Fumigating house

[terestrife]

Dont know if this is the right place to post this. My sister is looking into fumigating the house for bugs (ants/roaches etc). Does anyone else do this? Are we meant to evacuate the house?

Not even sure where i would take my cats.

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi! Maybe contact a couple of fumigation companies and see what they say? I personally wouldn't want to stay, or have my cat exposed.

 

[Kieka]

When you fumigate the whole house is covered with a tent and all living creatures have to be elsewhere. You have to sign a paper and do a walk through with the foreman to make sure nothing is left behind.. Usually all food stuffs have to be out of the home, cabinets and drawers opened. My house was fumigated about a year ago, we stayed in a hotel for a few days while the cats stayed with my vet. If I remember right, its 48 or 72 hours that you have to be out. I left the cats at the vet for a day while we aired out the house to make sure all the fumes were gone. We also cleaned all cooking utensils, plates, etc and put everything back before bringing the cats back. I didn't try to find a cat friendly hotel because I had to go to work and I don’t trust the hotel staff to not accidentally let out my cats while I am gone. Plus Rocket sprays when stressed and hotel cleaning costs for that would have been crazy.

There are treatments that you don't have to leave the home for but they aren't as effective or last as long.

 

[fionasmom]

Absolutely make sure what you want done and what the company recommends. The word fumigating usually means that a tent will be put over the house. Anything in the house will die, including houseplants and rats (some people do it with the intention of ending a rat infestation as well as for termites). You basically have to do what Kieka is saying. I also agree that a pet friendly hotel is okay IF you are sure that the cats will not get out and lost in an unfamiliar area.

Not to scare you, but one of my cousins had an indoor/outdoor cat and decided to fumigate/tent the house. I never knew the story until after the fact but she thought that the cat would be fine outside for a few days, which in theory he might have been. However, he decided to crawl under the tenting at night for warmth and they found his dead body the next day.

 

[terestrife]

I think its just a friend of my nieces boyfriend. I am not sure its an actual big company. She seems to think we'll only need to be out of the house for a few hours. I will ask her to see what she says. Just not sure where to take my cats. My cat Kitty freaks out in the car.

They said they want to fumigate every 3 months. So i dont think its the tent.

 

[Furballsmom]

You could maybe try some calming treats and also sprays, for the carrier and car-- Only Natural Pet has a spray called Just Relax.

 

[terestrife]

You could maybe try some calming treats and also sprays, for the carrier and car-- Only Natural Pet has a spray called Just Relax.

i bought some feliway and it seems to work a bit the last time we had firework sounds in the neighborhood. I just havent tried it for a car trip.

 

[fionasmom]

Find out if they are tenting and even if they are not, what precautions you need to take. The size of the company does not matter and all sorts of mom and pop pest control services do fumigating.

 

[terestrife]

Find out if they are tenting and even if they are not, what precautions you need to take. The size of the company does not matter and all sorts of mom and pop pest control services do fumigating.

thank you, i'll make sure to do that.


thank you to everyone else too!

 

[Talien]

They said they want to fumigate every 3 months.

Even if it's just a couple guys with sprayers or foggers you still need to remove every living thing you want to continue living from the house and stay out for 24 hours (at least I think that's the minimum, I might be wrong since it's been over 30 years since we fumigated), and once you get back home you need to thoroughly clean any surface that is used for food, you need to wash every plate, dish, bowl, and every piece of silverware, and clean every drawer and cabinet that contains them. And it's really best if all appliances are unplugged and the doors on the fridge/freezer are sealed with a double layer of duct tape to keep the pesticide from getting in.

And that was just from using flea bombs my parents bought somewhere. Wanting to have a house fumigated every 3 months is insane.

 

[terestrife]

Even if it's just a couple guys with sprayers or foggers you still need to remove every living thing you want to continue living from the house and stay out for 24 hours (at least I think that's the minimum, I might be wrong since it's been over 30 years since we fumigated), and once you get back home you need to thoroughly clean any surface that is used for food, you need to wash every plate, dish, bowl, and every piece of silverware, and clean every drawer and cabinet that contains them. And it's really best if all appliances are unplugged and the doors on the fridge/freezer are sealed with a double layer of duct tape to keep the pesticide from getting in.

