Need Advice For Flea Infestation

Hi everyone. I've been lurking and you all seem to be so helpful to those
who need advice and I really need some. For about two weeks now, our whole
family has been miserable. We have an indoor cat (no other animals) who has
fleas. It is getting worse. Our legs are full of flea bites, my kids wake up
during the night scratching so bad that I usually give them anti-itch cream
along with Benadryl (it's THAT bad). We allow our cat to sleep wherever he
pleases. He will sometimes sleep with my husband and I, or with the
children, sometimes in his own bed, floor, sofa..whatever is comfortable for
him.

Now no one wants to even be around our cat because we're miserable from the
fleas. We lay on the sofa and see them jumping on us!! Today I went to the
store and purchased a pack of 3 of the Raid Flea Foggers and we plan to fog
the house tomorrow and leave for a couple of hours, bringing the cat to a
neighbor's house of course.

Does anyone have any success with the foggers? Should we also purchase the
Frontline/Advantage? Any advice or suggestions are so much appreciated. I
also vacuum the carpets every other day, wash our sheets and blankets
constantly, bathed the cat in the Hartz flea shampoo (from Walmart, we can't
afford too much right now) and have seen the fleas fall off in the tub. He
snuck out into our garage a couple of times when the door was open and that
is the only way I can see that he got these darned fleas. The cat is
miserable, constantly scratching. I don't want to buy the wrong thing, so if
you can help me with this I'd appreciate it.

Thank you!!

"kittenluver" wrote in message
...
\
Does anyone have any success with the foggers?

I'm assuming that's what I know as a flea bomb. Yes, I bombed my house more
than 18 months ago and haven't had a flea bite since.

Should we also purchase the
Frontline/Advantage?


Yes - once you rid the house of fleas, you also have to rid the cat of fleas
and ensure it remains free of them. If it's an indoor/outdoor cat it will
continuously be exposed to fleas, so you will need to treat it with a
preventive such as Frontline or Advantage every month to keep them away.

Any advice or suggestions are so much appreciated. I
also vacuum the carpets every other day, wash our sheets and blankets
constantly, bathed the cat in the Hartz flea shampoo (from Walmart, we
can't
afford too much right now) and have seen the fleas fall off in the tub. He
snuck out into our garage a couple of times when the door was open and
that
is the only way I can see that he got these darned fleas. The cat is
miserable, constantly scratching. I don't want to buy the wrong thing, so
if
you can help me with this I'd appreciate it.


Follow the instructions on the flea bomb to the letter, follow the
instructions on the Frontline or Advantage to the letter and you'll be fine.
One other thing, if your house is really badly infested you'll probably need
several flea bombs and I recommend you do what I did - open up all the
upholstery, linen, blankets etc to make sure as much surface area as
possible is exposed to the mist. For example, if your couches have removable
seat cushions, take the cushions off and prop them up next to the couch to
ensure the mist gets right into the nooks and crannies of the couch. If you
don't, you can be certain some of the little buggers will somehow survive!

"kittenluver" wrote in message
...
\
Does anyone have any success with the foggers?

I'm assuming that's what I know as a flea bomb. Yes, I bombed my house more
than 18 months ago and haven't had a flea bite since.

Should we also purchase the
Frontline/Advantage?


Yes - once you rid the house of fleas, you also have to rid the cat of fleas
and ensure it remains free of them. If it's an indoor/outdoor cat it will
continuously be exposed to fleas, so you will need to treat it with a
preventive such as Frontline or Advantage every month to keep them away.

Any advice or suggestions are so much appreciated. I
also vacuum the carpets every other day, wash our sheets and blankets
constantly, bathed the cat in the Hartz flea shampoo (from Walmart, we
can't
afford too much right now) and have seen the fleas fall off in the tub. He
snuck out into our garage a couple of times when the door was open and
that
is the only way I can see that he got these darned fleas. The cat is
miserable, constantly scratching. I don't want to buy the wrong thing, so
if
you can help me with this I'd appreciate it.


