"The cat?"
"Noooo, a flea."
"What'd you do with'im?"
I demonstrated with my pointer and thumb pinched together.
"That won't kill one."
"I know. Then I got the bottle of alcohol and a tissue and wiped him into that. Then I flushed him down the commode."
Overkill? I don't think so. It's a terrible summer for fleas — something about all that rain. The dog and cat are on their second *very expensive* treatment from the vet and the house has been bombed from top to bottom. My bed mate must have found a safe harbor during the blitz.
This means war except I can't treat either pet for another three weeks and I can't bomb the house again for another few weeks. I know all about vacuuming often, but what else can I do? I've been Googling and have found all manner of homeopathic remedies, though I'm wondering if one of you may have the definitive, yes-it-really-works answer. Oh, and just so you'll know. Neither pet is an "outdoor" one. The cat never goes outside and the dog only long enough to "go." I have treated the yard a few times as well, but it doesn't seem to be working.
***
Have a great Tuesday...
I count on your funny stories, or should I say, "perils of Vee's days at Haven " to keep me laughing, Vee. I have tried to kill those pesky suckers with my finger tips too, and found that doesn't work, only to flush them down the toilet.
ReplyDeleteI wish I had a tried and true home remedy for eliminating fleas, but have read they don't like lavender, just haven't tried it. Good luck! if you find one please share.
Thanks for the link.
Hugs,
Sue
Vee, we used to have a terrible time with fleas when we lived in Texas. Illinois has been a little easier, but usually start finding a few in Sept or Oct. I think the heat is killing every insect we have right now! Nary a one anywhere, and the birds are chasing down and eating them constantly. Guess they need the moisture! Anywho....I get a wonderful pill called Comfortis for my dog for fleas. It lasts 3 weeks, he can be shampooed, and the fleas begin to die immediately. Look it up. Not sure about cats.
ReplyDeleteDeb
I wish that I could remember it exactly for you, Vee, but I know it would work while your in the process of waiting for all of the next more chemical type treatments. My mom would put a bowl of something, I think water and vinegar {maybe you've googled the mix already - it was all natural stuff, though}....she would put a few bowls with it on the floors in various areas of the house. The fleas would jump in and would die or drown. Either way, they were done for.
ReplyDeleteIt worked. We grew up in a town where the soil was more like beach sand...very fine and a haven for fleas - it was awful.
We've not had it too bad, yet, in our area but last year was bad. We had to go through with the bombing and treatments.
Hope you get those nasty little buggers!!!
Wish I had some flea advice. But it does remind me of the pet Herman we all had in junior high who would jump from one person to the other. Have been away and catching up on your posts. Your Monday mosaic was delightful. Hope someone brings you some answers
ReplyDeleteOh sigh.... More issues with this particular summer... You, getting lots of rain, and also getting fleas. Others not getting enough rain. Etc.
ReplyDelete"Molly" is out enough, to do-her-business, and I suppose the fleas are "waiting at the door" for her to emerge, even briefly.
You've had *very expensive * vet treatments... And *bombed* house and yard.... Mmmmmmmm, should you be getting your money back?
Nahhh, I suppose others nearby, can complain of the same thing.
I have nooooooooooooooooo ideas on this topic.
BUT LOOK! You found a topic, on which I am blank!!!!!!!!!! Now THAT is something, in itself!!!! -gigggggles-
"I want to have a little house with sunshine on the floor,
A chimney with a rosy hearth, and lilacs by the door;
With windows looking East and West, And a crooked apple tree,
And room beside the garden fence for hollyhocks to be!"
~Nancy Bird Turner
I don't have any flea treatment advice. I have been thinking about getting a dog again when we move into whatever house we end up at. I forgot about the flea thing....
ReplyDeleteUggh, I feel your pain, believe me. I'm having a terrible time with Cheech. Even as I type this out he is biting himself. I did read on the internet that washing the pet in Blue Dawn kills the fleas as well as flea shampoo. I tried it and it does work! It does not prevent them from re-getting them though. I've tried all of the expensive treatments and nothing works. Here, in Ontario, pesticides are banned so no bombs or treatments for outside.
