How do I get rid of fleas in my house?

Question

We moved into a house 4-5 months ago. We have an inside cat and all of the sudden I noticed he had fleas all over her. I flipped out because we have a newborn and a 2 year old. I don't want fleas on them! I suppose the old owners must have had a serious flee problem before and I know they had a cat. I took the cat to the vet and they gave her a flea dip/bath, but there was fleas on her when I picker her up. I also had the house treated professionally at the same time. I then put on Frontline and gave her one of those vet pills that kill fleas. Guess what? She still has fleas, not a lot but I still see 1-3 when I comb her with the flee comb. So I had the flee company come back and I just checked her again(she is staying in the basement) and found a couple more fleas...are they eventually going to go away? PLease help!!!!!

Answer 1

Frontline is a safe product to use on your cat. It worked for my 10 cats!

Answer 2

call the exterminator

Answer 3

Go to the Grocery store and in the laundry ale is a powdered detergent called Borax.  sprinkle it around the house, the inside of the house (behind the couch or something).

Answer 4

Flea eggs get in the carpet and hatch when it is warm.  Vacuum often.  Make sure the screen vents to under the house are not broken and cats are not living there.

Answer 5

Sprinkle salt on the floor

Answer 6

I will give you my remedy. Most people won't recommend it but hey..it works.  Go to Walmart or some supercenter ..go to the lawn and garden section and buy some Seven Dust...its ment to kill bugs on your lawn/plants/animals. Find a day when NOBODY will be home, or plan a day out...sprinkle the WHOLE house with this stuff ..take a broom and sweep the carpet to make the dust go down into it. Also cover your cat in it (yes its made for animals to..kills the fleas). At night..vacuum the house...perfectly...go back and forth.get everything up. You should have no problem after this (I haven't and did it 6 mo ago).  Its not recommended to use indoors because of breathing it/kids...but if you just leave windows and doors open when you vacuum and nobody is home its fine I promise.  Just as long as you get it all up. Also, when done vacuuming, throw the bag out or clean the container if no bag..cause if there are live fleas..they will get right back out.  Use the dust in your house and yard, and it should be fine. Good Luck

Answer 7

bomb the house

Answer 8

They may be getting in from outside.  Have you treated your lawn?

Answer 9

the frontline doesnt keep the fleas off of her what it does is prevents the flea eggs from hatching so it minimizes them that way. You might have to bomb the house again

Answer 10

Its crazy but spinkle salt on the floors.the fleas will eat it and swell up and die.

Answer 11

there is something called an insect bomb it will kill all of the fleas(take ur cat out of the basement and close off all entries) then let it air out for about 2-3 days before putting ur cat back in there u can get it at hardware stores or other stores.CONSULT PEST CONTOL FOR FURTHER DIRECTIONS BEFORE USE

Answer 12

Oh my. I had this same problem in a house we were living in. When you had your home treated did they also spray the basement? I found out that the flea eggs can also get in concrete and then re-hatch as they feel the warmth of you or your pets. You may also want to have the yard treated. We had to have everything treated inside and out before we finally got rid of them. Our children were very small also so I know how you feel.  I use advantage now, and if I treat the cats then as any fleas that  get on them will then die. Fleas can come into the house on you from the yard as the yard may have fleas from other neighborhood pets that are outside or walked by. Oh, and also get rid of your vacuum bag and put a new one in. Hope this might help you. Good luck.

Answer 13

The reason that your kitty still has fleas is because products like advantage or Frontline kill the flea AFTER it bites the cat. No biting the cat......... no killing the flea.

Fleas have 4 stages to their life cycle......egg larvae, pupa and adult. The advantage or frontline kills the adult flea. That leaves the egg, larvae, and pupa.

When the pest control company is dispensing their *stuff* they are only killing the adult fleas

The laundry booster Borax is one of the best long term flea solving products. Buy a box ( found in the laundry  detergent section of  your store)and poke small holes in the box to make it like a salt shaker. Vacuum all the infected parts of your living area and make sure that bag stays outside when you are finished. Then sprinkle Borax into the carpets and broom it in whenever it looks heavy. In fact since you may have a toddler crawling around,  lightly broom it into the fibers.  It will work its way down to the pad and kill any eggs and larvae that might be residing there.

You will need to reapply Borax every time that you vacuum for the next several weeks. Borax will dry out the eggs, the larvae will eat the borax and die. That leaves the pupa. A nuclear blast wouldn't kill the flea in its pupa stage. Therefore you will need to *wait it out* until the pupa hatches as an adult flea........ bits the cat............ and then dies.

Once you get this under control you should continue to use Borax at least once per month and you will probably never see a flea again.

Good Luck!

Answer 14

Fleas are tough to get rid of but I saw a thing on the DIY network that said to vacuum your floors with moth balls in the bag and empty it when you're done and to shake salt onto your carpets in between vacuums.  They said the salty diet would kill the fleas.  I haven't tried it myself (we don't have a flea problem - yet), but the DIY network usually has great tips so I'd give it a try!

PS They didn't say to use the salt idea on furniture like sofas and such but I don't know why it wouldn't work on that too.

Answer 15

DO NOT PUT SEVEN DUST ON YOUR CAT!! IT is highly toxic and more than likely will kill the cat. I don't even use seven dust in my yard because I have 2 dogs that go out. Plus Seven dust is not good to use around your kids either. If you use anything on your carpet, try diatamaceous earth which is all natural and kills the fleas. Vacuum well after 24 hours. Or there are several household sprays you can use, but no one should be around them until it dries thoroughly.  

You also need to treat outside, because you can bring fleas in on your clothes and shoes.

Also, do not use moth balls in the vacuum, it can emit toxic fumes. If you want to use something, try a flea collar in the vacuum bag.