Hey /adv/, how do I kill a major infestation of fleas as fast and as cheap as possible?
I lost a cat that I've had for more than half of my life to fleas last week, so the war is officially on. I'm going to be the Hitler of fleas if that's what it takes. I'm waking up with literal hundreds of them on my body and even more in my hair. They have infested every crevice of my house, upstairs and downstairs. I now have three cats who have been treated with Frontline, but due to the sheer number of fleas I don't think it's going to be effective. What can I do to rid myself of these fuckers?
I've heard about diatomaceous earth and I'm waiting for some to ship to me, but does it really work or did I waste my money? I also have flea foggers that I'm going to use before the DE gets here. What other steps can I take to make sure my other pets survive the summer? I'm leary about trying other chemical methods because some people say they work great, others say they don't, and I don't know who to believe.
>tl;dr how do i into flea genocide
>tfw was dirt poor as a kid, had a cat-lady mom
>huge flea infestation
>would wake up with hundreds of bites all over me
>would spend hours trying to kill them to no avail, more would always come
>beg mom to do something, she doesn't for six months
>finally buys a flea bomb
>everything in my bedroom smelled like poison for years, literally years, because only opening the windows didn't do shit to ventilate
>mom was too cheap and didn't care about me to buy a fucking fan to vent the place
>fleas were dead but I'm probably going to get cancer
Honestly I'd say kill your disgusting animals. Animals do not belong in a house, they're filthy and disease-ridden. Having cats is retarded.
Rip out your carpet, that is where they lay their eggs. Throw out everything you can or at least lay it in the yard under a tarp for a month or two. Clean the house head to toe, drown the fucking nasty cats and throw them out back in the woods. If you must, use that powder or a poison of some sort, but removing everything from the house should have helped dramatically. I'd honestly recommend living in a tent for a while, because if you go back in the fleas will just dogpile you and live in your bedding and clothes. There, solved.
Thanks for reminding me why I hate my mom.
Our flea problem wasn't nearly as bad as yours, but the topical treatments like Frontline seems to not help us at all. We switched to Comfortis, which required a prescription from our vet. But it has worked like magic.
Furthermore, you need to vacuum. A lot. Twice a day. Empty it as well. Wash all your clothes, all your bedding, rugs, anything that can be washed, on high heat, once or twice per week - if not more. Use the DE, put it EVERYWHERE. Even put it on your cats, cover them in it. It won't hurt them if they lick it off, it's actually good for fighting internal parasites too. The fogger is also a good start.
The key to this fight is persistence. You have to constantly be working to fight off the infestation.
>>17349826
sure let me just kill my roommate while im at it and why not myself
that ought to solve the problem right
>>17349852
We've used other brands like Pet Armor and Sergeant and they never seemed to work, so if Frontline doesn't work I might just have to visit a vet and get a script. I know vets charge you out the ass but if its going to help my cats and me, I'll do whatever it takes.
I end up vacuuming once a day as soon as I wake up, but I'll try vacuuming more than once. I don't have a washer/dryer at my house so washing everything constantly is going to be a pain in the ass and the wallet.
If I put DE directly on my cats, won't that dehydrate them? They're losing a fair amount of blood from the fleas as it is, I don't want to overdo it and kill them.
>>17349558
You've let this problem get way out of control. Go to the vet and get that pill that kills all the fleas on your pets for 24 hours. Once you've got those, you're going to have to wage chemical warfare to establish control. Do you have somewhere you can take the pets? The other thing you can do instead of the pill is bathe your pets right before you fog the house. Put them outside immediately afterwards. The idea is to tanotke any fleas outside with you, or you'll reinfest the home. You'll also need to bathe yourself.
Fog the house for the weekend. If not, do it for the minimum recommended time. When you come back, vacuum the entire house and wash and vacuum everything you can that is fabric. If it can't be washed, vacuum it thoroughly. Vacuum *every day*. If you have a container vac, make due to empty it out of the house and seal any bags you use. If you have diatomaceous earth, put some in the vac container. The DE will shred up any bugs. Make sure your flea preventative works, otherwise you need to find one that does. Frontline doesn't work for my pets. YMMV.
