Cat Fleas - Bombing the House With Polystone...

[WetaWork]

Had to bomb the house due to potential spread of cat fleas. I spent my weekend treating and vacuming the carpets and upolstry, washing linens, clothes and securing the house for spraying, taking cats to the Vet, shampooing the cats, treating them with Frontline gel, etc....

Here's hoping my collectibles will be ok. I was afraid the chemicals would react with the paint on the statues so I put plastic garbage bags over all the statues and sealed my display cases with blue painter's tape. I had to take all my vintage movie posters off the walls in my home theater.

I told my wife, no more pets after these 2 cats croak!!!!

What a pain in the arse...

Then I think of all the hurricane victims and realize what a minor inconvience this really is...

 

[gabberjawa]

Good luck!

 

[FrodoEyes]

Animals get on your nerves, but then you remember you have more good times with them than bad. They're humourous and entertaining, and apparantly they help you live longer as you're more happy!

 

[Beruthiel]

Isn't pet owning fun? I've had fleas invade my house 3 times in 20 years of breeding cats. Not fun at all. Of course, using advantage faithfully and keeping the cats indoors will save you a whole lot of headaches you know. Just a little advice for anyone that has animals here. Now, back to the football game.

 

[WetaWork]

Yeah, these are indoor cats so we don't know how they got fleas. we are both clean freaks so this comes as quite a surprise. These cats will definitely get their monthly treatments this day forward...Personally, I don't care for pets but my wife and daughter love them... oh well.

 

[The Josh]

Your poly should be ok if you sealed it really well like you said.

Yeah, these types of times can be annoying but in the end having my cats and dogs are well worth any trouble. Most likely you, your wife, or your daughter brought them in from the outside. Animals don't have to be outside as you know now to have this happen.

In my life I've notcied something to be very true most people that truly like/love their pets tend to be some of the kindest and coolest people around. The opposite can be said for those that don't like/love their pets.

 

[Beruthiel]

In my life I've notcied something to be very true most people that truly like/love their pets tend to be some of the kindest and coolest people around. The opposite can be said for those that don't like/love their pets.

This may sound a little weird,but I've learned over the years to basically judge people on my cats reaction to them when they visit. In my chosen breed, Orientals, these cats are extremely people oriented and a really good judge of the quality of of the person that enters their domain (my house). If no cats appear to meet and greet a visitor, almost always, that person never returns to my home. My cats are definitely a barometer for me in judging people and I hope I am never without some of them around to help my in my judgements.

One good thing about bombing the house for fleas though. It gets a thorough cleaning by the time you are done and that is always a good thing right?

 

[Bodie The Cursed]

If you want to take care of the cats I'll loan you my pitbull..

 

[Beruthiel]

Bodie. you should like cats. They are great butt sniffers!

 

[The Ugly Uruk]

Animals are great! I have had them my whole life. I know where your coming from, we had to bomb before too. Not fun at all. I have 2 big dogs and 4 cats right now. My dogs are a Samoyed and a Husky. Both are big talkers that love everyone. You are right about them being good judges of people. They know right away. I can't imagine what it would be like to come home and have nobody maul me upon opening the door. Seeing as how we will never have kids, our pets have become our kids. We had to put 2 cats down about a year ago. Smokey was 18 and started to get renal failure. Cochise on the other hand was an odd one. He was only 8. He started acting weird one day, laying in odd places and just generally not looking good. Took him to the vet where they took x-rays. When the vet came back in I could tell right away something wasn't right. They said upon looking at the x-rays nothing was where it was supposed to be. The internal organs were all goofy and there was nothing to be done. That was really hard. They went only 1 month apart. About 2-3 months after that we went and got the 2 orange and white terrors. Brother and sister born in some bushes. My wife always wanted an orange and white. The guy had 9 orange and white kittens born in his bush so we took 2. Here's our kids now.

Argyle and in the back is Holmes


Dax


Seven


Yukon


Kitty

 

[Bodie The Cursed]

Bodie. you should like cats. They are great butt sniffers!

I like cats.. I've had several.. Just offering the services of my dog who doesnt care for them... He's a good butt sniffertoo by the way..

 

[The Josh]

B I'm with ya on that. My cats and dogs are a great indicator of people as well.

Great pics TUU. Very sad story though. We had something just really odd happen to the cats we used to have. They all went within a few months of each other. They stopped eating and two vet offices and an animal hospital, and a major university vet school couldn't figure out what was wrong.

Here are pics of my cats and dogs.

My Puppies

The bigger one is Jordan the smaller one is joy


My Cats

Inferno


Jewel


AJ


Gracie

 

[RoboDad]

WetaWork, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but if you have a flea infestation, bombing won't eradicate it. And believe me, I speak from experience. We just finished getting rid of a major infestation at my house a couple of months ago.

The problem with bombing is that it will make the problem go away for a while, but then it will resurface. This is because during the pupae stage, fleas are impervious to all known forms of insecticides, and they can remain in that stage for up to 6 months (some claim the period to be longer, but I have my doubts). Bombing kills any eggs, larval and adult fleas, but leaves all of the pupae behind. And for every adult flea you find, there are at least 10 pupae out there, somewhere, waiting... The only truly effective way is to fight the war on multiple fronts.

First, you need to be religious about treating your pets. Frontline is very effective, and comes in two forms, the monthly oil application, and a weekly spray. You should consider using both for maximum effectiveness (it is completely safe for your pets, just don't use the spray during the same week you apply the oil).

Second, you need to treat the environment on a regular basis (a more "surgical" approach, rather than bombing), using one of the available anti-larval sprays. If I remember right, we used Sergeant's Gold spray. You will need to spray everywhere that your cats spend any time, giving special attention to places where they sleep/nap, and under chairs, sofas, and in corners. This needs to be done on a weekly basis at a minimum.

