Fleas!

Our cat has them, the one who lives upstairs, so no clue how he would get them. I've only had a flea problem once with the 6 pets we've had over the last 20 some years and that was with dogs. I got a product that had orange oil that killed the fleas fast, but cats can't tolerate a lot of the essential oils.

Since I haven't had to deal with them much, I haven't learned about alternative treatments. Do any of you know of any? The vet associated with Mercola has a repellent spray that I might get, but I need something to take care of the other life cycles. One site suggested boric acid on upholstered furniture and carpets and I've seen other odds and ends of suggestions. I'd just like to hear from someone who has used alternatives for cats. I'll ask a couple of the holistic pet stores and I'll get a flea comb.

Yesterday I gave him a bath with Dr. Bonners soap, which is a coconut oil base and I brushed and brushed him outside on the deck and let him dry off in the sun since it was warm out. Fortunately, we don't have much furniture where he lives, so I vacuumed good all over and today I'll take my steamer and go all over with that. I'd rather just crawl back in bed.

Thanks LG. I know cats are much more sensitive than dogs. I meant to say borax, not boric acid. I am so tired from all I had to do yesterday, when I wasn't feeling very energetic to begin with.

We have a central vacuum system, so they probably don't survive the trip to the garage.

He loves to be vacuumed too, so I hope that is getting some off him. He'd let me do it all day if I wanted to! I'll try to do it twice a day since it can help in other ways.

I goofed on the soap name too. I need a looong nap! It's Kirk's Castile original coco, fragrance free. I also have a coconut shampoo bar that I could use. Both are good for his skin.

I read that some people use coconut oil topically to smother the critters and to sooth their skin too. He'd just spend all day licking it off, so it wouldn't do him any good. He's such a laid back guy and puts up with a lot, so I'm not clawed to pieces. That was his first bath yesterday and he didn't fight it too much. I'll let him rest up today and do another tomorrow.

Hopefully the fleas aren't carrying Lyme disease.

Food grade diatomaceous earth worked wonders for our super fleas that wouldn't go away (we have a dog with a flea allergy so not even one flea is okay). You have to leave it out for a few days on carpets and such so it gets in there before vacuuming it up, but it works. Then repeat a few times to get new fleas as they hatch - it's not instant. Now we just use it in case every so often.

I've also read salt does the same thing to fleas, drys them out - we sprinkle over our wood floors weekly and sweep (salt goes in the cracks - old house) and as an added bonus it releases negative ions and the house feels great.

I'm sorry GP. I was not trying to correct you! I was just trying to be very clear with my thoughts because I know there are a lot of people out there who don't know.

I think the food grade DE is very popular and one of the safest treatments for the environment. It sounds like you have a wonderful kitty! :)

LG, no need to apologize. I didn't mean to come across that way. I'm just so tired from all the work that I think I was verifying it for myself. My lack of sleep and now this, along with my thyroid and adrenals being off, is making my brain worthless. I appreciated what you said. :)

I went to a holistic pet store that we've gone to many times and the clerk was very knowledgeable about fleas. I'm so glad we went since she cleared up some worries I still had. The bathroom counter had some areas the looked like watered down blood and I could not imagine what was causing it. He gets up there often. The gal told me that if I put the black debris in water, it would turn red, indicating it was fleas. I don't remember her whole explanation, but it got rid of that concern. After I bathed him, I noticed the water dripping off of him had some color to it and I thought he had piddled, but it kept on and on. Now I know that was a watered down red from the debris.

They have some wipes with the same oils as Dr. Becker's (Mercola Vet) spray. I think I'll get her spray since I feel she's more knowledgeable about the oils. I'll use the wipes under furniture and maybe on the cushions too. I'll use them along the rug under the doors and maybe on the doors.

She also mentioned that when cats have a flea problem, they'll often want to sleep somewhere secluded and they won't like heat. He did all of those. One day I found him sleeping in the freshly changed litterbox, unused. It's covered. The last 2 mornings I've found him in a bathroom drawer. He isn't snoozing on the window sill in the sun like he usually does. So she explained a lot that I was concerned with.