After your initial vacuum, spread diatomaceous earth on everything that is fabric. DE works mechanically. Under a microscope, it's tiny spikes. They puncture the exoskeleton and the bugs die of dehydration. The vacuuming will wake fleas in the pupa (cocoon) stage, and when they do, you'll have laid out the trap for them.
Set up actual flea traps and see how many you catch. Use a dish with water and a drop of dish soap. Put a desk lamp over the dish or a light in the middle and wait at least 24 hours. This is how you can measure progress. The number you catch should decline as the war progresses.
Cont
>>17350255
>>17349558
Don't celebrate victory prematurely. The pupae are extremely hearty and can even survive winter. People also tend to forget the home does not drop below freezing in the winter. Fleas also don't like dry environments, so if you can make the humidity plummet, this will help. A final vacuum in the winter should be the killing blow. Any awakened should die from the dry air.
I would not declare victory until not seeing a flea or evidence of them (eggs, flea dirt) for a year. I dealt with them for 2 years. The dormant period was from Jan-Mar. The awakening was from Mar-Jun. They became active in June and didn't wind down till usually first frost, sometimes late Nov or Dec. I'm still waiting for a year to pass. I live in the NE. This is way easier if you have help. If you're on your own, it will be daunting. If you're not alone but no one will help…it's even harder. 1 denied there ever was a problem, the other thought it was over and they returned, (also thinks it's over now). That kind of shit will drive a person insane.
Once you're victorious, make sure your pets are on a preventative that works. If not annually, at least from Spring to January.
Btw, I use Advantage and that works on my dog and cats. *Stay away* from Advantix. It's only safe for dogs and only if that's all you have at home.
The idea is to break the life cycle of the flea and to keep breaking it. It takes a lot of work and persistence. Don't ignore tile and hardwood floors either. They can survive on those surfaces too. May the Force be with you, because this is as far as the science can take you, anon.
>>17350279
>>17350255
>>17349558
One other thing, I hope you ordered food grade DE, cause that's the stuff safe for human and animal contact. Use something to sprinkle it all over. Make it a nuclear winter for the fleas. Use sparingly on your pets, cause it dries everything out. It becomes inert when wet, yet cleans out intestinal parasites when ingested.
>>17350255
>>17350279
>>17350298
Thanks for the advice.
I made sure I bought food grade DE. I plan to put it in an (obviously dry) water bottle and poke some holes in the cap instead of spending 10 bucks on an applicator.
My car is illegal, as in I don't have plates and my inspection is out of date, and it wont pass inspection the way it is now, so I'm quite literally fucked and can't take them to a vet right now because I don't have the money to pay the fine I'd get, god forbid my car gets impounded. Since I moved out of state I have no friends to ask to drive me places, so I've just been surviving on frozen dinners from a corner store for the last few months.
I now plan on bombing the house after giving them a bath with flea shampoo, then waiting for them to dry and putting them in a cage on my back porch after covering them with DE. I'll be vacuuming multiple times a day and giving them a bath once or twice a week until I can find a way to get them to a vet.
>>17349826
kek'd so hard.. i love u anon
>>17350433
You sure as shit don't sound like you are able to care for the animals properly. I can only imagine what the shit-show you call home looks like on the inside with cats, fleas and tv dinners everywhere.
/wrists
>>17350483
>implying this hard
>>17350527
Linus pls go
>>17350433
YW, anon. I have experienced a lesser degree hell than you, but any knowledge I have regarding this is yours.
You can also use Dawn if you don't want to use flea shampoo. It has to be Dawn, because other brands use dyes that agent friendly to animals. When you wash them, make sure you do the neck first, otherwise they will be able to run to the head. I hope your cats are cooperative with bathing, cause that must be hell otherwise.
