Oh Man Boarding Ferals Impossible?

[Kflowers]

Resist the temptation to put Dawn dish washing liquid in the washing machine. You can soak and rinse cat/dog bedding in the tub in the Dawn.
And another thing I discovered and shortly after met some very nice repair men, be careful what size pet bed you put in the washing machine. Be certain to balance the weight with towels.

 

[kittychick]

I'm "late to the party" too - - and meant to jump in earlier - - but you got so many good ideas I wasn't needed anyway. The most amazing part is that your friend agreed to take them in! I've got to say- - -they don't come much more cat-compassionate (actually almost any creature compassionate EXCEPT fleas -- and spiders and centipedes - ick!) and I'm not sure I could be as compassionate as your friend!!!!! What a great friend -- - she definitely deserves a big bottle of wine, or giant box of cookies or something - - - that's amazing!!!!!

I will jump in just a tad for future reference. One- - putting them all in the car would have been fine -- in fact, we've done it. Nothing says fun like 5 cats (1 was semi-feral) and a dog driving around town for 6 hours - - the noise alone drove me almost out of my mind! And this was years ago - --so no headphones if I wanted to sit in a parking lot, etc. Just hour of yowling, growling, and general animal crankiness. But it was fine in the end. We've also done what someone suggested (this time we had our own personal cats, plus several fosters, including kittens) - - we put all into dog crates (we have 2 but borrowed a few others) and our larger carriers into one room, sealed the door shut tightly, and the bug guy did the rest of the house. After the appropriate amount of time we brought all of them out of that room - - -and then the bug guy had been scheduled to got back and do that room only, sealing it again as he left (this time to keep bug spray IN that room, vs out of). We've also - - -when it was warmer, so not an option now......crate everyone up and take them into the garage, and then fumigated the house. That also worked!

Lastly -- - to double check fleas are gone....and to attract and kill any left (hopefully none!)...and to help keep them off the humans and kitties, I do a homemade trap in areas that were highly infested. After fumigating I put a small shallow pan (like a small pie pan or cookie sheet w/an edge), fill it with water and gently place a few drops of Dawn on top of the water, swirling water around gently so as not to create suds, but to create a film of Dawn on the top of the water. Put that directly under a nightlight or a very short lamp (this all works easiest if you can do it in a room where the cats AREN'T for the night, but you can virtually cover the pan to keep kitties from drinking water). The fleas are attracted to the light, hop into the water, and never make it back out.

Anyway - -glad you got things solved!!!!!!!!! You were in quite a pickle! Hope the fleas are gone for good (and your friend still loves you!).