I got a flea comb and the first pass through brought up several fleas and debris. I had a bowl of soapy water next to me to drown them. he enjoyed all the attention very much! He's going to be one spoiled kitty after this. It will be nice to have him all the way back. He has been yowling a lot, which isn't like him. I think he wanted to be around us more and I'm so glad I didn't let him down!

They had DE at this store too, so I got that. I appreciate that being mentioned!

Trav, I'll try your suggestion too. Thanks! If we don't have it somewhere else in the house, I'll be surprised, so I'll try it all over.

This is my sick daughter's cat, so I'm glad it was nothing more serious. She and her boy get along well and he's good at making her laugh, so he needs to live a long life. He's not young. I probably should take him in for blood tests since he could've picked up several illnesses from the fleas. I'd still like to know where he picked them up since he's an indoor cat and we haven't had any on us.

I'm very tired and rambling on an on, so time to quit! I hope someone else will learn from this thread.

Thanks everyone!

Thank you Denise. I like the idea of those and I could have them in several areas of the house day and night.

I was thinking that running an ozone generator might kill them too. We'd have to stay out of the house while it was running of course, but if it would work, it would be worth it. We've used them in the past for other things. I'll see if I can find anything on that today...if I can hole my eyes open.

We have a central vac, so I don't think the DE would damage it. What caused it to damage yours? I'm a little concerned about the furnace intake picking some of it up and us inhaling it, but maybe it wouldn't do that.

Thanks again!

Thanks veromia. I'll look into it. He's feeling much better today, so combing so many off him is helping. I got less today than I did yesterday, so I hope that means there are less now, but I'll keep it up. I vacuumed him good again too. He loves it and when I stop, he'll pull it back for more, sillly guy.

Thanks Lymie Girl. Still a ways to go, but a good improvement.

Hi Garden,

As far as using DE you would be fine since you have central vac. I had a canister type vacuum and the DE got inside all the parts even though most of the DE went inside the filter. DE can get very dusty. I don't know much about those ozone generators, duh!

If you buy those flea sticky traps watch out! I remember I had to be really careful not to touch the sticky pads that came with it because it's super, super sticky!

Glad your cat is enjoying being combed, I comb mine to get rid of their extra hair and tell them "Mommy is going to give you a brush now" and they love it.. I do use a flea comb because it removes more hair!

Denise

Thanks for the update GP. I'm an animal lover! I'm rooting for your kitty. :)

Vacuuming frequently will help. You have to clear out all the life cycles, including the fleas, eggs, larvae and pupae. The pupae are little cocoons (look like little brown poppy seed type things) that can hatch much later. Heat and vibrations from vacuuming and electronics can trigger them to hatch. You want to get rid of them now before they hatch and start the life cycle over again.

Vacuum, vacuum vacuum. That will help the most! Hopefully, the natural remedies will assist you. Hang in there!

Veromia, would you mind if I emailed you about the product you mentioned so I don't keep this post going on so long since it's not exactly on topic. If you do mind, don't hesitate to tell me that and I'll ask you here. Thanks!

Ya, that's why I said not exactly, but thanks for making it valid. :)

I'm getting very tired and weary and can't keep up the pace real long. I don't have the choice of taking a day off. I have some areas I can't vacuum very much because of the boxes of things I need to go through and donate if I don't want any, some of them my mom's things. So I think that is going to make it harder to get rid of them. I called our docs office to see if he has any suggestions for the least toxicity, both for the use on the cats and the house. I'm losing sleep since I start thinking about it whenever I wake up at night and I can't get back to sleep.

My doc started me on a new thyroid med, so hopefully that will keep me from sinking more. I want to get rid of the fleas so I can have some time to recover from the stress before my other daughter's graduation.

We need to get back to work on our daughter's bedroom so she can be back in there. Her sister's room is loaded up with her clothes and things, so another room I can't vacuum in. I'd still like to know if an ozone generator would kill them since it can get everywhere.

Time to comb cat number 2.