Fleas,Fleas and Even More Fleas!!!

[splashferret]

So I am having a Flea invasion at my house they are every were, on me, on my family, my cats, my ferrets and my dog we are all suffering from the fleas!!!
The only animals that have not gotten the fleas yet are my birds (Parakeets, Finches, Cockatiel, Pigeons, Chickens) and my guinea pigs.
What I am wanting to know is are there any plants, natural flea remedies or any flea medicine that you guys have used and know works
(we are currently using Advantage 2 on our dog but he is has some fleas)
Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Stacykins]

Once you have an infestation, all natural remedies are merely band aids on a gaping wound. You need a professional. Flea bombing is likely in your future in order to kill all the fleas completely.

 

[alldembirds]

we put good quality tea tree oil on our ferrets to help with fleas instantly, It helps dogs and even yourself but never use it on cats i have never had a reaction but it can be toxic to cats. Previous poster was right you will likely need a bomb. some plants to plant around that will help repel fleas not kill them would be mint , catnip, lavender, sage, lemon balm, rosemary, lots of other members of the mint family. they will also help repel mosquitoes

I seem to remember we had problem and my mom put a glass dish with straight sides with a little beer under a nightlight and it would capture and drown a bunch at night

good luck neighbor

 

[DonkeyJac]

The original blue Dawn will kill fleas, and we have bathed dogs and cats with it. It breaks down the oily bubble that protects the fleas in water, and they drown. Also we have used it with a nightlight over a bowl. The fleas are drawn to the light, and die almost immediately we they land in the bowl.

TSC has a few spray products that work, and aren't as toxic.

My son had a major issue last summer when he rescued a starving kitten someone dumped in front of the house.

 

[sandesnow]

We had an issue like this about 3 years ago.. It was bad.. bad. We ended up putting borax on all our carpets and letting it work in over a couple weeks. I used almost 2 full boxes of borax. (This method doesn't work for everyone, I know, but it worked for us.) For that time we all wore shoes whenever going into the rooms with carpets, or avoided those rooms all together. The more it worked down into the carpet, I think, the more it helped kill them off.

The hard floors I used dawn dish-soap and water to clean the floors daily during this time. (You have to rinse the floor after or the floors are kinda sticky ish..) At the end of 2-3 weeks, I vacuumed up as normal and have not had an issue since. *Knock on wood.*

 

[splashferret]

Thank you all for the help!!!

 

[dainerra]

and don't forget that you will have to re-do whatever method you choose in 7-10 days when the eggs hatch.

Diatomacios Earth in your carpet will also work. And it can be used on all of the animals. It will take longer if used alone because there is a good chance of continued egg laying before the DE actually kills them

 

[jentralala]

You probably have carpets if you're having an infestation that bad, so I'll tell you what we did. No matter what topical treatment we used on our dogs and cats, we were still overloaded with fleas. We had a very mild winter here in FL last year, and that summer our house was totally infested. It was so bad that some rooms we couldn't even go in without our legs being covered in fleas.

You're gonna need either borax or carpet flea powder. Sprinkle this EVERYWHERE, under furniture, inside furniture, EVERYWHERE. And rub it in with a broom. Then, wait a day.Then vacuum EVERY SINGLE DAY (you HAVE to do this, to get them out from living in the carpet. Vacuuming daily and bagging/tossing the trash is the only thing that's gonna get these buggers out. Spread more powder every month until the problem abates. Wash pets (the ones that can be safely washed) as often as possible with Dawn Dish Soap. Limit outside access for pets so they don't bring more in. Use a GOOD topical flea medication on all pets that can be safely medicated. Use a flea comb on animals that can't, frequently dipping the comb in a solution of water/dawn dish soap to kill the fleas you catch. Wash all pet bedding as often as possible, preferably daily. Wash clothes often, along with towels, rugs, sheets, etc. Anything that can be washed safely, wash it!

As a supplement, you can try an orange peel spray to spray on furniture and pet bedding.

We tried spraying the house with chemicals, but it didn't work, and it cost a lot of money. After about 2 weeks of doing the above we saw a drastic decrease in fleas, and after a month we were rid of them. Vacuuming daily (and tossing!) is KEY here, you've GOT to get those fleas and their eggs out of the carpet.

 

[MeepBeep]

Having been there and done this a few times, there are a bunch of hard work methods that seem to mitigate the problem for a while but honestly didn't 'solve' the problem... I use those as preventative...

I'm not a fan of bombing my house but I have found it the only way that really works well for me... But, with that said I get high end bombs, after trying many different brands I won't even waste my money on the cheap ones at Walmart, I get the 'pro grade' ones from a decent pet store or generally the local feed store... Make sure they have an IGR (insect growth regulator) yep the ones with IGR are costly but well worth it...

Next I always have a supply of nitenpyram on hand nowadays, you can get it very easily and very low cost on Ebay, I portion out my own but you can get it already portioned... It's a very forgiving drug so it's nearly impossible to overdose the animal... I have found the best way to administer it to my cats is to mix it in with some condensed milk, for dogs well anything pretty much works...

I give the dogs and cats their dose of nitenpyram and move them to the garage or outside, then proceed to bomb the house, I always use a few extra cans over the recommended... Next the dogs and cats are brought inside and given a bath as well as flea prevention drops... And after 48 hours I give them another dose of nitenpyram just in case a few fleas have re-established residence...

BTW if you have never used nitenpyram you are in for an eye opener, the fleas literally fall off, and I'm not joking they fall off... My cats freak out about 30 minutes after dosage as apparently the medication causes the fleas to bite like crazy for a few minutes before they die, dogs don't seem to care or notice... And it's about 99% effective within a few hours time for all adult fleas on the animal but only last for 24 hours before the animals body purges it...

And of course after bombing, I do the normal preventative measures like laundering everything, cleaning the carpets with flea and tick powder, and what not...