals in my house or pet. I've heard that feeding the pet garlic also works but I haven't tried it myself. (07/24/2005)
By Ann
RE: Ridding a House of Fleas
Do any of the natural remedies work? I am hyper sensitive to flea bites and have to cover my legs to hide the sore spots. In the heat of the summer it can be so uncomfortable to wear tights to work w a dress! It's not just me suffering. Kids stay at my home for extended times and I go out of my mind trying to keep them comfortable.
Here are some UNSUCCESSFUL tries; lavender oil/citronella oil on cotton balls tucked in our bedding, lavender oil applied to the skin, cat mint and lemon mint stuffed in mesh potato sacks under the beds; plastic, repellent infused pins on clothing(produced by a company in CA-money back guarantee that I didn't follow up on) also later tried pinning these to bedding, carpet sprays from the pet department of a local super store, a full gallon sized jug of Bayer Advanced Home claims to kill fleas and has a 9 month residual protection-now that I've read the info from this site in particular the BEST yet from U of K feedback I understand why the Bayer product didn't work. Active ingredient Cyfluthrin 1%, the other 99% water! Will call Bayer to see how they back this up tomorrow. Something tells me I will first have to convince them that I did read and follow thier instructions. Of course I did I desperately need a solution to a problem. I used this gallon up in about 3 weeks combined w vacuuming 2X a day. The vacuum was placed outdoors away from the house while still on to avoid dropping anything back in the house. Bags disposed of. Bedding has been washed w bleach for extra measure. Misc. fabric items like stuffed animals, decor pillows, extra rugs n blankets bagged up n moved out of living area.
And, yes they do seem to survive on tile and vinyl floors. (I thought carpets only needed sprayed.) With the Bayer spay I worried over the amount of spray used even though it says safe once dry...I just don't like the idea of spraying repeatedly so much of our living area. But these bugs are driving me crazy and so I kept spraying.
Like others who have written in we're saying the same things...Its difficult, and frustrating. I have a tidy home. What will work?! Oh, AND I HAVE NO PETS! We do have itinerant animals in our neighborhood. We live in a city, but again as others have said the critters are here too. I find squirrels in abundance in my potted plants and on my porches, raccoons in my shrubs, possums in the garage and on the roof (I did trim the tree branches back from the roof) rabbits run trough yards like squirrels, and lately have seen a ground hog looking rodent on my porch (not the same as the possums) Have removed the welcome mats from my porches as it seems possible the critters could leave fleas on these and we would then track them indoors.
At night have tried mentholated Ben Gay type products, the $ store version works fine. We apply from the knees down and this works while sleeping. Purchased Off spray on protector for outdoors but didn't read the fine print until home-- Use only outdoors and wash off skin once indoors. Though I did spray my socks and pant legs several times through the course of a day and was comfortable for the day.
I Am disappointed to read that cold weather only makes eggs dormant until next spring. Someone might suggest a professional service at this point. Have read about the family who used Terminex with follow up visits no results and their source was itinerant animals. Any suggestions on keeping the wildlife away from my house. The 'coons, bunnies, and rodents wander up to the porch any time of day, they're not afraid of people.
Does anyone know if the fleas can be starved out? As in we leave our house for so many days until they starve. Any new ideas? Please let me know of anything you've actually tried and had good results with. And thank you for your time if you've stayed w me this long! (09/18/2005)
By SANTA-SISTER
RE: Ridding a House of Fleas
Prevention is the best way. Use frontline plus early in the spring and keep using it until about October. I have 8 cats and dogs and moved into a new house invested with fleas. Nothing worked but Frontline plus. (04/21/2006)
By Katmommy
RE: Ridding a House of Fleas
The are great suggestions however many are dangerous or do not work. 1. Garlic is perfectly safe for dogs but only in minute amounts for cats. It also does not work on it's own, must be combined with brewers yeast.
2. Spot on type treatments are very dangerous for you and your pets. Anything applied to the skin is absorbed into the blood stream in 2 minutes. So this includes the dangerous pesticides you absorb when you pet the animal or it rubs off around the house.
3. For those of you that tried essential oils, you tried ineffective ones and probably not 100% organic, steam distilled, therapeutic grade, oils. Lemon grass is the most effective followed by eucalyptus radiata (the most common eucalyptus globules is toxic). You can use 1 drop of pure lemon grass oil as a spot on treatment once a week. Do not use any essential oils that are not Rocky Mountain or Young Living, they may injure your pets as they are not real essential oils.
4. You must kill all the fleas in the environment. Mix 1 box borax or boric acid and 20 drops lemon grass. Sprinkle this on every square inch of your house. And leave for at least 3 days. Longer is better. 4 You must treat the yard. Buy nematodes that kill flea larvae, at your local nursery, and or spread diamectous earth through your whole yard.
5. Most important. Healthy pets naturally repel fleas. Stop feeding your pets junk. No corn, wheat, grains, soy, by products, etc.. feed only real meat and vegetables. If you fallow all these steps you will get rid of your fleas and not use any harmful chemicals. Which as you all have proven , do not work. For these as many more helpful pet hints. Visit www.abundantlifeessentials.com Beth Dupree DVM (08/22/2006)
By Dr Beth
RE: Ridding a House of Fleas
I heard advantage put on a dog will rid them of fleas for up to at least a month. I am trying that. Going to try a spray in the house and was all bedding. Will that take care of the fleas? (08/30/2006)
By Mark
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