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How the hell do you get rid of fleas?!

51 replies

Bananaram · 21/10/2024 19:59

We catsat a relatives cat for a couple of weeks in the summer hols and now we have bloody fleas! 3 out of 4 of us are being eaten alive 😭

How the hell do I get rid of the little fuckers?! I'm exhausted. I've stripped all the beds, washed all the pillows, duvets, duvet covers, cushion covers in a 60 degree wash, sprayed every room with Indorex, used a treatment on our mattresses, I've been hoovering every damn day and we are STILL getting new bites. My DD has 14 new bites on her back 😰 and my feet are covered!

Do I have to move all the furniture and hoover underneath every day? Our furniture is heavy, I don't have the time or the energy. I can't keep up with all the washing, we don't have a tumble drier to dry stuff so it's been wash in, wash out, stuff on the radiators and me being paranoid that fleas are jumping right onto my freshly washed bedding. We don't have pets of our own so we've never had to deal with this before.

Does anyone know what is the easiest way to get rid of them or am I going to have to keep washing/drying/hoovering for the next month?!

OP posts:
Perplexed20 · 21/10/2024 20:02

Did the cat stay at your house?

FjordPrefect · 21/10/2024 20:02

You can buy flea bombs or sprays, I find the sprays better. You go through each room starting at the back spraying under and over the furniture and floor, close the door and move on to the next room finishing at the hallway and front/back door then leave for a couple of hours while it does its thing. Worked for me.

Perplexed20 · 21/10/2024 20:02

And yes to flea bombs.

lovenotwar149 · 21/10/2024 20:04

Indorex spray...check it out. We had fleas in our house for 6 months plus . This spray helped...gd luck!

Bananaram · 21/10/2024 20:06

Perplexed20 · 21/10/2024 20:02

Did the cat stay at your house?

Yeah, for 2 weeks! He was regularly flea treated, we treated him when he was with us.

We've used a whole can of Indorex and bought some more today, I don't know how many more cans I'm going to have to go through for the whole house 😰

OP posts:
Bananaram · 21/10/2024 20:07

FjordPrefect · 21/10/2024 20:02

You can buy flea bombs or sprays, I find the sprays better. You go through each room starting at the back spraying under and over the furniture and floor, close the door and move on to the next room finishing at the hallway and front/back door then leave for a couple of hours while it does its thing. Worked for me.

Did you need to keep hoovering under furniture and washing everything?! I've realised what a ridiculous amount of throws and cushions we have when I had to wash and dry them all 😱

OP posts:
gamerchick · 21/10/2024 20:11

I move everything away from the walls once a year. Husband Hoovers the skirtings and I spray after him to catch newly hatched eggs from the hoover vibrations. You don't need to spray anything else.

However, if you don't have any other animals I'd use a flea bomb.

Be aware that fleas like to travel with you when you visit infested houses. They're buggers like that.

RedRobyn2021 · 21/10/2024 20:14

Flea bombs
Wash all bedding and towels and soft furnishings

I've had a flea infestation before, it's horrible.

Have you told your relative they need to go to the vet for some treatment? The vets have stronger flea treatments than spot on which will actually work. Poor cat.

ScottBakula · 21/10/2024 20:16

Unless you have a VERY small house 1 can of indorex is not enough.
As pp said start at the furtherest point from your front door and work backwards.
But you need to move ALL the furniture out of the way and spray right into the corners.
That includes all the stuff in your wardrobe, all that extra / spare bedding ( even the stuff that hasn't been used for ages .

I have a mid terrace 2 bed house and used 3.5 cans .

MoreCardassianThanKardashian · 21/10/2024 20:19

We moved into a house that had fleas once. We fought and fought but the only thing that worked was bombs all over the place. I think one in every room that was separate and if it was a big area 2. I think 4 in an average 3 bed terraced.

teatoast8 · 21/10/2024 20:19

Fleas are a bastard to get rid off

teatoast8 · 21/10/2024 20:20

Posted too soon. Keep spraying and hoovering

Nightvax · 21/10/2024 20:20

ScottBakula · 21/10/2024 20:16

Unless you have a VERY small house 1 can of indorex is not enough.
As pp said start at the furtherest point from your front door and work backwards.
But you need to move ALL the furniture out of the way and spray right into the corners.
That includes all the stuff in your wardrobe, all that extra / spare bedding ( even the stuff that hasn't been used for ages .

I have a mid terrace 2 bed house and used 3.5 cans .

Is it safe to spray clothes? I asked this on a post earlier as we have a flea infestation currently too

Catzpyjamas · 21/10/2024 20:21

One can of indorex should do a three bedroom house and the effect lasts up to a year. Any more than that is probably unsafe to use in that size or property. Vacuum everywhere especially cracks on floors, down sides of sofa cushions etc and empty the vacuum cleaner outside straight away. Wash anything washable at the highest temperature it can take.
www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=vet-uk.virbac.com/files/live/sites/virbac-b2b-uk/files/Resources/Parasiticides/Indorex%2520client%2520leaflet.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwjP1p-qmaCJAxVwQEEAHZj0NR4QFnoECBsQAQ&usg=AOvVaw3kisPwYDOXlS4LUI-NutUZ

Wishona · 21/10/2024 20:22

We bought 2 more cheap Amazon hoovers (about £45 each) so 3 people could hoover at once. Did it every day.
3 cans of Indorex.

rainbowunicorn · 21/10/2024 20:26

Just buy flea bombs.

TaylorSwish · 21/10/2024 20:28

When you hoover you wake them so you need to hoover then spray then hoover again.
Put a flea collar in the hoover bag to kill them inside there too.

BrandNewKey · 21/10/2024 20:30

We’ve had fleas before when the flea treatment I used on the cats stopped working. I’ve found that indorex works and getting a vet to prescribe stronger flea treatment for the cats. The fleas will bite the cats over you and will be killed off as the cats just laze around the house. Over the last few years Ive been using the 8 month flea collars on my cats and haven’t had a flea in the house since then.

FjordPrefect · 21/10/2024 20:35

Bananaram · 21/10/2024 20:07

Did you need to keep hoovering under furniture and washing everything?! I've realised what a ridiculous amount of throws and cushions we have when I had to wash and dry them all 😱

No, when I sprayed every room in the house we never saw a flea again. Washing stuff won't help, they'll just jump onto something else.

HoppyFish · 21/10/2024 20:42

Use flea bombs, sprays etc. But also, fleas travel by jumping. Put bowls/trays of water on the floor, and they jump into them and drown. Also lay sheets of paper on the floor. You'll hear a 'tap' sound when they land on the paper. Then kill them.

happysoul23 · 21/10/2024 20:48

Get a pest control person in.
I did and sorted the issue immediately

Hotandbothered222 · 21/10/2024 20:58

Sorry OP, you’re going to have to move the furniture. We had the same problem this summer (according to our vet it’s the worst for fleas he’s ever seen) and we sprayed every inch of the carpet, laminate and skirting boards with Indorex. Literally every inch, back and forth systematically with the spray. Touch wood it’s done the job because we haven’t seen once since…

Hotandbothered222 · 21/10/2024 20:58

Oh and it took 3 cans but our house isn’t that big.

username35890 · 21/10/2024 20:58

An animal got into the house once and it was infested. I bought a load of flea spray and sprayed absolutely everywhere then hoovered. It got rid off them.

justanotherchangeofname · 21/10/2024 21:02

Have you just sprayed the indorex today? That's always been a game changer for us

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