My husband and I have six cats. Despite this, we have managed to never- and I mean never- have fleas. Earlier this year, however, in the early spring, our two best friends (another married couple), somehow came down with a nasty case of them in their house of three cats (and a ferret). I first spotted a flea when we were visiting over at their place, and I mentioned it to the wife. She said she'd seen a few recently but basically shrugged it off. We came home, ordered some more frontline, treated everyone just in case, and let it be.
Well, it's about eight months later, and we've been battling a horrific flea infestation since then. We have gone through tons of frontline, gallons of flea shampoo, bags upon bags of diatomaceous earth, and had our exterminator out here multiple times. These little effers aren't going away. Our cats have all gone completely through the cycle of being slightly irritated by the fleas, to majorly irritated by the fleas, to licking and scratching themselves bald, to almost seeming to be immune to the fleas- or just too tired of them to bother caring anymore. I'm not sure which.
My husband and I have been bitten almost as much as the cats have, and we're almost inured to them as well.
Our friends have been over on a pretty regular basis still, and are fully aware that we have fleas and got them from their house. They seem to really believe that the flea problem in their house isn't that bad- "the cats aren't really bother by them," so it must all be fine.
Fortunately, the flea population in our house has been dwindling, to the point that we only notice fleas on us a few times a day, as opposed to constantly.
A few days ago, however, our friends went out of town, and asked us to check in on their animals. We agreed, of course, having done so earlier this summer and finding the flea problem to be no worse there than in our own house. Man, were we mistaken.
It is horrendous. I mean, "I am embarrassed for my friends, don't want to go to their house, and don't want them coming over to mine" horrendous. One of their cats has now licked herself bald from her back end to her shoulders, and another of their cats had at least half a dozen fleas the size of small grains of rice, just sitting on his face. We ourselves were completely covered with fleas within seconds of entering the house- my husband's white socks looked like they were rolled in ground black powder. By tonight, we had devised the strategy of running in to the house, filling the food bowls, and running back out, then slapping and brushing the fleas off of each other's clothes and bodies before climbing in the truck to come home.
That didn't even begin to work. We were in the house for less than five minutes, and I had fleas inside my jeans, all the way up to my belly, biting me, before I'd even gotten their food bag. My husband's socks were completely black. We spent ten minutes outside trying to get the fleas off of each other, and it made no difference. The whole drive home, we were slapping and squishing fleas like we were playing some sort of sick, twisted Whack-a-Mole on crack. We had to come in the back door, throw all of our clothes into the washing machine, and run upstairs to the shower immediately. We are both covered in bites all over our bodies- feet, legs, thighs, stomachs, arms, faces. Dozens of them, each. I've never seen fleas so bad. We are actually going to have to flea bomb his truck before he goes back to work. (He delivers pizza. Fleas in the truck are absolutely not happening.)
So this is where we are. The problem has become so horrible that it is beyond a "problem." We have to sit down and talk with them about this. We can't go on with them bringing fleas to our house, and us bringing them back from theirs. We can't just say "sorry, we can't see you anymore," as that won't do anything about the issue at their house, or for their poor cats. We need to launch a joint offensive, as my husband calls it, and have to be actively working together to eradicate the infestation in both homes, on all nine cats and the ferret, on all four people, and in both buildings.
How in God's name do we get these two to understand how absolutely severe this issue has become, without hurting their feelings, or upsetting them, or shaming them? They are both extremely emotionally sensitive, and they can collapse into depression and shame at the mere thought of having committed some transgression. We want to fix a major problem between our two households, not hurt two people we love, or worse- upset them into some paralyzing emotion that causes them to retreat, instead of take action.
Is there anything even remotely resembling a delicate way to approach this subject while still conveying its severity?
I'm at a loss.
(and if you actually read that entire Wall o'Text, you get a cookie. or some catnip. whichever you prefer.)
Well, it's about eight months later, and we've been battling a horrific flea infestation since then. We have gone through tons of frontline, gallons of flea shampoo, bags upon bags of diatomaceous earth, and had our exterminator out here multiple times. These little effers aren't going away. Our cats have all gone completely through the cycle of being slightly irritated by the fleas, to majorly irritated by the fleas, to licking and scratching themselves bald, to almost seeming to be immune to the fleas- or just too tired of them to bother caring anymore. I'm not sure which.
My husband and I have been bitten almost as much as the cats have, and we're almost inured to them as well.
Our friends have been over on a pretty regular basis still, and are fully aware that we have fleas and got them from their house. They seem to really believe that the flea problem in their house isn't that bad- "the cats aren't really bother by them," so it must all be fine.
Fortunately, the flea population in our house has been dwindling, to the point that we only notice fleas on us a few times a day, as opposed to constantly.
A few days ago, however, our friends went out of town, and asked us to check in on their animals. We agreed, of course, having done so earlier this summer and finding the flea problem to be no worse there than in our own house. Man, were we mistaken.
It is horrendous. I mean, "I am embarrassed for my friends, don't want to go to their house, and don't want them coming over to mine" horrendous. One of their cats has now licked herself bald from her back end to her shoulders, and another of their cats had at least half a dozen fleas the size of small grains of rice, just sitting on his face. We ourselves were completely covered with fleas within seconds of entering the house- my husband's white socks looked like they were rolled in ground black powder. By tonight, we had devised the strategy of running in to the house, filling the food bowls, and running back out, then slapping and brushing the fleas off of each other's clothes and bodies before climbing in the truck to come home.
That didn't even begin to work. We were in the house for less than five minutes, and I had fleas inside my jeans, all the way up to my belly, biting me, before I'd even gotten their food bag. My husband's socks were completely black. We spent ten minutes outside trying to get the fleas off of each other, and it made no difference. The whole drive home, we were slapping and squishing fleas like we were playing some sort of sick, twisted Whack-a-Mole on crack. We had to come in the back door, throw all of our clothes into the washing machine, and run upstairs to the shower immediately. We are both covered in bites all over our bodies- feet, legs, thighs, stomachs, arms, faces. Dozens of them, each. I've never seen fleas so bad. We are actually going to have to flea bomb his truck before he goes back to work. (He delivers pizza. Fleas in the truck are absolutely not happening.)
So this is where we are. The problem has become so horrible that it is beyond a "problem." We have to sit down and talk with them about this. We can't go on with them bringing fleas to our house, and us bringing them back from theirs. We can't just say "sorry, we can't see you anymore," as that won't do anything about the issue at their house, or for their poor cats. We need to launch a joint offensive, as my husband calls it, and have to be actively working together to eradicate the infestation in both homes, on all nine cats and the ferret, on all four people, and in both buildings.
How in God's name do we get these two to understand how absolutely severe this issue has become, without hurting their feelings, or upsetting them, or shaming them? They are both extremely emotionally sensitive, and they can collapse into depression and shame at the mere thought of having committed some transgression. We want to fix a major problem between our two households, not hurt two people we love, or worse- upset them into some paralyzing emotion that causes them to retreat, instead of take action.
Is there anything even remotely resembling a delicate way to approach this subject while still conveying its severity?
I'm at a loss.
(and if you actually read that entire Wall o'Text, you get a cookie. or some catnip. whichever you prefer.)
Best of luck but you have to think of yourselves and your own cats health and well being. 
