Infestation of the Fleas!

Alright so this post is obviously about everyones favorite topic! Fleas! :roll: I told my friend that I would post on here for her, and I actually wasn't sure where I should post it, it involves 3 cats, 1 dog and a rabbit. Anyway...
My friend Ann has a flea infestation at her house, her 3 cats (Patches, Casper and Neptune), her dog (Curls) and her rabbit, Alice all have fleas. (I didn't even know rabbits could get fleas.) I've helped her do everything we can think of to get rid of them, we've given all her animals flea baths, which was no small task, doused the carpets and furniture with flea powder and vaccumed it up, used flea spray, flea combs, flea drops that the vet said were the best bet.. they all have flea collars (except Alice) which we changed recently, and even tried not using, but nothing seems to work.
The only thing we can think of is that our neighborhood is flea infested, because Rocky has to go for a walk once or twice a day, this is not something we can just stop doing! All dogs need their exercise. The other problem is that someone Casper and Neptune manage to get out of the house also. But only for short periods of time. The only one we managed to get the fleas off of was Alice, and now she has to be confined to one room where the rest of the animals can't go. Confinement is the only thing we can think of, but that's not something we want to do, is there anything else that anyone can think of? I feel bad for my friend because she's spent so much money on Flea products and put so much effort into this and nothing's helping!

 

Whew! That's no fun! Did yall throw away the vacuum bag immediately? Have you treated the yard for fleas? And what "drops" did you use? If you did the first two and used a quality product like Frontline, I am all out of suggestions. And quarantining an animal probably won't work because fleas can ride in on anyone that comes and goes and they can travel on their own a great distance. But good luck anyway! :y_the_best:

 

I would think if she were using the drops from the vet (Advantage or Frontline) the fleas would be dying as soon as they got on the animal as that is what these products do.
Does she live in an apartment?
I ask cause years ago (prior to the drops through the vets were invented - see I am old :roll: ) we lived in an apt. and I simply could not get rid of the fleas. I spent a fortune on flea products for my cats, carpet, bedding, etc. And still the fleas kept on coming. I would bomb the place with stuff I bought from the vet (putting Tami in the basement for the day - each apt. had their own basement). I'd go home from work wash the bedding, vacuum everything, etc. A week later fleas.
Come to find out our neighbor had gotten 2 kittens from a friend whose barn cat had a litter - the kittens had fleas and my neighbor wasn't doing anything about them so the fleas were actually going under the wall into our apt. Can only imagine the fleas in their apt. The ones that went under the wall probably had to move due to overcrowded conditions :mrgreen:
anyway we moved....fleas stopped.
If all else fails...EXTERMINATOR time - except the animals can't be there when they are fumagating.

 

Well, she actually lives in a house so I don't think that other animals are the problem. I guess she's using Hartz for the fleas, maybe the vet stuff will work better? I didn't even think about throwing away the vaccum bag! That was the last thing I would have thought of. Thanks everyone I'll let my friend know and I'll keep you posted.

 

F.Y.I. -
Hartz flea drops for cats seems to have caused many problems with cats and I highly recommend not using it. My vet even warned about it on the News a few years ago. I personally know of 2 (in seperate house holds) cats that had seizures shortly after it was applied. And, if I remember correctly there was once or still is a website called "hartz victims" or something to that effect because of the numerous cats that have been affected.

Definately suggest that she try the vet stuff. Is safer and more effective.

 

I used to give my cats the Hartz collars and Pumpkin always got very sick (2-3 weeks) after using it. It must be very toxic to our kitties. Our other cats did fine on it. Hartz does not work on extra tough or mutated fleas. :mrgreen: Try Frontline or Advantage instead.

 

hartz products are not only a waste of money but toxic. Your friend is better off spending a little more money and getting something safe at the vets...and it'll work too.
Or order online it'll cost less. Advantage, frontline something like that.
Hartz is finally being taken off the market due to animals dying from it

 

I would use Frontline (from the vet), with a very heavy infestation it can take a couple of months (2-3) to get rid of them all but after that you shouldnt have a problem, be very careful if your also using products on the bedding and carpets, some chenicals may react to what your using on the pets (check with a vet the best combination to use). Ive also seen severe problems with over the counter chemical products, including a tiny tea cup poodle that died shortly after the owner put on a store bought product, the dog went into seizures and we couldnt save it. As for flea collars....all they do is chase the fleas to the other end of the pet, Ive seen some pretty nasty mouth abscesses on cats that have trie to get them off but they got stuck between the jaws.
I think when you use Frontline or Advantage you shouldnt bathe the pet (or let them jump into a pool or anything)for 48 hours before and 48 hours after then its okay to bathe them.

 

http://www.auspet.com/forum/about11091.html

use frontline...killed my fleas in 24hrs...and most of the ones in the house are gone!! i didnt even use anything in the house..just vaccuumed every day ...