And that was just from using flea bombs my parents bought somewhere. Wanting to have a house fumigated every 3 months is insane.

i think shes picturing some guy coming in and just spraying the corners of the walls. I will check in with her to see what the actual process is like.

 

[Talien]

i think shes picturing some guy coming in and just spraying the corners of the walls. I will check in with her to see what the actual process is like.

If they're just spraying the perimeter then no, it wouldn't require all that. But that's spraying, not fumigating....better make sure she knows the difference otherwise you're all going to be in for a bad time if she gets the place fumigated instead of having someone come in to spray.

 

[Jem]

We recently had our house sprayed for ants. We (and all pets) had to leave our house for 5 hours. So that was me, my husband, three cats and a snake. We ended up hanging out at my husbands work. (owns a business and has a workshop) If you have a fish tank, you are supposed to turn off the filter thing and cover the tank to ensure the water does not get contaminated. They spray (in our case) ALL baseboards and around all windows and doors, inside and out. They also, used some sort of "fog" in the attic, as it's not easily accessible to humans. I swear when my house was built, the people must have been miniature to have been able to fit in the attic access opening.
We had to pull EVERYTHING away from all the walls and empty the closets (so he could spray all the baseboards/walls). And that includes the fridge, stove, etc...In our case, we did not have to empty the kitchen cupboards, as the ants were in the walls. But if you are going to be spraying for roaches as well, I can only assume that he will want to spray in your cupboards.
And to ensure better contact with the surfaces, I cleaned the areas very well from dust and dirt that tends to accumulate on baseboards and corners.
I also covered anything that the cats usually hang out on with drop sheets, just as a precaution, and put all cat beds/blankets and toys in garbage bags. I also made sure that any food products were put away/covered as well.
We also made sure to clear away any taller grass and random stuff away from the exterior of the home, so that the spray could make better contact with the foundation, and not just the grass.

The reason, for staying away for the 5 hours is to make sure the spray is dry. When the spray is dry, it is no longer a problem (for us or animals). I would still recommend that when you get home, BEFORE letting the cats roam, to take a flashlight and check to make sure it's all dry. When we got home, there were a few areas that still had wet drops of the spray (it was pretty humid, so took longer to dry.) We wiped up the drops, and everything was fine.

 

[FeebysOwner]

I spray myself, using Ortho Home Defense. I spray all the floorboards of the outer perimeter walls. Been doing it once or twice a year for a long time now and I have no roaches or ants in my house. I just keep Feeby out of the area where I am spraying until it has dried, which is fairly quick. You can buy Ortho at Lowe's, Home Depot, and in many cases Walmart - as well as online, including Amazon.

 

[Furballsmom]

using Ortho Home Defense.

I do this also It's easy to use and effective.

 

[terestrife]

We recently had our house sprayed for ants. We (and all pets) had to leave our house for 5 hours. So that was me, my husband, three cats and a snake. We ended up hanging out at my husbands work. (owns a business and has a workshop) If you have a fish tank, you are supposed to turn off the filter thing and cover the tank to ensure the water does not get contaminated. They spray (in our case) ALL baseboards and around all windows and doors, inside and out. They also, used some sort of "fog" in the attic, as it's not easily accessible to humans. I swear when my house was built, the people must have been miniature to have been able to fit in the attic access opening.
We had to pull EVERYTHING away from all the walls and empty the closets (so he could spray all the baseboards/walls). And that includes the fridge, stove, etc...In our case, we did not have to empty the kitchen cupboards, as the ants were in the walls. But if you are going to be spraying for roaches as well, I can only assume that he will want to spray in your cupboards.
And to ensure better contact with the surfaces, I cleaned the areas very well from dust and dirt that tends to accumulate on baseboards and corners.
I also covered anything that the cats usually hang out on with drop sheets, just as a precaution, and put all cat beds/blankets and toys in garbage bags. I also made sure that any food products were put away/covered as well.
We also made sure to clear away any taller grass and random stuff away from the exterior of the home, so that the spray could make better contact with the foundation, and not just the grass.

