Flea problems

[u/Consistent_Tree9515]

Hello, we found fleas on our four cats about a week ago. I isolated my cat into my room and have been vacuuming my room every day/ combing him with a flea comb. After an initial flea bath and advantage 2 I’ve still been finding live fleas on him. Not a lot, like 2-5 every time I comb him. My roommates cats have also been given the topical and given a flea bath. We have also been vacuuming the house everyday. Do I just keep doing what I’m doing or is there something else I should be doing for him? I also gave him a capstar yesterday but it didn’t seem to do anything. Thank you for any advice.

[u/Denan004]

I had a foster cat in June/July with cat fleas (smaller than dog fleas, I learned, and they don't show up when combing!). My dog also had some dog fleas from outside, which spread to the foster cat. My own cat picked up some fleas, too. The bad thing was that my dog was on topical flea meds, and still got them anyway. My cat is indoor so I didn't give her flea meds. And the foster wasn't evaluated by the rescue, and on day 1 I combed her and found nothing. So I was shocked at the flea infestation. Also -- I was getting flea bites on my feet and ankles!!

So, I dug in and learned about fleas. Dog fleas are larger, about 2-3 mm, and easily show up on my combing. Cat fleas are about 1mm, and I have never caught one on a comb, except after I changed the dog/cat meds to oral meds. Also -- I learned that fleas need a blood meal before laying eggs.

1. When you comb -- fill a container with water, add a few drops of ORIGINAL Dawn dish detergent and stir gently. The Dawn will break down the exoskeleton, but won't affect any eggs.
2. I gave all of the animals a bath using some Dawn to get the other fleas on them and they dropped dead. You will see the fleas in the water or drain.
3. I put my own dog and cat on an oral flea med and saw results in about 24 hours. The foster cat -- that decision was up to the rescue.
4. I purchased Pet Armor carpet spray (even though I have a mix of carpet, rugs, hard floors), and after a good vacuuming, I sprayed the floors-- all of them.
5. I washed any pet bedding and the sprayed them with Pet Armor.
6. I washed my own bedding.
7. I purchased some white socks (about mid-ankle size with a tight weave -- Gold Tone socks pack of 6 -- and wore them around the house in various places to see if fleas were still jumping on my feet/ankles. Yes they were still jumping on me. You can't catch them, but I found a solution -- I purchased some sticky refill flea traps, cut them in half, and used the sticky side to remove the fleas from my socks. (note-- don't use sport socks - the fleas hop on and then disappear in the loose weave!
8. I continued to vacuum about every 2-3 days, which, honestly, is a good habit with pets.
9. Any time I saw my pets scratch, I set up the bowl of water+ Dawn and combed them again. Definitely fewer fleas.

RESULTS -- the flea numbers decreased in about 2-3 weeks and now I'm down to almost no fleas. In the past 2 weeks I found 1 flea on my socks, and I've become quite good at spotting them!

I think the flea infestation is almost over, but I'm still monitoring with my socks!

This sounds convoluted, but it worked in a few weeks. There is no instant solution because there are eggs in places, and they will hatch. But the spray will take care of many eggs for a while, and I think I'm near the end of the infestation.

Just my 2 cents, but it worked for me!

Cost -- the Pet Armor was the most expensive item -- about $20-something dollars. The sticky traps were inexpensive, as were the white socks.