fleas!

[roguethecat]

4 cats happily roll around in the yard and come back covered with fleas, who go on biting me as well.
What do you do against fleas, and how toxic do you think it is to your cat/to you?
Nothing I tried so far worked... would love something non-/low toxic if possible.

 

[FeebysOwner]

I don't know how 'toxic' the fleas themselves actually are, unless you or one or more of your cats has an allergy to them. But they are not pleasant for the cats to be bitten all the time, and I am sure you don't appreciate it either. If an infestation gets bad enough, they can cause anemia in a cat due to all the blood being sucked from them.

I know in Florida, there isn't much out there that will kill fleas if it isn't a pesticide of some sort. First of all, you have fleas outdoors in the yard, and short of spraying a pesticide periodically in the yard, you won't likely get rid of them. You could always research buying nematodes which is a more natural form of flea killer.

As far as your cats, if you want to bathe them frequently and flea comb them daily, you could keep them under control, but not eradicate them. Have you considered trying Advantage II topical flea treatment? I think it is probably the 'safest' one on the market, and it might work for your area. Even so, you need to be vacuuming the home 2-3 times a week, washing all bedding/blankets/towels that the cats use in hot water frequently to get them out of your home, even with the topical treatment - at least for 2-3 months to get beyond the flea cycle.

Maybe reading through this web site will give you some more information to work with, until other members come along with more ideas - ideally from your area.
FleaScience

 

[daftcat75]

A flea infestation is going to require diligence. You can't skip any of these steps or you'll never be rid of them.

1. Treat the cats. Capstar is a safe pill you can give each cat to kill the fleas that are on them now. Capstar only works on adult fleas, and only provides a short amount of protection (maybe a day or two.) It is a reset button to bring quick relief while you are working all the other steps. A topical application like Advantage 2 is safe and fairly effective. Though some report that Advantage 2 is no longer effective in certain geographies or doesn't provide enough protection. But you aren't relying solely on the topical. Pick up a flea comb and comb them daily to see how the topical and your other efforts are working out.

2. Laundry. This is by far the most exhausting and labor intensive step. And you will be doing this repeatedly for a long time. Gather up every soft surface you can remove like blankets, bedding, clothes, rugs, anything that you can bag up, and take it down the laundromat. It will be much easier to use one of their big machines than your own. The heat of the dryer will kill the fleas and their immature life stages. It is not necessary to launder with hot water if the item will go into a hot dryer. Perform the next two steps before you bring your fresh laundry back into the home.

3. Vacuum. Vacuum. And vacuum some more. Flea eggs and larvae reside in the carpet and are awaken by heat and vibration. It's better to wake the larvae with a vacuum than with a warm body. Plan on vacuuming daily until your infestation is gone.

4. Treat your home and your car(s) If your cats have fleas, assume you also have fleas and can transport them into your car. Get a premise spray like Precor that contains an IGR (insect growth regulator.) Without an IGR, you are only killing adults and leaving the eggs and larvae to awaken with heat and movement (aka you or your cats walking past.) Do not use a natural or non-toxic like essential oils or diatomaceous earth. These aren't particularly effective and diatomaceous earth can dry you and your cats out. Most of the adulticides and IGR's on the market today are specific to flea physiology and pose little danger to you or your cats. Precor is a great spray for your yard and for your car. You can use it in the home too as long as you shuffle the animals out of the treated rooms while you are treating them and follow all the instructions. Another home treatment that I have found particularly effective is Fleabusters. This produces a lot of dust though. Get a good dust mask to apply it and definitely keep all the animals out of the room until the dust has settled. What I like about Fleabusters is that it binds to carpet making it effective for up to a year. You can even hire professionals to come out and treat your home with Fleabusters if you don't want to do it yourself.

Home - Fleabusters

After you have vacuumed and treated your home, then you can bring your fresh laundry back in. If you can trim down the number of pillows, blankets, bedding, rugs, etc that you leave out, that's fewer surfaces for fleas, eggs, and larvae to get into. Plan on vacuuming daily until your flea comb comes up empty for some time. Fleas lay eggs and those eggs fall off your cats (and you) into the carpet. When the eggs hatch, they remain in a larvae state until heat and vibration awaken them. Usually that's an animal passing through. Make certain that "animal" is a vacuum. You don't need to take extra precautions with the vacuum bag. The heat and mechanical action of a vacuum is enough to kill the fleas, larvae, and eggs.

Read more about all these steps as well as picking a home treatment (adulticides and IGRs) here:
FleaScience

I recommend reading that site once through to know your plan of attack before you start. Then re-read it whenever you are getting frustrated because you'll probably miss something on your first read.

Don't skip steps. Flea infestations are notoriously stubborn. You can knock this out in a month or two if you're diligent and thorough. Or it can drag on for many months if you are using the wrong products (natural/non-toxics without an IGR, for example.)

Repeat home and cat treatments according to the product's recommendations.