The reason, for staying away for the 5 hours is to make sure the spray is dry. When the spray is dry, it is no longer a problem (for us or animals). I would still recommend that when you get home, BEFORE letting the cats roam, to take a flashlight and check to make sure it's all dry. When we got home, there were a few areas that still had wet drops of the spray (it was pretty humid, so took longer to dry.) We wiped up the drops, and everything was fine.

Thank you for taking the time to explain, that makes more sense now! I am just dreading this happening, my cats freak out with any change and do not like leaving the house.

I spray myself, using Ortho Home Defense. I spray all the floorboards of the outer perimeter walls. Been doing it once or twice a year for a long time now and I have no roaches or ants in my house. I just keep Feeby out of the area where I am spraying until it has dried, which is fairly quick. You can buy Ortho at Lowe's, Home Depot, and in many cases Walmart - as well as online, including Amazon.

I do this also It's easy to use and effective.

I use ortho home defense too. But my niece brought in her dog that is badly filled with fleas and ticks and we're struggling to get rid of them from the house. Thats the biggest reason she wants to spray the house.

The ortho works great, but i live with people that leave food crumbs out so the roaches come back within a couple of months of spraying.

I just spent the morning spraying the ortho spray all over the house. I am hoping we can avoid needing a stranger come in. I usually spray downstairs while the cats are upstairs. Wait a few hours, and then switch. I wouldnt want to have to take them out of the house.

I have to look around for options. i read about someone trying to get rid of fleas with the ortho spray and they couldnt get rid of them.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Try Precor 2000 - you can spray it room by room, upstairs/downstairs, etc. while the cats are out of the area and let it dry which doesn't really take too long. It is primarily for fleas, since that appears to be what you are most interested in. If your cats are on flea meds, that will be of great help too. And, even with flea treatments for the cats, and something like Precor 2000, you will still need to vacuum the house multiple times a week to help get rid of any flea eggs/larvae/pupae. Washing the cat bedding and anything else that is washable that they lay on will need to be done as well. If they lay on furniture, it will need to be vacuumed too.

I used foggers decades ago, and we packed up the cat, and we all left the house for about 6 hours. I can't recall what else we did but I am pretty sure the foggers all by themselves will probably not automatically end the flea problem. Nor fumigation services either.

Here is a good web site for information about fleas and how to get rid of them.
FleaScience

 

[Furballsmom]

Is diatomaceous earth any kind of an option?

 

[Talien]

Is diatomaceous earth any kind of an option?

Food grade DE is always an option since it's nontoxic and safe to use around children and pets.

 

[terestrife]

Try Precor 2000 - you can spray it room by room, upstairs/downstairs, etc. while the cats are out of the area and let it dry which doesn't really take too long. It is primarily for fleas, since that appears to be what you are most interested in. If your cats are on flea meds, that will be of great help too. And, even with flea treatments for the cats, and something like Precor 2000, you will still need to vacuum the house multiple times a week to help get rid of any flea eggs/larvae/pupae. Washing the cat bedding and anything else that is washable that they lay on will need to be done as well. If they lay on furniture, it will need to be vacuumed too.

I used foggers decades ago, and we packed up the cat, and we all left the house for about 6 hours. I can't recall what else we did but I am pretty sure the foggers all by themselves will probably not automatically end the flea problem. Nor fumigation services either.

Here is a good web site for information about fleas and how to get rid of them.
FleaScience

Thank you! I will look into that product. And thanks for the link. I was about to buy this spray from walmart, but i dont know if its as good as the comments are claiming. Its called Adams Flea & Tick Home Spray.

Yes, my cats are on flea medicine, i have been checking them and theres nothing on them.

Is diatomaceous earth any kind of an option?

Food grade DE is always an option since it's nontoxic and safe to use around children and pets.

I can try it again. I tried that many times and we always seem to have bug issues in general. I even bought one of those devices that release a small amount of the powder. I never saw much change.

I dont think i will be able to fully get rid of the fleas until my niece buys her dog flea medicine.