Help! Fleas!

[scarletwoman]

Hi guys!
We have been infested with fleas for the last few days and don't know how to get rid of them! We have 5 cats and they've all been treated with 'Advocate' from the vet about a week ago. They spend the day in the garden but spend the night indoors. We have hoovered all the rooms every day since we started seeing the fleas on us and on the sofa. We have also tried an old can of 'Staykill' but I think maybe it was too old and there was no result. Yesterday I went to the vet and purchased a can of 'RIP Fleas'. Again, sprayed everywhere, then went to work, cats were out. We come back in the evening, it's still full of fleas, even in the bedroom where the cats don't even go! Do we just keep spraying every day or is this stuff still not working?
Anyone got any idea? Thanks for your help!

[pastafreak]

RIP is great stuff...it saved me a few years ago. But you have to spray EVERYWHERE....even where the cats don't go. And you need to keep vacuming...several times a day . It will take time...but you should start to see results. The RIP will kill the living fleas so no more eggs will be laid.

[Messalina]

Try a flea bomb. Bob Martin do one for about a fiver & they do work.

[Greedyfly]

We had this problem when I first got my kitten. I am allergic to many things, so we treated him with flea/worm drops and hoovered everything in the house and sprayed it with Lavender - apparently fleas hate Lavender and it worked. Not a single flea left and nothing to irritate my allergies.

[daffy654]

The fleas in the bedroom will have been carried there by you and anyone else who has been in there. You need to spray everywhere, right into skirting boards and under furniture etc. Don't hoover immediately after spraying, leave it at least 8 hours to allow the spray to work first.

[Greedyfly]

I personally have not found a high street product that has worked. The Lavender did wonders and smells nice too and isn't dangerous for the kitties or any children you may have etc...

[pastafreak]

RIP is good because the effects will last 6 months. Any eggs laid or fleas brought in will continue to be killed. That-along with Frontline will really do the trick.

[rowanwitch]

Essential oils including lavender can be toxic to pets especially cats due to their livers working differently to ours... even inhalation, as would happen if you were putting it on carpets etc can be risky it used to be considered ok but now there are lots of people advising extreme caution
one quite sensibe webite can be accessed as follows http://cats.about.com...ng/a/aromatherapy.htm

I do not know of any really good research on aromatherapy oils ad their benefits/dangers as far as I am aware there have been scientific trials only fairly weak poorly designed studies mostly quite subjective qualitative and done by aromatherapists so unlikely to be without bias. These have either been in humans or test tube studies where lavender for example seemed to be cytotoxic ie it killed cells,
I love aromatherapy as it seems to help with a number of things but cats are physiologically very different to us and what is good for you might be bad for Tiddles

[maggie01]

If it is that bad then I would get someone in to spray the house. Probably not cheap but better than fleas.

[RATTER15]

Search for my replies on this subject, ive written a few, I was a pest controller for 13 years.

[Greedyfly]

I used lavender water - cat is safe, alive and well and my house is flea free. If and when we get infested I have always used this method. Different things work for different people I guess. I don't like using the pet shop chemicals.

[cupid04]

Your local council should be able to deal with this problem for you. We had our house
fumigated courtesy of our local council.It should come off your rates. I also found
that the best flea treatment for cats is Advantage.

[scarletwoman]

Thanks for your answers. I have used the RIP everywhere in the bedroom and as much as I could in other parts of the house. The bedroom seems to be flea-free. Have bought lavender water spray that i used on myself and on sofa and soft furnishings. The cats dont seem to have a problem with it. There are still a few fleas in the lounge but i will respray RIP in there as soon as i get a day off.
Thanks again!