Cats have FLEAS. I need some advice about de-fleaing the house without killing us all.

[Spidermama]

I have just given the cats a pill which kills fleas after 15 mins. Fine.

Now to tackle the house. I have Indorex spray which has worrying info on the back about not getting it in your eyes or breathing it in (that'll be tough given I have to spray the whole house).

It says to spray everywhere the cats sleep. Well that includes the childrens beds. Should I spray the beds??

How about the dressing up clothes. The cats have been known to sleep in the basket so shall I wash all of those? Will that get rid of eggs?

Shall I wash all bedding? Will that do?

Once sprayed all over my home, how does this stuff stop being poisonous?

[Spidermama]

Right. I'm going to start by shaking the rugs and hoovering all over.

I'd love some responses upon my return. In fact I'm willing to beg.

[Macdog]

No easy way to do this - sorry

Wash EVERYTHING you can in the way of bedding etc - this will help get rid of the fleas/eggs on the bedding

Vaccuum EVERYWHERE you can: mattresses, carpets, furniture etc - will help get rid of even more fleas/eggs etc (don't forget to clean out your vaccuum after)

Finally spray with your Indorex, pay special attention to areas beside skirting boards, around radiators.

I THINK spray is only a problen while it is still in air, so keep everyone outside for a while and give it a chance to settle

[Spidermama]

This is begining to sound like a two day job. I think I'll start with the kids bedrooms while they're all at school and I can have windows open.

[Macdog]

Will be worth it in the end!

[somewhathorrified]

You need to do try and do this in one day. What you're talking about is fumigation and it's a pain in the butt.

-If your vacuum has a bag, put a flea collar in it, if not use a flea powder in it.

-spend a day clearing surfaces, tidying up etc so that you have easy acess to everywhere you need to spray.

• on the day you're going to spray strip the bed, sofa covers etc and hoover everywhere. The last thing you should do is spray, do this last and then walk out the door for a good couple of hours...don't forget to remove all the pets. When you go back in open all the windows.

Don't forget the spray is an insecticide and is poisonous!

Good luck.

[Spidermama]

Thanks somwhathorrified.

This is my concern. It's highly poisonous, so when does it cease to be a threat and how?

[poface]

Don't spray the beds! Just wash all the bedding in a hot wash, 60 or even 90 degrees. Hoover, hoover, hoover. Before spraying, especially in all the cracks, skirting boards, etc. Wash curtains too to be safe. And hold your breath as much as you can when you spray and yes then go out. There is a non insecticide spray you can get which is silicon, it is called Skoosh, www.vet-medic.com/pd_SKOOSH+FLEA+SPRAY+400ml_SKOO1.htmhere but quite hard to get. Some vets stock it. But I think you have to do it more than once.

[poopscoop]

I used to use De-Fest. You spray it in all 4 corners of the room and close doors and windows and leave for can't remember how long. Couple of hours i think.

But it is the only treatment that i found really really works.

[poface]

again

[poface]

links not working. You can google it!

[poface]

you must wash the dressing up clothes and wipe the draw too. Another thing you could do is avoid sprays altogether and use Frontline Plus, a treatment which kills adult fleas and prevents them from breeding. It might take a bit longer but better than spray. That's what I would do [we had fleas in a house we rented even with no animals and we entertained the idea of getting a cat, treating it, and getting rid of the fleas that way!]

[poface]

Sorry Frontline plus goes on the cats.

[CMOTdibbler]

Stronghold is much better than Frontline ime - one of our old cats was a complete fleabag, and Stronghold meant it was never a problem again. Stronghold also deals with earmites, and is only available from vets

I used one the of the fumigator smoke bombs to treat rooms when it was a problem for us

[Spidermama]

Thanks Poface. A committed to the Indorex thing now. I will look into these should I ever have the problem again.

OK so no spraying of beds. What about cuddly toys of which there are around a million in the kids rooms?

[poface]

wash the toys if you can! Or put them in the freezer for 48 hours. It is a time consuming job...

[somewhathorrified]

It should say on the pack how long to leave the room for..if it doesn't then I'd say a couple of hours. The one I used to use (can't remember the name) was hoover, spray, leave for 30 mins (2hrs to make sure!), hoover again because the spray settled on all the surfaces and could then be hoovered up. Toxicity is based on ingestion...so avoid breathing in and hoover well afterwards. Also wipe down surfaces, esp in the kitchen. All the info you need should be on the instructions.

[somewhathorrified]

Oh yeah, the stuff is normally lethal to fish so make sure you remove any if you have them.

[scienceteacher]

When we had fleas, we found that they were concentrated in a couple of areas of the house. We didn't find that sprays/powders/constant vacuuming to be particularly effective.

What did work was a very simple lamp unit which was kitted out with a sheet of very sticky fly paper. The fleas were attracted to the light and jumped onto the peper. We were free of fleas in a matter of days.

It is also important to Frontline your pet.

[JohnDory]

ah and i have just come back from pets at home to do the same ehre

ours have fornt line but hey am about to spray rooms
all of use wiht bites atm
apprently summer is owrse

[JohnDory]

this is mine

[Spidermama]

This is the one I'm using today which I got from the vets.

I'm using the Johnson's tablets and skin preventer thingy on the cats.

[Spidermama]

Sorry. This.

[Spidermama]

I saw a woman yesterday with bites all over her ankles. I now understand why.

[JohnDory]

it was me
ds has one on his todger

[scienceteacher]

Flea Trap