ReplyDeleteIt's awful. :(
((Hugs))
Laura
Darn it all! Sorry, but I don't have any recommendations. I never had any problems with fleas when we had Buddy, and he stayed outside all day long while we were at work. I just put a topical stuff on him during the buggy season. I guess we were just lucky! I hope that you finally get the little boogers killed!
ReplyDeleteJust read the funny little "teat" from HappyOne. I'm giggling.
ReplyDeleteNot giggling about the fleas though. I have no solution other than what you've done.
As long as we use Frontline, we don't have a problem. Peek-a-choo gets Revolution and, to date, no problems with fleas there, either.
ReplyDeleteWhen we were concerned about Peek ingesting things that her liver couldn't metabolize, our vet said that she used Brewer's Yeast with great success when she was raising and showing poodles.
Ok. This combination really works, but it can be messy. First, bath both animals with Lemon Joy dish soap. (It's gentle enough not to dry their skin, but the lemon soap kills the fleas.) Get a box of Boraxo and scatter it liberally on your floors, and ALL furniture. Let it set for 2 hours. Vacuum thoroughly. The borax not only kills the fleas, it dehydrates the flea larvae.
ReplyDeleteBest wishes with the battle!
Can't help with the flea problem. We never really had pets growing up and in my married life either. I hope you come up with a good solution.
ReplyDeleteOh no!!! Hope you get rid of them all! Going to look at that other post as well!
ReplyDeleteWe had a bad infestation some years ago now. We bombed and bombed and flea treated the dog and the cat....nothing worked. And I got tired of having to wash everything that the bomb treatment stuff got on!
ReplyDeleteAnyway I too looked online and found that fleas cannot live in soapy water more than two minutes. So we filled the tub with warm soapy water and put the animals in up to their necks - you should have seen the fleas running up to their heads! and I also washed the floor (we have all wood) several times a week. This took a couple of weeks of flea baths and cleaning the floors but it killed all the eggs, nits, and fleas!
I liked that it was easy to do (though work) and inexpensive. We also kept jars of soapy water around so if we caught one it got dunked.
Hope this helps!
Got a chuckle out of your link! Good thing it was a ladies class! Lol!
Deanna
So sorry but I can't help you on this subject, either. No idea at all how to treat fleas.
ReplyDeleteDid I miss the July card party? :(
Hi Vee,
ReplyDeleteWe had a terrible flea infestation years ago when our girls were pre-teens. One of the girls friends gifted a kitten as a birthday present (we did not know about this gift) sooooo along with the kitten came the fleas....We tried everything then we were told to put eucalyptus leaves or a small branch under the couch it would keep the fleas off the couch..it worked!
Enjoy your week and hugs, Elizabeth
Oh no, that is definitely not the mate you'd like to wake up to. I wish I could help you out, but so far haven't had the flea problem.
ReplyDeleteI am, however, presently waiting for the exterminator to take care of our ant and centipede problem.
Now that would get one out of bed in a hurry! I haven't had much experience with fleas...only once when the kids tried to tame a batch of kittens in the garage. (On the farm, all animals are outdoor.) I think I prefer the mosquito plague in our area...at least my house is a safe-zone.
ReplyDeleteI smiled as I read Happy-One's post...about 'treats from God'. That's what I thought it should have read!
Ok, I'm back. Came to comment and had to leave my computer for a bit.
ReplyDeleteAll that to just say that I have no clue what to do for fleas. Thankfully, I've not had a problem. Yet. With all the cats we've acquired, I'm sure it's only a matter of time so I'll check back to see what others say. Hope you find a solution! I'm off now to read HappyOne. I could use a laugh right now!
I have no tried and true solution for fleas, but eucalyptus helped somewhat when we lived in Ecuador.
ReplyDeleteAnd I think this is kind of funny even if Tim doesn't - Here in Canada I get chewed alive by the mosquitoes while they ignore him, but in Ecuador, if there was a flea around, it made for Tim and left me alone. We had them in our bed a couple of times and I never had a flea bite. Tim couldn't understand it at all.
Loved Happy One's story - I read it as "treats" as well, I'd rather have treats than tests from God.
I just read a hint on Pinterest that I am going to try, put PineSol in a spray bottle with water 50/50 ratio and spray your yard and door frames and window frames. Pinner said flies HATE PineSol, maybe fleas do too?. