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Original poster

I do not belieeeeeeve it - FLEAS!

20 replies

PrettyCandles · 25/04/2006 10:43

We moved house nearly two months ago, and a couple of weeks ago realised that the place is infested with fleas!

Haven't actually seen any of the little b*ggers, but, from the spots that have appeared on us and the fact that the previous owners had cats and were (let's put it politely) somewhat lax in their domestic hygiene, we're pretty sure that it's fleas.

We've treated as much of the house as possible with flea powders and sprays, but really don't want to use chemicals if at all possible. Does anyone know, or have experience of getting rid of fleas without using poisons?

OP posts:
charliecat · 25/04/2006 10:45

No , had a bugger getting rid of them even with poisons.
You can buy stuff from the vets to fumigate the place though.
Good Luck...they are a nightmare.

ruty · 25/04/2006 11:13

we had exactly this night mare when we moved to a new flat. the woman before had had cats and her hygiene was poor, to say the least. We took up the carpets, treated the floors, but it took at least a year to get rid of them. If you have carpets i would get rid of them all. It is a nightmare chemicals wise. Could you all go away for a week and get the house treated while you are away? You can get flea traps from pet shops - which are white bowls with a bulb and a sticky surface which attract the fleas and then catch them! But they wouldn't break the cycle of the laying eggs nightmare. Best of luck.

tangerinecath · 25/04/2006 11:15

Having tried all sorts of herbal remedies when we had a similar problem, I'm afraid we ended up with the chemicals as they are the only thing that worked. Your best bet is to do the whole house in one go, and go out for the day to let it all settle while you're not there. Hoover thoroughly when you get back. Do it again in a week or so to catch any you may have missed before they get a chance to lay eggs.

uggghhhh. am itching now Grin

Hattie05 · 25/04/2006 11:20

We had them from our own cat Sad.

But they weren't hard to get rid off. WE did a really really thorough spring clean of the house, and then sprayed a flea house spray (bought in sainsbury's) absolutely everywhere and then left the house closed up for a day.
Obviously treated the cat too. And that did the trick.

IT should be easier for you if you don't have pets that they can cling on to.

SparklyGothKat · 25/04/2006 11:34

We had this whne we lived in our old flat, we inherited a sofa and we got infected with fleas, I had to use the flea spray from the vets, you have to spray everything and then shut the all the doors and windows, working your way out to the front door, so start at the top. You can't stay in the house because it can cause heart palations. After about 1-2 hours, go in and open all windows. Then hoover. It does work.

Original poster
PrettyCandles · 25/04/2006 11:34

Argh. I hoped that someone might say something like "teatree oil and loads of vacuuming".

OP posts:
SaintGeorge · 25/04/2006 13:07

You can get 'foggers' from Tesco. A little canister you put in the room and let off to fumigate the place.

Don't forget when you do vacuum (lots) to remove the bag afterwards. Vacuuming doesn't kill the blighters, just collects them.

BabiesEverywhere · 25/04/2006 14:03

Frontline comes in a spray bottle from vets and works wonders on fleas or a less effective natural remedy is tea tree oil.

If anyone has cats in their house, I really recommend Frontline drop on spots, we haven't seen a flea on our own cats since we started using this stuff.

In fact this post has reminder me that it is time to flea my cats again :)

littlerach · 25/04/2006 14:06

Wou;ld second frontline, really works.

can you borrow a cat? My stepmother swears this is the best thing, as all the fleas go straight to the cat....

Original poster
PrettyCandles · 25/04/2006 14:07

Are fleas dangerous to humans, or just irritating and disgusting?

OP posts:
Original poster
PrettyCandles · 25/04/2006 14:08

Who on earth would volunteer their cat for infestation!?

OP posts:
littlerach · 25/04/2006 14:11

someone who either loves you very much or has no sense.

Wasn't my idea!1 And you van#t use my cat!

ruty · 25/04/2006 15:12

i did think about doing that actually, getting a cat! And then putting frontline on it. When we did have a cat later [in a flea free house] we used frontline and it worked on her.

expatinscotland · 25/04/2006 15:15

oh dear. my sister brought home a stray dog one time that infested our house w/fleas. a NIGHTMARE to get rid of them. my mum had to get a professional in. i don't know what it cost, but it was the only thing that worked in the end.

jodie1984 · 25/04/2006 16:13

the one and only thing that kills fleas is a spray from your local vets. Anything bought from a supermarket or pet shop will NOT kill any fleas. Only 2% of fleas are on an animal at one time the rest are in your carpets, they only go on the animal to feed. Eggs can stay dormant for up to 2yrs untill they want to hatch. A spray from your vets will kills the eggs, lavae and adult fleas, nothing bar a nuclear explotion will kill the pupae.

Good luck. HTH

HAPPYFACE · 25/04/2006 18:07

When we moved into our house it was September 2000 and when we turned the heating on in October was when we found out there were fleas!!
We pulled all the carpet up everywhere, but then they were on the skirting boards!
It was awful we were still scratching even when we had got rid of them!!
We've got a dog and the vet advised us only their spray works! It was expensive about £15-£20 I think but it DID work within a few days.
We've also got 2 cats now but we keep all animals treated and haven't had any more trouble.

arfy · 25/04/2006 18:09

I'm afraid only chemicals worked with us as well - and you need to treat EVERYTHING as they hide everywhere the buggers

we used a spray called 'Zodiac' on carpets (actually we had to throw away one carpet)/sofas etc. and it's the only thing that worked - got it online somewhere.

and only frontline seems to work on the cats

Original poster
PrettyCandles · 30/04/2006 15:22

We ripped up the carpet in the childrens' room, and that has made quite a difference, so all other carpets are gradually following. Got the spray from the vet (atleast we only have to use it once a year in each room), and the vacuum cleaner rarely gets put away now.

Yuck yuck yuck.

Thanks, all.

OP posts:
Original poster
PrettyCandles · 30/04/2006 15:24

BTW, we've got ants now.

At least I know how to deal with them, and you only have to put the poison down in one place, rather than all over the house. But dd accidentally stepped in the poison this morning and had absolute hysterics as a result.

OP posts:
jamsam · 30/04/2006 15:26

there are several things you should do :
hoover everywhere and then get rid of the hoover bag/caniister contents OUTSIDE..they can get out of an inside bin,
change all the bedding and hoover the mattresses,
use some kind of fogger or leave on pwder..then go back after a good 5 hours and hoover again,
failing all of that, take up the carpets and fumigate...sorry!!!

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