And third, you need to learn to love vacuuming. Vacuum any carpets, rugs, and upholstery in areas where your pets have been, at least twice a week (every other day is best). And, of course, keep any hard floor surfaces swept every day.

If you keep this regimen going for a couple of months, and then continue treating your pets with Frontline once a month, your problem will be gone for good.

Oh, and as for how they got there, it's simple. Someone you know has a pet with fleas (either they don't know about it yet, or don't know how to effectively treat it), and a pregnant female hitched a ride on your clothing after you visited them. One pregnant female is all it takes to cause a severe infestation.

 

[WetaWork]

Thanks for the reply. That's what I read when I did my research on the internet.

We are doing exactly what you described. Attacking the problem from all fronts, ...the pets, the pet's environment and frequent vacuming.

I only brought up the bombing as it was relative due to the fact that I had to cover the statues.

 

[CAhobbit]

Something that worked for my mom when she started having a flea problem in the house was to use 20 mule team Borax. Put some in a plastic bag, poke some holes in the bag and shake onto the floor (especially near base boards). Walk around on it for a couple of days (that gets it into the carpet) and then vaccum your floors. The Borax dries and destroys to flea eggs. And since the borax has been ground into the depths of the carpet then it keeps doing it's job of destroying those fleas eggs for a LONG time to come.

And of course start bathing your pets in a good flea killing shampoo quite often for the next few weeks.

It's been 4 years and my mom hasn't had a flea infestation problem since.

Of course you'd want to test the borax out on a piece of carpet in a corner just to be on the safe side (when it comes to possibly runing the carpet). My mom has a green/blue carpeting and there were no issues with using borax on it.

 

[Beruthiel]

Very good advice CA. Actually, any soap will kill the fleas. But, the eggs are another story. First target should be to bathe the cats, flea shampoo isn't really necessary and some can be harmful to the cat and to dose with advantage. Then bomb the house and when all is clear to come back in, vaccuum well and do the detergent thing like CA said. I would recommend repeating the bombing in about 2 weeks though and in the meantime, vaccuum a lot!

 

[Nemo Nint]

Suddenly I realize how glad I am to not own cats (but I still like'em!)

And just as suddenly as that, I realize how dangerous it is now that I live in a place (the house) where there is a cat.


Sounds like quite the adventure, this treatment task. There was an infestation in my appartment (which happens to be a rather large, entire, top floor of a large house) of fruit flies recently. Normally 1 or 2 don't bother me but one morning I woke up and there were like 40 all swarming in my kitchen area. Took a while to get them to all die off! I'm glad they're gone now.

Fortunately I didn't have to do any polystone related tasks, but good luck indeed, WetaWork!

I wouldn't mind taking care of some of your vintage movie posters while they're down!

 

[Gruff Old Bear]

Pets and polystone

This is for anyone who gets this problem. I have a menagerie of beasts around here -- a pair of cats, a couple of dogs, and some tortoises outside. I'm surprised that any pet owner isn't using a monthly topical flea control like Advantage or Frontline. Both can be purchased now at pet supply stores as well as through veterinarians. It may seem expensive since you buy it in three- or four- month supplies, but if you do it at the beginning of the month, you can forget fleas, and avoid other (more expensive) problems. If your cats go outdoors even a little, they'll pick up fleas from the ground -- and you may track them in on your pants cuffs. Do you have squirrels in your neighborhood? Then you've got fleas. They spend most of their time in the environment, and hop onto a host when it's time for a meal.

If you've already got an infestation, there is a very effective product that won't damage your polystone, provided you have carpets rather than bare floors. I can't remember its name (I've been using a monthly control product for years now), but it's a powder you sprinkle in the rug and leave in for several days. It's basically a salt, and like the Borax it kills the fleas by drying them out. I'll bet a Google search will find several products like this. It takes a few days to work, but once it settles into the carpet it doesn't completely vacuum out, so it goes on protecting, even drying out flea eggs. (If you've ever used a powdered carpet cleaner like Capture, which is available at Home Depot or Sears, the bucket size comes with a great spreader that would be easier than a punctured baggie.)

If anyone reading this is resigned to bombing, for God's sake don't use more cans than the label indicates for your cubic footage and TURN OFF all pilot lights. Otherwise you'll lose your polystone and your house.

The only problem my animals give my collection is from shedding. I have to dust anyway, so it's not a big deal. Ditto what everyone else said about animals. You live longer with friends.

Can you imagine Frodo not loving a cat?

 

[crazytrain]

Flea control

Couple of points re fleas:

1. For preventing further infestations one of the best things out there is "Program" - there is an injectable form that is used every few months or an oral treatment (paste or tabs) given every month. Essentially its the contraceptive pill for fleas - if a flea takes a bite it gets a dose of the drug and the drug prevents any eggs that are laid from hatching. Saves all the hassle of trying to treat every square inch of the house (which is, frankly, impossible)
2. Whilst the use of spot-ons and sprays together is in theory okay, just a word of caution. I'm a veterinarian and I regularly see cats that have been overtreated with flea stuff. Essentially these drugs are a very dilute form of chemical warfare and the side effects are nasty (neurological symptoms primarily - in its mildest form, it just looks like the cat is spaced out ). Cats are (obviously) much smaller than most dogs, hence it is relatively much easier to overdose them. Just use a monthly spot-on (Frontline or Advantage) with Program and you'll soon get rid of any flea problem.

 

[RoboDad]

The only problem is that many veterinarians for some reason have still never heard of Program, and won't even look into it. I read about it when we had our infestation, but could'nt get any doctor in our area to even do any research, let alone actually get the drug for us.

But of course, you are right, that is the best treatment, and it does completely break the flea lifecycle, since no eggs can hatch, hence no more pupae will develop.