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OT: fleas – Ack!!
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A friend gave us a sofa & we are beginning to suspect that it had some flea eggs or something! We do have 2 dogs OUTside so it’s possible that the ickies came from them. Does anyone know a natural or least-toxic way to deal with fleas in the house? We do not have carpet, just cloth furnishings. But we do have a crawling baby who puts everything in her mouth! & just the thought/suspicion makes me itch all over…
Oh my, I feel your pain! We brought items from a rental home to our home a few years ago and then realized the home was flea infested:( We have a dog who got them from the items, and we were getting bites. It was awful. I hate anything toxic and DID NOT want to flea bomb so researched natural ideas and started putting baking soda/salt on the carpet and vacuumimg. I also tried natural food grade diotomaceous earth….people eat it to cleanse…but not good to breathe….I wouldn’t put down w/a baby crawling. I washed all beddings every week in hot water. This kept them at bay somewhat but we COULD NOT get rid of them:(
I finally decided the least toxic alternative for our family was to give the dog a flea pill (Comfortis, I think). It kills any fleas that land on them for one month. Fleas prefer animals to people so they land on the dog and then they die. It only took a few weeks or so and we were flea-free! Would totally do that again if we have the issue. I worked so hard for a year trying the other methods…it was a headache and we had to warn company coming over….YUCK! But I like the pill better than a flea treatment on the dogs because I don’t want the kids touching the toxin.
Just what worked for us. Good luck!! Blessings, Gina
pyrethrin is the natural pesticide (permethrin is the synthetic). Get either a pyrethrin concentrate and mix yourself or get a one already done for you.
Also, according to our vet, DAWN kills fleas, but it is much slower in doing so. If they were in teh funiture, I’d get the pyrethrin.
Just be wise in using it, as it is one of the strongest natural pesticides available. Use mask and gloves, open windows, etc.
For the animals, if you can get a garlic clove into them, that’s supposed to help with prevention.
bethana, sorry to hear you are going through this. I don’t have any advice, but wanted to say good luck and – love the garlic clove tip, Rachel — thanks!
Instead of spraying everything, we use the comfortis pill also – very sparingly. I only use it when needed – not every 30 days. It really cuts down on the fleas everywhere when the dogs don’t have fleas. I also find that daily vacuuming (yuck! this is very hard for me to keep up with LOL) and setting a flea trap at night in affected areas really works – a pie plate of water with a bit of soap in it with a small lamp focused on the water in a dark room (overnight) – the fleas are attracted to the light I guess and jump in the soapy water, can’t get out and drown. You may have to be diligent for a couple of weeks. and then do it all again if there are eggs left that hatch and you have another round of fleas. But keep it up and eventually you will be rid of them.
The flea pill is expensive, $18 a pill – but I have a vet that will sell me single pills so I don’t have to buy a whole box at a time. Also I buy a bigger pill and break it up to have smaller dosages for my smaller dogs. You might call around and find a vet that will sell them that way.
good luck:)
Gem, you’re lucky you can buy one at a time….I think we had to buy 6 ($10ea). I was also very conservative…just used the one pill and didn’t use any more…
Bethanna, I have two options here for you:
using a pyrethrin concentrate for you to dilute yourself from Southern Ag; it’s the more economical way, but some people are uncomfortable doing it. Here’s the product info. that comes with the product:
http://www.southernag.com/docs/labels_msds/pyrthrn.pdf
Here’s a pre-mixed all natural pet bedding spray, you can probably pick up at Petsmart or Wal Mart: http://naturalchemistry.com/Pet_amp_Home_1/Products_1/DeFlea_Pet_amp_Bedding_Spray.html
Thank you all! My sister read that coating the fabric furnishings with salt for 24 hours will dehydrate the eggs. So we are trying that first for the sofa. If it doesn’t work, we will use these suggestions. Thank you again!
So sorry, Bethanna! Fleas are horrible. I’ve lived through two flea infestations in my adult life. The worst one, believe it or not, was when we lived in a house with no carpet. I learned then that since our house had old, yet refinished, wood floors and there were tiny spaces between the floorboards, the flea eggs were hiding in there. The keys to success are to vacuum, vacuum, vacuum (floors and furniture) every night; wash bedding, wash bedding, wash bedding, every few days if you have a pet who has access to the beds; and keep the house as cool as you can afford for a couple of weeks. The coolness keeps the eggs from hatching and if you are vacuuming everything every day, you will get them all before they can hatch.
The first infestation was the worst because I was having to learn as I went along…7 months pregnant, a husband who was working constantly and a 2 and 4 year old. It was exhausting! The second time we got fleas (last summer) I knew just what to do and we licked it fast. I do recommend the natural spray from walmart. I’d vacuum everything before bed and spray the couch and the floor near the baseboards afterwards so that there’s no chance of human contact with the spray before it dries. You will want to vacuum your mattresses well, at least once, not neglecting the seams, and spray the mattresses as well.
I sure hope you can beat this soon! Fleas are just awful!!
We battled fleas two years ago and tried the natural route as others have, using food grade DE and vacuuming. We still couldn’t get on top of the situation. Ended up that using Frontline on our pets worked to eventually kill everything. I really didn’t want to bomb the house so thankfully, the Frontline worked. I remember feeling so exhausted just thinking about it though. Our two cats would lie down on EVERYTHING, including open clothes bins in the attic.
We also have an old house, with large cracks in our floorboards!
Just wanted to let you know that the Pyrethrin mix my hubby used with the Southern Ag Natural Pyrethrin was 16 ox. of Pyrethrin, then fill up the 1 gall. sprayer till the 1 gall. line. It’s a 2 parts pyrethrin to 9 prts. water. He sprayed each room – furniture, carpet, beds – we closed up the room for 2 hours. We have done one treatment and it has been substantailly different. We are going to do my son’s room one more time, since his is where the dog with the worse case is.
I recommend it. We also bathed out dog in a pyrethrin/sufur mix for fleas and mites. Pyrethrin is not for use on cats.
I too really dislike chemicals and unnatural treatments for things. We’ve battled fleas twice, and Advantage was the only thing to work, and quick! I felt guilty about using it the first time, but the second time we got fleas I went straight to it, and they were gone in days, from one little application. No bombs or powders or having to wash everything in the house.
Rachel
We battled fleas in a previous home. I went to Home Depoot or Lowe’s for a treatment and was advised that Borax works well. That’s what we used. I haven’t read all the previous posts, but just wanted to suggest you treat your vehicles too, as fleas can transfer easily.
I battled fleas for six months before I found what worked. I put Advantix II one the dog and bought some mix to spread on the yard and they were gone quick. If you want to know what the mix was I can check. I promise you I tried EVERYTHING!!! I tried Borax, flea bombs, Frontline, flea spray from Tractor Supply(don’t remember the name), apple cider vinegar in the water bowl, and many more things that I found online that was supposed to “work” but nothing did until I got the mix to spread on the yard. You only have to do it every 6 months and the first sign of them returning, I go straight and get the mix(and use Advantix monthly)and they are gone fast!!
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