Follow the instructions on the flea bomb to the letter, follow the
instructions on the Frontline or Advantage to the letter and you'll be fine.
One other thing, if your house is really badly infested you'll probably need
several flea bombs and I recommend you do what I did - open up all the
upholstery, linen, blankets etc to make sure as much surface area as
possible is exposed to the mist. For example, if your couches have removable
seat cushions, take the cushions off and prop them up next to the couch to
ensure the mist gets right into the nooks and crannies of the couch. If you
don't, you can be certain some of the little buggers will somehow survive!

Does anyone have any success with the foggers? Should we also purchase the
Frontline/Advantage? Any advice or suggestions are so much appreciated. I
also vacuum the carpets every other day, wash our sheets and blankets
constantly, bathed the cat in the Hartz flea shampoo (from Walmart, we can't
afford too much right now) and have seen the fleas fall off in the tub. He
snuck out into our garage a couple of times when the door was open and that
is the only way I can see that he got these darned fleas. The cat is
miserable, constantly scratching. I don't want to buy the wrong thing, so if
you can help me with this I'd appreciate it.

Thank you!!

We have a rental that ended up with a bad flea infestation a couple weeks after
the tenants moved out. Probably eggs that hatched after they left..anyway we
used the foggers and it worked like a charm. OTOH, I knew the house was going
to be empty for at least 2 weeks or I would have worried about the safety of
the product...be very careful with it. Treat your kitty with Advantage, or
Frontline, or Revolution. It might also be a good idea to spray the perimeter
of your house. You can actually bring fleas in on your socks/pantslegs if your
grass is badly infested. Good luck. (Another suggestion is, your cat probably
has tapeworms from being infested with fleas. It wouldn't hurt to treat him for
that also)

Sherry

Does anyone have any success with the foggers? Should we also purchase the
Frontline/Advantage? Any advice or suggestions are so much appreciated. I
also vacuum the carpets every other day, wash our sheets and blankets
constantly, bathed the cat in the Hartz flea shampoo (from Walmart, we can't
afford too much right now) and have seen the fleas fall off in the tub. He
snuck out into our garage a couple of times when the door was open and that
is the only way I can see that he got these darned fleas. The cat is
miserable, constantly scratching. I don't want to buy the wrong thing, so if
you can help me with this I'd appreciate it.

Thank you!!

We have a rental that ended up with a bad flea infestation a couple weeks after
the tenants moved out. Probably eggs that hatched after they left..anyway we
used the foggers and it worked like a charm. OTOH, I knew the house was going
to be empty for at least 2 weeks or I would have worried about the safety of
the product...be very careful with it. Treat your kitty with Advantage, or
Frontline, or Revolution. It might also be a good idea to spray the perimeter
of your house. You can actually bring fleas in on your socks/pantslegs if your
grass is badly infested. Good luck. (Another suggestion is, your cat probably
has tapeworms from being infested with fleas. It wouldn't hurt to treat him for
that also)

Sherry

Sherry and Ashley,

Thank you so much for your advice and suggestions. The family was up all
night (again) with the itching and today I am definitely going to use the
foggers/bombs and remove the cushions to the sofa (not something I would
have thought to do so thanks for that advice). I also didn't think about the
tapeworms. Do you normally purchase the Advantage, Frontline, or Revolution
online or through your vet? I saw it was about $40 through Petco, is that
about the average price?

As you can tell I've never had a cat before so I have so many questions.

I'll definitely be careful with the foggers. I don't want kitty getting ill
from the chemicals. We may have to put him with a sitter for a couple of
days just to be safe.



We have a rental that ended up with a bad flea infestation a couple weeks
after
the tenants moved out. Probably eggs that hatched after they left..anyway
we
used the foggers and it worked like a charm. OTOH, I knew the house was
going
to be empty for at least 2 weeks or I would have worried about the safety
of
the product...be very careful with it. Treat your kitty with Advantage, or
Frontline, or Revolution. It might also be a good idea to spray the
perimeter
of your house. You can actually bring fleas in on your socks/pantslegs if
your
grass is badly infested. Good luck. (Another suggestion is, your cat
probably
has tapeworms from being infested with fleas. It wouldn't hurt to treat
him for
that also)

Sherry

Sherry and Ashley,

Thank you so much for your advice and suggestions. The family was up all
night (again) with the itching and today I am definitely going to use the
foggers/bombs and remove the cushions to the sofa (not something I would
have thought to do so thanks for that advice). I also didn't think about the
tapeworms. Do you normally purchase the Advantage, Frontline, or Revolution
online or through your vet? I saw it was about $40 through Petco, is that
about the average price?

As you can tell I've never had a cat before so I have so many questions.

I'll definitely be careful with the foggers. I don't want kitty getting ill
from the chemicals. We may have to put him with a sitter for a couple of
days just to be safe.



We have a rental that ended up with a bad flea infestation a couple weeks
after
the tenants moved out. Probably eggs that hatched after they left..anyway
we
used the foggers and it worked like a charm. OTOH, I knew the house was
going
to be empty for at least 2 weeks or I would have worried about the safety
of
the product...be very careful with it. Treat your kitty with Advantage, or
Frontline, or Revolution. It might also be a good idea to spray the
perimeter
of your house. You can actually bring fleas in on your socks/pantslegs if
your
grass is badly infested. Good luck. (Another suggestion is, your cat
probably
has tapeworms from being infested with fleas. It wouldn't hurt to treat
him for
that also)

Sherry

"kittenluver" wrote in message
...
..... Do you normally purchase the Advantage, Frontline, or Revolution
online or through your vet? I saw it was about $40 through Petco, is that
about the average price?
....
Kittenluver,
If you get Revolution, it will take care of both fleas and tapeworms, as
well as ear mites or other parasites your cat may have picked up.
Otherwise, it would be a good idea to treat for tapeworms if you treat for
fleas separately. You have to know your cat's weight to get the correct
dose.
In addition to your other actions, I would suggest that you buy a flea
collar and put it in the filter bag of your vaccuum cleaner.
Do not put a flea collar or over-the-counter flea products on your cat.
They tend to be ineffective and some are known to be harmful.
We always purchase parasite prevention product from our vet. We have used
Advantage and liked it. Now we use Revolution because it takes care of a
variety of parasites, including heartworm, which we have in this area.
Good luck.
Annie

"kittenluver" wrote in message
...
..... Do you normally purchase the Advantage, Frontline, or Revolution
online or through your vet? I saw it was about $40 through Petco, is that
about the average price?
....
Kittenluver,
If you get Revolution, it will take care of both fleas and tapeworms, as
well as ear mites or other parasites your cat may have picked up.
Otherwise, it would be a good idea to treat for tapeworms if you treat for
fleas separately. You have to know your cat's weight to get the correct
dose.
In addition to your other actions, I would suggest that you buy a flea
collar and put it in the filter bag of your vaccuum cleaner.
Do not put a flea collar or over-the-counter flea products on your cat.
They tend to be ineffective and some are known to be harmful.
We always purchase parasite prevention product from our vet. We have used
Advantage and liked it. Now we use Revolution because it takes care of a
variety of parasites, including heartworm, which we have in this area.
Good luck.
Annie

"kittenluver" wrote in message
...
Sherry and Ashley,

Thank you so much for your advice and suggestions. The family was up all
night (again) with the itching and today I am definitely going to use the
foggers/bombs and remove the cushions to the sofa (not something I would
have thought to do so thanks for that advice). I also didn't think about
the
tapeworms. Do you normally purchase the Advantage, Frontline, or
Revolution
online or through your vet? I saw it was about $40 through Petco, is that
about the average price?

A quick search of shopping.yahoo.com turned up Revolution for
$30.39 for a 3 pack, plus whatever shipping is, on the other hand,
a search for Frontline turns it up for a little under $20. Advantage
is about $24 for 4 doses. So after you factor in shipping and
convenience, $40 doesn't seem too unreasonable.