Fleas!!!!!

[attackferret]

I just found a flea on my dog. Which means that there are little flea eggs everywhere in my apartment. He's had medication (sentinel in the colder months, interceptor and frontline in the summer) since I got him (1 1/2 years ago). Where did the fleas come from? The only thing I can think is that my roommate's dog (who is now living at her parent's house again) didn't always have flea medication. Nemo got whipworm, once, which they said wasn't medicated against because it was rare and only came from eating fleas. That was over a year ago! I figured he's eaten one outside. Could we have had fleas in our apartment for that long and not noticed? Also, has anyone sprayed for fleas in their abode before? Are there any alternatives that actually get rid of fleas, short of throwing out all the carpeting and the furniture and washing everything else in insanely hot water?

Sorry, that wasn't very well constructed.. I'm just a little overwhelmed right now.

[herbi]

Whoah, nelly! Before you start talking about spraying, etc, how 'bout you see if you can find any more fleas on the dog? Take a flea-comb to him, concentrate on the rump, behind the ears, etc, see if you catch any more or if any "flea-dirt" (ie pooped-out dog-blood) shows up. A single flea doesn't necessarily mean your whole house is infested. It might just mean a single flea jumped on your dog outside somewhere, and the only reason you found it was because it was trying to get OFF your anti-flea-treated dog. If you find more (plural) fleaS on your dog or your roommate's dog, then you can start worrying about your course of action, but take a deeeep breath before you freak out about A flea!

[lex_talionis]

Maybe the flea was dying from the stuff on him, and you just saw him before he was dead and in the carpet.

When we bring in strays, sometimes they are really flea ridden and we worry about an impending infestation.

We get a bunch of boxes of salt and sprinkle it all over the floor in the entire house moving furniture to get under stuff.

Then the other person is going behind the first with a broom, sweeping it so it really gets down in the pile.

Then we leave it as long as we can (it feels sick on your feet and is hydrophilic too).

After a day or longer we do a quick vacuuming to get up most of it so it feels better.

Then we repeat the process in two weeks. Then repeat in two weeks. Then repeat in two weeks. Then really vacuum the hell out of the house to get all the salt up.

It's a big pain in the ass, and uses a lot of vacuum bags, but it has always worked.

[kimmysoo]

Throughout the years my dogs have always been on Sentinel too. Maybe once or twice a year I'd find a flea on Jasper. I never worried about it cause as I understand it, Sentinel doesn't kill adult fleas, it simply makes it impossible for them to breed... I think. So finding one (or a few) fleas isn't necessarily cause for alarm. I never did anything other than picking the flea off and throwing it out the door... we never had an infestation and I never noticed a problem. Hope that helps! Good luck whatever you decide to do!

[attackferret]

Thanks! I think I like your opinions much more than I like the woman at the vet's office who told me I definitely needed to spray the house

I've.. uhh.. calmed down a little now, and I think that what you guys are saying makes a lot of sense. I've just been around dogs all my life and this is the first time that I've actually seen a flea. Maybe I just wasn't paying enough attention before. So, yes.. herbi, I think I'm going to take your advice and get a flea comb (the local pet store is right next to the recycling center, and I needed to get my recycling out today anyway).

Lex Talionis, thanks for the idea about the salt!! If I do turn out to have some sort of flea infestation (which, now that I'm a little more rational, I doubt), then I'll definitely try that method first.. I loathe the thought of 'flea bombing' my apartment.

You guys rock!

[herbi]

good luck!

[Tracy G]

We had a flea infestation once, and in addition to treating the dog, we sprinkled diatomaceous earth on the carpets. That took care of the problem.

[shedonteatmeat]

Originally Posted by lex_talionis Maybe the flea was dying from the stuff on him, and you just saw him before he was dead and in the carpet. When we bring in strays, sometimes they are really flea ridden and we worry about an impending infestation. We get a bunch of boxes of salt and sprinkle it all over the floor in the entire house moving furniture to get under stuff. Then the other person is going behind the first with a broom, sweeping it so it really gets down in the pile. Then we leave it as long as we can (it feels sick on your feet and is hydrophilic too). After a day or longer we do a quick vacuuming to get up most of it so it feels better. Then we repeat the process in two weeks. Then repeat in two weeks. Then repeat in two weeks. Then really vacuum the hell out of the house to get all the salt up. It's a big pain in the ass, and uses a lot of vacuum bags, but it has always worked.

We do basically the same thing, but we use Borax powder. Works great for us.

[misanthropy]

I've never had to spray the house with hardwood floors or carpeting. I just bathe the critters in a tea tree oil or citronella based pet shampoo and comb. Then I use a natural repellent on them. I vacuum the carpets or floors and empty the bag right away and toss outside. My dog Shadow isn't on Sentinel or anything like that (just regular heart worm pills during the summer).

The only time I've ever had to resort to using an insecticide was last summer when we rescued 6 cats (mama & 5 kittens) who were infested and thus infested our other animals. We didn't spray the house but we did use a little bit of Advantage on all of them.

[lolamako]

Ive heard that putting borax powder on your carpets does work great but that it is not the best thing when you vacume and it all gets airborne into your lungs... though it cant be much worse than advantage....(which I use and hope that they dont have a reaction)

[lex_talionis]

We used to use borax, but as we are nearly pathological worriers about the cats and safety, especially re chemicals (even though NaCl is a chemical too), we decided to use the salt.

The fear about the borax is not based on anything, but cats are just so damn delicate about things that they might eat or soak up through their skin.

[shedonteatmeat]

Originally Posted by lex_talionis We used to use borax, but as we are nearly pathological worriers about the cats and safety, especially re chemicals (even though NaCl is a chemical too), we decided to use the salt. The fear about the borax is not based on anything, but cats are just so damn delicate about things that they might eat or soak up through their skin.

Hmm...I had always heard that borax was totally safe. No you have me wondering. Google, here I come!

[attackferret]

http://infoventures.com/e-hlth/pestcide/borax.html

This is data for acute toxicity in humans:

"Reported effects: Symptoms of poisoning include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal pain. In children, swallowing 5 to 10 grams can cause shockand death. Borax is rapidly absorbed through damaged skin."

Most data that I found (looking at EPA stuff, though, admittedly, I didn't read all of it) was for subchronic to chronic exposure, which you wouldn't be dealing with. I think, just as long as your no one is licking the floor. If they are, though, it may be good to switch to salt.

Bottom line: Borax is essentially safe just as long as you don't eat it.

[shedonteatmeat]

Originally Posted by attackferret Bottom line: Borax is essentially safe just as long as you don't eat it.

Thanks attackferret! Appreciate the info. Glad to know the borax isn't much of an issue (for us), we don't use it often- but maybe once a year we'll spot a flea and since both of our cats have bad flea allergies, we have to take care of them quickly. I think I'll try the salt next time though, out of curiousity.

note to self: no licking floor!

[attackferret]

well, I've found a couple fleas on Nemo every day since posting this... and today I got a fleabite on my ankle! boo!

As a result, he just got (yet another) bath, and I'm going to try the salt carpet treatment tommorow. Wish me luck!