pregnant in a flea-infested house. what can i use?

[LiliAnjelika]

i'm 8 wks pregnant and my cats are dropping fleas everywhere. have done the frontline but the main problem is the house. i'm really worried about toxic sprays and flea bombs because i'm in the first trimester. on the other hand, it can't be good to be drained of blood every night by giant vampire fleas. does anyone know if they are harmful? what should i do? (i also have two dc's so spray is really not a good idea unless it's natural...)

bump!

Hoover, hoover, hoover!

Only thing that really works.

ta. my hoover is rubbish but good excuse to get a new one!

Are you using Frontline Combi? Works much faster, by sterilising the fleas so they're not still reproducing when they're dying.

Your vet should be able to give you a spray (Indorex?) which perhaps someone else could spray for you while you go out for the day to allow to dissipate?

Ob - and when you Hoover, empty the bag each time or the little buggers jump out of the cleaner afterwards.

Did you do the Frontline pipette that kills the fleas when they bite your cats? If so, when did you do it? Go for it with the hoovering and if you did the Frontline that you get from the vet and did it a good few days ago, I'd give the vet a quick call and say that you still have a problem and what do they suggest. I know some people don't have a lot of luck with the cheaper pipettes that you can buy in the supermarket but the Frontline should have done it.

Ok, you need to get started on treating the cats.

Once the cats are being treated, the fleas will die off never to return,but it could take a few months.

Frontline on its own won't wash - it just kills the adults, and all the time they'll be laying new eggs before dying so once you have an infestation of this level you need frontline combi or ideally program. I say this as I didn't bother to treat my cat for several months, and finally realised it was a problem when we were getting bitten - I started off with frontline from petmeds, it didn't work, then a few months later started combi (it stops eggs hatching apparently) also useless here, then began Program (infertilises the fleas directly) and carried on with the frontline too and it's worked.
I combed her the other night and not one flea, we haven't eben bitten for a few months either, so gradually it all comes together because anything hatching from the floor etc will jump onto her and be zonked. Eggs can live on the floor up to a year.

There is a safe spray from the vets, you could do your floors with that but it's not cheap - around 20 quid I think, and pointless if you don't treat the cats. If they stay on program (or frontline once problem is under control, properly) any they pick up from elsewhere will die quickly.

HTH, don't worry - they prefer cat blood and can't live on humans, despite giving it a try!!

Now this would be completely safe. Wont do the whole job on its own but will catch and kill some of the blighters jumping out of the carpet!

www.pestfree.co.uk/fleatrap.htm

the only thing that works is the spray from the vets those powders/smoke bombs etc USELESS

i think you d be ok if you could get some one else to spray (or wear a mask) and then go out all day

the one from the vets used to be called neu van top or something but i think the names changed

nout else works properly i speak from experience wasted loads of money on other stuff -the spray is about £20 but it lasts

if your cat had fleas there are bound to be fleas in house and if they arent treated they ll breed

GOOD LUCK !!

take all the cats beds and boil wash them.

and any other bedding that the cats sleep on - cushions etc. as fleas love bedding.

i would agree that frontline combo is your best bet. and i would do it monthly until you get the problem under control. and get a spray from the vets - staykill is a good one as is indorex. neu van top has been discontinued as it was pretty toxic stuff.

and when you hoover its the skirting boards and corners you need to pay most attention too.
sadly only 2% of the fleas in your home actually live on your cats so it may be a while before you can get this under control and it probably wont be cheap to do.

good luck.xx

Recommend Indorex, though we went ot stay with my parents for the weekend and sprayed it round as we left. On return even the spiders had crawled out of the walls and died (yuck!). Got rid of near everything. Second the Frontline Combi also. Never had more problems once we started using that. Fleas are vile, and I have a really bad reaction to them.

i have used the spray and the treatment on the cats themselves(bought from the vets) but I think I see eggs on my cats coat and it's only been a few days..is it possible these are flea eggs when I have just done all this? I am 6months pregnant...want to get rid of them before baby arrives!

