Best product for ridding a house of fleas????
Discussion
Morning all,
Despite regular applications of Frontline (which no longer seems to work), my wife's cat has managed to leave us with a house full of horrible, sexist fleas! I don't know why the fleas are sexist, but my two boys and I are covered in bites, whereas my wife and daughter don't have a single one! Maybe it's because the cat was female?
Anyway, the cat died last week, so whilst we don't need to worry about a replacement for the now useless Frontline, we do still need to get rid of the little biting b
ds from the house. What product would people reckoned for the purpose?
Despite regular applications of Frontline (which no longer seems to work), my wife's cat has managed to leave us with a house full of horrible, sexist fleas! I don't know why the fleas are sexist, but my two boys and I are covered in bites, whereas my wife and daughter don't have a single one! Maybe it's because the cat was female?
Anyway, the cat died last week, so whilst we don't need to worry about a replacement for the now useless Frontline, we do still need to get rid of the little biting b
ds from the house. What product would people reckoned for the purpose?There's a spray which you can get from your vets - they'll know the stuff.
You need to follow the instructions and treat your whole house - soft furnishings, the lot. Otherwise the eggs in surfaces such as carpet pile will hatch sooner or later and you'll have more fleas. It's a PITA but the only way, as far as I can tell.
Or you could try wearing a flea collar yourself?
You need to follow the instructions and treat your whole house - soft furnishings, the lot. Otherwise the eggs in surfaces such as carpet pile will hatch sooner or later and you'll have more fleas. It's a PITA but the only way, as far as I can tell.
Or you could try wearing a flea collar yourself?
Frontline stopped working for us too. Our vet has stopped selling it and moved to Stronghold for the cats, and he's given us something else entirely for the woofer.
As for getting rid of them from the house, don't waste your money on anything you can buy from the petshop. Go to the vet, buy Indorex. Make sure you get it into the nooks and crannies, round the edges of the skirting boards, etc. Oh, and hoover obsessively.
My theory is that they bite everyone but not everyone reacts.
As for getting rid of them from the house, don't waste your money on anything you can buy from the petshop. Go to the vet, buy Indorex. Make sure you get it into the nooks and crannies, round the edges of the skirting boards, etc. Oh, and hoover obsessively.
My theory is that they bite everyone but not everyone reacts.
If the fleas are in one room these are the ones you need
http://www.pestcontrolsupplies.co.uk/fumers-and-fo...
You can't re enter the room for a good six hours but those foggers kill everything
http://www.pestcontrolsupplies.co.uk/fumers-and-fo...
You can't re enter the room for a good six hours but those foggers kill everything
bexVN said:
Argh. Just wrote a massively detailed reply and phone crashed before I sent it!!! Will try again later, no time to do it again right now!!
Ok will try again!Indorex is good but it does stink. I prefer Vetkem Acclaim, much less odour, can buy it online from boots. Your vet will do a decent house spray.
For maximum benefit
1. Vacuum house, top to bottom, nooks and crannies, hot spots (fleas love warm and dark) furniture and curtains and yes they can survive in wooden floors.
2 Empty vacuum bag or dyson into a bag, spray bag with house spray then chuck out (do not spray in new vacuum bag or in dyson chamber)
3. Spray the WHOLE house, start on the worst rooms then do rest. Spray lightly but thoroughly everywhere. Vet kem is safe in house with children etc but it is dangerous to fish and birds.)
4. Wait 24/48hrs then start rigorous daily vacuuming. The full effect of the spray will take up to 3 weeks. By vacuuming not only do you remove debris that the flea larvae feed on you stimulate the almost impenetrable eggs to hatch. Vetkem will last a year if done properly.
5. Prob not necessary now as it's hot already but heating the house also stimulates eggs to hatch out again speeding up the effectiveness of the house spray.
There is a product called Skoosh, no pesticide it is a silicone sprays, one of the few that claims (or at least used to) to be able to kill the eggs before they hatch. It only lasts 6 weeks but if no pets this may be sufficient. It does make hard surfaces dangerously slippy for a while as it coats surfaces. It is safe to use in the kitchen.
Finally re Front line. I still use frontline combo and find it effective, however we have changed to Advocate as our main line treatment due to poor response with frontline for many. If you used Frontline from pharmacy, pet supermarket etc, it would not have had any environmental protection, this may have worsened the problem. If not and you used it we very month without fail then it obviously wasn't working!
Hope the above tips help, any questions feel free to ask, this is a daily conversation at work for me and has been for over 20 years!!
Edited by bexVN on Monday 15th July 00:22
When I last moved house, the people who had lived there had a cat and I found a few fleas in the house so presumed they were living in the floorboards (old victorian house). The place got hoovered to death, every surface cleaned to within an inch of its life and so on. I then got some of the Flea grenade things, set them off in most rooms, fogged the whole house and we went out for the day. When we got back, the place was hoovered again and never had any signs of anything since. This may not be as successful for a fully furnished house, but the fogging spray stuff seemed very effective....I sure as hell wouldn't want to be in there!
The fogger bomb things are great! We have 2 cats but don't usually have a problem as they're both treated regularly. Last summer we went away for 2 weeks during the UK hot days...got back and the house was alive with fleas. We got some of the foggers from the vets and attacked the house. Thankfully we've not had any since.
I posted in the Caturday thread but basically they jumped off him after a dose of Frontline and infested the house. I was given the RIP stuff by the vet and I've nuked the house, but still plenty appearing in the water traps I've left. Is it just not working or will it take time to kill them all?
How long ago did you use the spray?
Fleas spend 95% of there life in the environment. They only jump on the cat to feed. The eggs are hatching very quickly at the mo due to the weather which is why an infestation is now occurring but the eggs could've been lying dormant for upto 6 months. That can take a while to get back under control.
Fleas spend 95% of there life in the environment. They only jump on the cat to feed. The eggs are hatching very quickly at the mo due to the weather which is why an infestation is now occurring but the eggs could've been lying dormant for upto 6 months. That can take a while to get back under control.
Edited by bexVN on Thursday 18th July 11:27
bexVN said:
How long ago did you use the spray?
Fleas spend 95% of there life in the environment. They only jump on the cat to feed. The eggs are hatching very quickly at the mo due to the weather which is why an infestation is now occurring but the eggs could've been lying dormant for upto 6 months. That can take a while to get back under control.
Last 2 days, they appeared in numbers the day before. Made my own trap using an oven tray and spotlight which has caught a good 20 or so per nightFleas spend 95% of there life in the environment. They only jump on the cat to feed. The eggs are hatching very quickly at the mo due to the weather which is why an infestation is now occurring but the eggs could've been lying dormant for upto 6 months. That can take a while to get back under control.
Edited by bexVN on Thursday 18th July 11:27
The spray will prob take a couple weeks to take full effect (I know Acclaim does) thorough daily vacuuming from now on in will help reduce numbers (unless rip spray says otherwise)
Keep treating your cat every month with Frontline COMBO or if already using this one change to Advocate or Stronghold (both only available from vets or online with a prescription)
Keep treating your cat every month with Frontline COMBO or if already using this one change to Advocate or Stronghold (both only available from vets or online with a prescription)
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