*** Quoting Michele Mauro from a message to Carol Shenkenberger ***
CS> Grin, Been there!  You have moved to 'flea country' and others 
MM> outside it just
CS> dont understand what we mean when we say 'flea season'.
MM> Neither did I until it hit. 
Yup!  Advice from folks outside of *real* flea country will be much milder 
than your needs (grin).
CS> Ok step 1.  Take cat to vet/parlor and have them dipped.  Do this 
MM> to *both*
CS> cats.  This will not eliminate all fleas, but will prevent your cat from
CS> getting sick fast as they are already infested.
MM> Does this really work better than the OTC flea shampoos?
I have found it works better.  This may have more to do with how I have been 
doing it however.  Normally I have them dipped while I fleabomb the house.
CS> Step 2 is flea bomb house.  It is NOT safe for aquariums or 
MM> gerbils, or anythig
MM> Exterminator said this didn't work as it didn't penetrate the carpet 
MM> and  just laid on top. He said to try Raid Flea Plus and if that 
MM> didn't work, he  had a stronger spray (no longer available for sale) 
MM> that killed them dead.  Even with the Raid spray we had to cover the 
MM> fish tank and remove us, the  cats and the gerbils for a few hours.
There are many types.  Personally I've never paid an exterminator to do this 
for me.  I'm sure whatever he used is just as good or better than the bombs i 
have been using.
CS> Step 3 is vacumn all your house.
MM> I've been doing that, plus shaking flea carpet spray on it before  
MM> vacumming.
Good.  The borax treatment carpet stuff works pretty good.
CS> Step 4 is treat your yard best as you can with a flea product made for 
he
CS> yard.  I consider these largely useless but with 1 cat an outdoor type, I
CS> suppose you have no choice but to attempt it.
MM> Hadn't thought of that, but considering the size of our yard (300ft 
MM> back to  the lake), treating it all isn't possible. But perhaps a 
MM> heavy layer near  the doors and windows.
That would do it.  Cheaper this time is probably better because after it 
rains you often have to re-treat.  (Advice on yard treatments is vicarious as 
I have indoor cats exclusively.  I'm repeating here what others have said 
about it).
CS> Step 5.  Flea collar cats.  NEW ONES.  They say they last 6 
MM> momths or so. They
CS> do outside of flea country.  They last 3 months where you are at best 
and
CS> alone do nothing).
MM> TC could just about use a new one then - Lucy's is brand new - do you 
MM> find  any one brand that works better than any other?
I find all the brands the same pretty much.  I use Hartz brand mostly because 
they sell a breakaway type that I feel better using, but when I cant find 
that break-away type I use what I find.  Trick is replace at 1/2 the time it 
says it is good for in your area.  Ignore the ones that say they are 'good 
for a year'.  They arent.  Go for the 6 month type and replace at 3 months.  
This technique will some seasons cause you to miss 'flea season' in your 
house all together if you had only indoor cats/pets.
CS> Step 6.  Rebomb house 2 weeks later.
MM> I was thinking of doing the Raid Flea Spray a week later - don't they 
MM> hatch  in 7-8 days?
Humm.  Come to think of it, I set the re-bomb based on the can's directions.  
You could well be right. The canned bombs render the eggs sterile so the 
second treatment just kills the live but sterile fleas left to hatch.  You 
can even skip this step and they will die off naturally but I want them all 
gone faster than that .
CS> Step 7, use some flea powder on the cats starting 3 weeks after 
MM> flea dip but be
CS> advised it makes some cats sick.  Dont overdo it.  Flea powder is 
MM> a preventive,
CS> and not enough if you have visible fleas already.
MM> Lucy is already sick (cancer) and is losing weight - but I don't know 
MM> if  she's losing weight from the cancer, or from the stress from 
MM> scratching and  all the sores on her neck. I've applied lanolin 
MM> anti-itch lotion and have  shampooed her several times, but I don't 
MM> want to overdo it with her...  she's almost 16 years old and this is 
MM> the first time she's ever seen a flea  too. 
Smile, good luck with your lady then.  Some of it is due to the fleas I am 
sure.  Oh a cost saving home shampoo that kills fleas:  Head-N-Shoulders.  
Trick the vet told me about.  Works just as well as the OTC stuff and less 
expensive.  Check with your vet to be sure it is suitable for your sick cat 
as he/she may prefer under the circumstances that you use something else.
CS> Step 8. repeat as needed.  Flea season hits every 6 months or so. ..
MM> What surprised me is that we moved here last June but didn't get hit 
MM> until  now. Maybe if I could remember which brand of flea collar I 
MM> was using  _last_ year, I'd know which one worked best. 
Smile.  Works that way sometimes.
                                       xxcarol
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