Fleas?

Zigana said:

I use Simple Solutions, purchased at Wail-Mart in the pet department, which has the same natural ingredients, peppermint and clove. So far my tarantulas and true spiders have survived the spraying of furniture, etc. I take the dogs and cat outside to spray then let them come back in. When I spray furniture I cover the large enclosures with a heavy t-shirt and move the other lighter enclosures to another room. Once in awhile I'll just do a quick spray where a pet has laid and not move any of them just cover. I think the only way it may bother them is if the spray actually got on the tarantula. The smell of peppermint in the air don't seem to face or harm mine at all.

This is the only product that I am finding that works. The popular brands other then flea shampoo is not killing this year. Monthly spot on dog and cat treatment not working either, I have tried several brands. I also talked to the vet who said they are getting calls daily about the flea products not working.

I have used a low depth foil pan that I first put dawn dish soap in then fill with hot water that I put in one small room that had an infestation for some unknown reason. No pets in there nothing but anyway this has worked very well. The hot water they are attracted to because of heat and the dawn soap makes the water heavy so the fleas sink instead of hopping back out. Works very well for a small room.

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xkris said:

frontline plus for dog and cats. tried these collars, they are fine as repellant if you dont really have many fleas. but if you have a major flea problem, you need some stronger stuff.

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Scuttlebutt said:

I use a stronger flea treatment on my cat called revolution. It only gets on my cat's skin once per month, plus I wash my hands afterward applying and avoid doing anything with the inverts for the rest of the day. I've never had any problems.

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HorrorPhD said:

As a LVT (Licensed Veterinary Technician) by trade, let me give you the rundown on fleas.

First off - the fleas you see are only a very small percentage of the infestation - about 5-10%. The rest are all in different life stages on your pet or throughout your home. In order to eradicate the infestation, you have to break the life cycle. That's challenging, because one of the stages of the life cycle could practically survive a nuclear bomb, lol.

Flea collars are pretty worthless, natural or otherwise. All they do is repel fleas from around the pet's neck. The other body parts are fair game.

Flea bombs are also worthless as they won't kill those fleas in the pupa stage (the stage that's almost impossible to kill), so you'll still have hatch outs.

To break the cycle, you'll need to treat all the mammals in the home for 3 consecutive months (more if you can) with a vet approved product. I'm not knocking the natural approach - but I've yet to see any of them be truly effective long term. The previously mentioned Revolution is my go-to of choice if you have cats. In regards to your inverts, you should wear gloves when you apply the product, and don't let kitties come in contact with your inverts or your feeders for a good 24-48 hours after the product is applied. Revolution is alcohol based, so there's no greasy residue like with Frontline that lingers on the coat. Wash your hands if you do anything with your inverts after interacting with your treated pets, especially if you're handling feeders. If your vet has it, you can also go with the safest route - an oral medication (no residue at all on the coat that could threaten your inverts). Currently the only one approved for cats is Comfortis.

To speed the process, you can also become as diligent as possible with your house cleaning. Wash linens and other bedding weekly, especially pet beds. Fleas do everything on the animal - eating, pooping, breeding...and when your animal walks, flea eggs and feces get deposited wherever the pet goes...sort of like a gross little flea salt and pepper shaker. Sweep and vacuum regularly, especially behind and under couches, beds...anywhere that's dark - that's where fleas like to go when they're not on the pet.

I despise fleas with a passion, as I have a small herd of cats myself. I've yet to have a problem with flea treatments by being extra careful. Good luck!

~Jen

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