posted
I think I got Bart from dozens of flea bites I got just because the cat's flea collar didn't work. We ended up with a mild infestation and we tried carpet powders, sprays, etc. Nothing worked and I was the only one getting bitten and eaten alive at that. We ended up using 2 flea bombs, opening windows, and leaving our house for a day to let them work and not breath the stuff in. Don't let fleas get out of hand. They can really cause one to become sick.
Posts: 319 | From Mass | Registered: Feb 2010
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lululymemom
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 26405
posted
If you have pets, you must treat the pets first. There is a good product called Advantage that you put on the back of their neck. The vet will sell it to you in individual doses no need for an appointment. It really works fast in stopping the spread of fleas and their eggs.
I also believe I got Bart from flea bites.
Once the fleas were killed on the pets there was no longer an infestation in the house. I never spray bombed or used any other products.
posted
Yes Lulu, we got the Advantage before we used all the other things to get rid of the infestation. We kept the cat in with the Advantage on and I continued to get eaten alive. I guess it depends on how many fleas are in the home and how much of the house is filled with them. Thanks.
Posts: 319 | From Mass | Registered: Feb 2010
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canefan17
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 22149
posted
I want to bomb our apartment - how long can the toxic fumes linger around?
Posts: 5394 | From Houston, Tx | Registered: Aug 2009
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posted
I haven't done that in years since we no longer have pets.. but I think the can says 4 hours minimum to be out of the house.
I'm so afraid to go to my inlaws for Christmas because they had fleas in the house this summer. They are elderly and weren't taking care of the cat. They said the flea collar "wasn't working" so they removed it and that's ALL they did!
bombing is the best thing .. but the toxicity .. I don't know
-------------------- --Lymetutu-- Opinions, not medical advice! Posts: 96222 | From Texas | Registered: Feb 2001
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posted
I'm not sure, but the ones we used said either 6 or 8 hours to stay out of the house. We stayed out a day and when we came home, there was no smell or anything. No one in our house got sick from it or anything. It worked right away on those buggers. Just be sure and open all the windows that you can and leave them open while you're gone. It is so very important that your animals be treated along with the bombing also, as Lulu said.
Posts: 319 | From Mass | Registered: Feb 2010
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posted
Scrubbing tile floors with a very strong bleach solution worked for me. The fleas were reproducing in the cracks between the tiles. You could actually see them jumping in the sunlight.
Posts: 160 | From Mid-east USA | Registered: Jan 2010
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GiGi
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 259
posted
Our "healthy" very nice neighbors bombed their house for dog fleas.
No one who lived in the house at the time of the bombing (they stayed out of it several days) was alive 10 years later. Father died within five years. Daughter (around 40) thereafter, and mother lived with quick onset dementia/alzheimers for another few years and recently died.
We used to own an oriental rug which was sprayed in the eighties. Since it was an heirloom, I kept a small 1x2' piece destroying the rest. I washed the piece in the washing machine. Some fibers from it were recently tested by AIllergie Immun and the toxin was still in it. My husband was allergic to the spray toxin in 2010 until treated for it by AI.
Be careful.
Posts: 9834 | From Washington State | Registered: Oct 2000
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posted
I wonder whether Orange Guard, also known as TKO Orange in concentrate form, could work. It's d'limonene, from oranges, which is nontoxic to us, but kills bugs - melts their exoskeleton.
It can be put in a spray bottle and diluted, then sprayed everywhere. Smells like oranges, takes a half hour to clear out. It's biodegradable so would have to be reapplied as needed, I think.
Orange Guard can be found in hardware stores and healthfood stores, and the TKO Orange online.
Posts: 13116 | From San Francisco | Registered: May 2006
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Tammy N.
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 26835
posted
Many years ago we once briefly had fleas. I vacuumed every single day. And where there was carpet, I coated it with baking soda and let it sit for an hour or so, then vacuumed. (make sure the fleas don't crawl back out of the vacuum hose). It was a long time ago so I can't remember for sure, but I must have vacuumed the couches also.
Also, use the flea comb on the pet twice a day. And wash their bedding every day. When using the flea comb, I always had a small bowl of water nearby, so if the comb caught a flea, I just plunged the comb into the water and flushed it. Otherwise sometimes the flea can wiggle loose.
I would try to avoid bombs. You're in a tough spot. I feel bad for you.
Good luck! Tammy
Posts: 2238 | From East Coast | Registered: Jul 2010
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NanaDubo
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 14794
posted
I've had pets all my life and I swear, after my elderly cat is gone - that's it.
May be best to just not have pets - I've read in several places and heard from other people that Advantage damages the pets CNS eventually.
Has to be something better than that to use.
Posts: 1129 | From Maine | Registered: Feb 2008
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posted
YES! My niece used it and they put it all over their house. They bought a house that was infested... I think it got that way after the pets left with the people.
They finally took out the carpets and refinished the wood floors. I think they just didn't want to deal with it.
-------------------- --Lymetutu-- Opinions, not medical advice! Posts: 96222 | From Texas | Registered: Feb 2001
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posted
I have found Frontline works GREAT for me. We have cats and dogs..ughh but I cant help it I love the little critters (:
(I often wonder if I got my co-infections from the cat scratches)
Anyway, I have heard of Advantage (and it being good) but one benefit of the Frontline over Advantage is that it not only kills the fleas but ALSO the larve (the unhatched eggs).
If you kill the live fleas but dont get the eggs you'll just have another outbreak when they hatch.
Good luck
Posts: 423 | From Virginia | Registered: Nov 2009
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lululymemom
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 26405
posted
Although Advantage flea drops do not destroy the eggs, it does destroy them once they molt into larval fleas. At this stage in the flea's life-cycle, it is still not feeding from our pets and is unable to breed.
So, although initially the residual flea eggs will continue hatching, the population are quickly destroyed. In the long term your home should become completely flea free, including flea eggs and larvae, within three months of switching to Advantage flea medicine
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