Fleas

Kbialos

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Hi. Two weeks ago we found out our indoor cat has fleas. Took her to vet and he gave her Capstar and Advantage. Came home and vacuumed obsessively for a week and sprayed home with Vets+Best Flea and Tick Home Spray. A week later we were still finding a bunch of fleas when combing her. Went back to vet and got second Capstar and had home professionally fumigated 3 days ago. Also washed bedding, etc and vacuumed some more. Tonight I still found a couple of fleas on her. Is this normal or should I worry cat or home treatment is not working? Thank you.
 
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Kbialos

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I have been combing and wondering how helpful that is. Thanks!
 
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Kbialos

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Thank you!
 

Notacrazycatlady

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I had good luck using table salt on all the carpets (after the cats had been treated with Revolution). Just thoroughly sprinkle table salt on the floors (it's safe for animals/kids since it's just table salt you'd use in food anyway). Leave the salt overnight then vacuum it up and reapply. Adult fleas can live up to 40 days without a blood meal but newly hatched fleas need a blood meal within 24 hours (? give or take) or they die. It takes 2-3 days for a flea egg to hatch, so with carpets covered in table salt for 4 days, it'll eliminate the majority of the problem. (I learned more about the life cycle of fleas than I ever needed to know while researching solutions.) Flea eggs in cracks/crevices where you can't get would be your only problem.

In my case, the fleas hadn't been there long so it wasn't a bad infestation. After about 5 days of salting the floors in my apartment, flea bait traps turned up empty so it worked for me. Your mileage may vary as they say.
 

sevenwarlox

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Capstar only kills live fleas, and so is essentially useless if you have indoor/outdoor cats, as they will have brand new adult fleas within days. This is also true if you have EVER had fleas in your house, because there will always be eggs — nothing short of burning down your house will kill them. I live among oak trees with squirrels everywhere, and before I moved into this house, there were squirrels in the attic, so my cats are constantly under threat from highly aggressive squirrel fleas. Frontline does nothing against these creatures, though it did drive one of my cats permanently insane. I now use Bravecta, which is working, at least for the time being. Flea populations explode so quickly that I really can't imagine controlling them without poison, sadly enough. Be sure to change your cats bedding. They say to wash it, but most of the time, that doesn't work — you're better off tossing anything that's been exposed.
 

karkel59

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I had good luck using table salt on all the carpets (after the cats had been treated with Revolution). Just thoroughly sprinkle table salt on the floors (it's safe for animals/kids since it's just table salt you'd use in food anyway). Leave the salt overnight then vacuum it up and reapply. Adult fleas can live up to 40 days without a blood meal but newly hatched fleas need a blood meal within 24 hours (? give or take) or they die. It takes 2-3 days for a flea egg to hatch, so with carpets covered in table salt for 4 days, it'll eliminate the majority of the problem. (I learned more about the life cycle of fleas than I ever needed to know while researching solutions.) Flea eggs in cracks/crevices where you can't get would be your only problem.

In my case, the fleas hadn't been there long so it wasn't a bad infestation. After about 5 days of salting the floors in my apartment, flea bait traps turned up empty so it worked for me. Your mileage may vary as they say.
I just started the salt thing, I was worried it would hurt my cats, glad I read your post.
 
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