This stuff works: www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=diatomaceous+earth+for+fleas

We had a flea infestation when I was pg. after spending a fortune on odd the shelf stuff that didn't work we called in a pest control company. They treated the whole house (3 bed) for £65 with stuff ther assured me was safe for use in pg.

Just a quick one on frontline. We have just switched to Advocate as Frontline just seemed to stop working for us. Our vet mentioned she had seen quite a few instances of frontline failing recently.

We got Acclaim spray from the vets and a couple of flea lamps (about £10 each on Amazon). This doesn't have any warnings for pregnant ladies but I got my other half to do the spraying and then gave the house a good airing afterwards.

Keep hoovering every day (and emptying the bag/cylinder) and make sure everything, in particular bedding, has been hot washed. Focus on areas where your cats are the most - for us that was the living room so that room has been turned upside down and hoovered and treated to death!

Good luck - we found the fleas on our cats when I was 39 weeks and I really didn't want the little buggers in the house before baby arrived! (Although I am still waiting for him to turn up )

I would switch to Advocate to for your kittys seems to work better use it for my dog to as he is actually allergic to fleas so if one even bites him he rips his fur out! Advocate has stopped this!

Best thing to do is get someone else to spray the house and make sure they get in all the corners and between sofa cushions they like to hide in dark places.

Reminds me I should get my kitty a new collar lol good luck!

I had an awful flea problem in the summer. We have no animals so it was really bizarre.

I wasn't pregnant but we have a young child so didn't want to use any chemicals.

I covered the floor in salt before I went to bed. This apparently sticks to flea and dehydrates them, causing them to die. Hoover in the morning and at various times during the day. I was hoovering a good 10+ times and went through 3 large containers of salt within a week or so.

I also left out bowls of water in the corners of the room. I found this method worked best if the water bowl was placed near a light or heat source. A table lamp works best. The heat confuses them into thinking its a blood host and the fleas Jump into the bowl and cannot get out again. I would find at least 5 in each bowl every morning.

Within a week or so they was all gone. You have to be vigilant with the Hoover though. Remember to put a flea collar or some salt inside of the Hoover to make sure they are dead.

Good luck!

We had a terrible flea problem in the summer, despite frontline. I think the cheaper internet bought stuff is inferior!

We solved the problem by using vet bought frontline. Hovered house top to bottom inc sofa, went round all edges/skirting etc. Washed all bedding (ours and cats) and sprayed every 10 days with Indorex. Hoover well in between sprays. I would start in the corner of the room, go round edge then cover floor backing towards door, with a mask on. (wasn't preggers at the time but still.....) then go out fir a few hours.

Keep on top of the cat treatment every month.

Meant to say, I have had dogs and cats all my life and I have never seen flea eggs til the summer! I combed the cat in the corner(empty) bath every few days, and gave him a good rub. Plenty of flea eggs and poops come off and you can wash them down the plug hole.

Ive recently had fled at 32w. Dp bought spray from pet store & went around the edges of the room. Cats bedding washed hot daily.

We were late getting vet treatment due to useless flea spray over the counter so in the waiting time to use vet product, I twice daily nit combed my cat! Dip comb into a takeaway container of warm water/washing up liquid. Check comb at every sweep as the buggers will try & get away but once they're in the water they die. I found it helpful to wipe comb on kitchen roll to remove hair/waste before re-dipping it in water for another comb. Cat disliked it but knew she would get treats afterwards

By the time we could use vet stuff we were almost free! Had relapse 2 weeks later, 4 fleas, another room blitzed with hoover & were good again!

Good luck!

Actually I think we had something different last time..... Broadline maybe?

Advocate works for us. We treat the cats, hoover everywhere, hot wash bedding/anywhere they've been sleeping and let the cats go where they usually would in the house so they spread the Advocate around. Most effective treatment.

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