Anyone know how to get rid of fleas?

My poor itchy kitty... *sigh*

He's got fleas again, and I'm trying to figure out how to get rid of them without using harsh chems.

I've tried the collars -- smelled of rotting peanut butter and resulted in puffy eyes, and a lovey-dovey kitty getting shoved off of laps. (No longer a viable option.)

I've tried garlic in his wet food -- lasted for a few days, but he wised up and refused to eat it. (Heard that the scent of garlic seeps into the skin and drives the fleas away)

I've tried lavender oil -- he didn't like me after that one. (It was funny watching him trying to run away from himself... *snickers*) I don't know that it did anything for the fleas, but heard its effects were akin to garlic.

I've tried baths -- only gets him mad. (Kitty vanity doesn't allow for the "drowned rat" appearance.) It killed the fleas on his body (didn't manage to remove them, just killed them), didn't do squat for his poor head (which is where the refugee fleas fled to), and didn't kill the eggs. In fact, it managed to give him a cold.

Last year, we used the Front line stuff (put it on the back of his neck for 3 months). It worked wonders, but cost a small fortune.


Anyone have any ideas/suggestions?


My kitty would certainly appreciate it...

(edited to resize pic... which is proving to be more difficult than I'd previously thought...)


[edit on 14-9-2007 by Diseria]

Sorry to hear about the flea problem. Hot dry weather tends to really encourage fleas. The only remedy I have found is "harsh chemical" flea spray on the carpet, or a flea bomb (leave the room for the day) if the infestation is bad.

A phone call to a holistic vet's office might give you some other options, however. Or check the websites of veterinarians, in their FAQ sections. - Hope this helps.

Also, on another thread, you asked about growing avocado from seed. I did it, years ago, so I know it can work. Here are some suggestions for you to consider:

Get a few organic avocados if you can find them. These might sprout faster than non-organic, or not.

Find a clear glass small container that will hold the avocado seed on top. For larger glass containers, use the old toothpick method to balance the avocado seed over the container mouth. Leave the pointed side of the seed facing up.

Place the glass container in a window that gets bright indirect light. Too much sunlight may be too harsh for the seedling to do well.

Re-fill the container with water (to keep it topped off) every other day. This is where the "clear glass" container comes in handy, because if the container has opaque walls it's very easy to forget to water the plant.

You will know if you have a "live" plant if it starts to grow roots. Yippee! Of course it will take 4-6 years for the tree to become mature enough to bear fruit, but it is a beautiful plant with glossy leaves.

For further info, Wikipedia has a decent entry on avocados:


en.wikipedia.org...



[edit on 9/14/2007 by Uphill]

Talk to you're vet, about Advantage, or sentile.. its a great way to keep the flea'bees off your cute kitty!!!

Here is another little trick I have. but I live near the ocean.. We would take our dogs out and let them take a dip in the ocean.. Fleas hate salt water and will all jump off..

But that only works if you live close to the ocean.. Otherwise I just suggest you talk to your Vet, about what is best for kitty there



[edit on 14-9-2007 by zysin5]

Uphill:

Thanks for the advice!

It's not the weather, but the season. We had a hot streak earlier this summer, but August was mostly moist... Although, we do smoke in the house, so I'm sure that doesn't help...

I've tried the toothpick method several times (don't know if the advocados were organic or not), but all I got was a rotting mess. (Although the kitty was quite pleased, since he got to chase fruit flies for days... )

I shall try it again, as we love guacamole, but hate paying the prices...


Zycin5:

Salt water, eh? ...maybe a saltwater bath might work... (Sea salt rather than table salt?)

Does the saltwater kill the eggs too? (maybe dries them out?)


After reading your signature, I had to laugh. -- "...and there is no such thing as death. But I have never, ever, EVER looked at an egg... and thought it was a #in' brain. Now... maybe I wasn't getting good #..."

I miss Bill Hicks. Although, I'm glad he died when he did... he'da had a heart attack and an aneurysm by now... :shk:

A friend of mine swears by Talc! its ment to smother the fleas, Never tryed it myself but i guess worth ago,

also may be an idea to worm kitty, as licking the fleas can cause that,

reply to post by asala


Does the talc have any affect internally? Mine loves to bathe... (I'm sure most cats do, but every time I see him he's cleaning himself... usually doing odd, inverted ballerina poses...)

Oh, I should add that I tried a flour paste -- same idea, smother the fleas. Wasn't very effective, made a huge mess, and the cat had pasties for days!

I didn't know that he could get worms from fleas... (now I gotta save even more pennies to get him into the vet!)


Thank you guys!!

I called my mother to ask her about some other methods that might work for you.

She said, that its very important to treat your house, and yard.
She said that Lavender oil mixed with some water is good for treating your house for fleas. none chemical way..
And it smells nice if you like Lavender smell...

Also she said that 20mule team Borax laundry detergant will work aswell, sprinkle on the carpet and keep it there for up to 2 weeks..

If you use your sweeper, be sure to throw out the sweep bag, as many of the fleas will get sucked up into your vacum, and re populate that way too.

So besure to empty out the sweeper bags.. As they will crawl back out of the sweeper and back into the house..

She also swears by Dawn dishsoap, to bath them in that.. But if you do not treat your house and yard, you will have fleas no matter what you do to the animals..

She has dogs, so its easy to give dogs a bath presay cats...

Thats the only non chemical advice I can help you out with..
Your yard may need some chemical to treat it..


Theres alot of personal projects you can find here too
Do it yourself network

I hope that helps a little bit till you can talk to your vet

As for the eggs, I dont have an answer for that... But my mother did say that the 20mule borax was the best non chemical way of getting rid of them in house..

I miss Bill Hicks.

I agree, he will be missed!! and Denis Leary stole the mans jokes! But thats will be another thread!!!

[edit on 14-9-2007 by zysin5]

Also she said that 20mule team Borax laundry detergant will work aswell, sprinkle on the carpet and keep it there for up to 2 weeks

I used this method and I can tell you it works 100 percent.
Got to treat the cat first with whatever method you choose,
then treat the home with the above method. Be sure to follow
the rest of the directions. This will rid the home of fleas.
But the above quote does work and I have not had to use it since 2 years ago. But I keep the dog and cat treated though.

Hope this helped.

I don't have an answer for you, but I think it's very important to say that you need to be very careful with products used on your cat. Cats are very sensitive and things that are safe for dogs or humans can be harmful, or even fatal for cats.

Make sure you ascertain any type of oil or chemical or whatever is safe for cats before you use it.

type of garlic?

thats my method of choice and always has been. i use it for my dog, used it for my cats.

i use garlic powder and i only use a little bit...if that helps..

in case you were using minced garlic

Couple things...

All cats have fleas, all the time, basically. When you take them to the vet they do a 'flea comb' and judge by the count. A few is to be expected.

Fleas want to be on your pet. So if you have fleas in the house and then treat the pet, the fleas don't want to be on the pet.

Get rid of carpets where possible, borax is ok, but not always.

Collars do NOT work. Vet says you must have the good stuff (frontline?).

We had them bad due to daughter's dog. Now all gone. Just got rid of carpet and I think the rest just died out in the fall.

Now trying to get rid of cucarachas - yep daughter brought those home from college.

Anybody got tips on that? Are the professional guys the best way? Orkin? Worried they'd try to rip me off, spray stuff that doesn't work or is toxic.

Bombs don't seem to work this time, though have worked in the past like 15 years ago when we had them in a rental house.

Good luck!