UGH! Fleas! Help!

[acid_chipmunk]

Quote:
I have been using Borax for years and have never had a problem, but on your advice, I googled it. I found nothing that says it is harmful to animals. Please don't confuse Borax with Boric acid, they are two different things, and the latter is harmful. Borax is about as harmful as table salt.

http://chemistry.about.com/od/howthingsworkfaqs/a/howboraxworks.htm

I still stand by my comment. If used properly, Borax is as safe as table salt. Keys words there are IF USED PROPERLY. When I put it on my carpets, I shut my cats in the bathroom until I have it vacuumed up. I only use it in the living room and bathroom. I used it in my laundry detergent and to clean my toilet.

Anything you come across can be harmful to you. My cat is 7 and has absolutely no health problems and I have used the Borax on the carpets every year she went outside and got fleas. I have since stopped letting her outside, so no more need to Borax the carpet. The vet told us to use it, instead of the chemical sprays on the carpets since we have kids.

 

[caspernc]

ok, 10years with a country vet in nc. it has always been the same. fleas start out side and hitch aride inside either with the animal or people. SO you treat the outside, the pet and the inside and you will be done. the frontline ect. ONLY works if the outside and the inside are treated to suport it! that has been THE problem! there is NO support! one treatment can not solve the problem. any one treatment can be overwhelmed! IMHO i love vet-kem products. sorry for the product name but i do love the product....i am not a rep....just a faithful consumer!!!!! you use the frontline orwhat ever you usedto like then you use the vet kem premise spray and the yard spray. all in the same week...optimal the same day. in colder climates wait for a warm up in the spring for the outside, but you can still treat the indoors and the animal. a flea egg can live up to three years in a dormant state.
the problem has been the reliance on frontline or what ever on just the animal. fleas live in the cracks of the woodwork and under the carpet so if you have a hatching the fleas want the animal....they have no taste for human..but...they wil bite use to survive.
pet, living area and yard. you HAVE to have total flea control.
we have had people say they were ready to burn the house and when we put them on a program it is like night and day.
P.S. vet-kem is pymetherin, the flower i can not spell, lol

 

[redhen]

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Whats safe to treat the outside with if you have animals that eat your grass..(such as geese and chickens)...

 

[mississippifarmboy]

well, I'm not sure if I'm sorta smart or just really bad stupid, but the one time we moved into a house with fleas we just used...




salt.

yep, plain old everyday salt. Sprinkled it on the carpets, vacuumed it all up a couple of days later. Never had another problem.

 

[kathydoolittle]

We where infested with them forever. Frontline no longer makes the spray bottle. I got a capstar pill for each of my chihuahuas. A frontline treatment. And a spray can of stuff called knock out at the vets. Came home and used it all. And now we are flea free yeah. Hope this helps

 

[Cat Water]

Our house gets fleas every once in a while from our outdoor cat. We just treat the animals an they go away. And yes, they were in my bed and in the carpet and everywhere. We just put Frontline on the dogs and cats and we haven't seen one flea for a few months.

 

[acid_chipmunk]

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Frontline still makes the spray bottle, you can find it pretty much all over the internet and I found it at my local vet. I don't use it on my cats, I use it for mites on my chickens.

 

[Sportsterjeep]

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Whats safe to treat the outside with if you have animals that eat your grass..(such as geese and chickens)...

If you want natural for outside, I'd go with DE (diatomaceous earth). Many on here use this in there pens to keep mites and such under control. If they eat it, it won't hurt them. Kinda acts like a natural wormer if they eat it.

 

[Nicola]

Quote:
Whats safe to treat the outside with if you have animals that eat your grass..(such as geese and chickens)...

If you want natural for outside, I'd go with DE (diatomaceous earth). Many on here use this in there pens to keep mites and such under control. If they eat it, it won't hurt them. Kinda acts like a natural wormer if they eat it.

Just make sure its the food grade DE

 

[AK Michelle]

Quote:
My vet told me a loooonnngggg time ago to use the borax. it's the same active ingredient that the commercial companies use and it's safe for babies and pets. A box ($3.25 on the laundry additive aisle at the grocery store) will treat the whole house. I sprinkled liberally on all the carpets, on the bare mattresses, couches and everywhere the dogs or cats laid or slept. I also dusted some into the beauty bark outside the front door.

Wait 1/2 hour and vacuum it up. the borax gets ground into the carpet by the vacuum creating a gas that kills the fleas and the eggs. Treat every two weeks for 2 months, then just every 4 - 6 weeks. I had 3 outdoor dogs and 4 outdoor cats, and I never ever had a flea in the house once I started this routine. The borax is odorless although it is also a deodorizer so it does double duty there. Some will be in the furniture and carpet, but not where you can see it and it won't harm humans or pets.

I chose not to use any other flea treatment on my pets but because they would roll and sleep in the treated areas the borax gas would be on their fur and they did not get infested when they were outside.

There are no fleas in Alaska (except the ones that come up in peoples freight and they don't survive the winter, but when I lived in Washington I never broke my routine.

Good luck.
Michelle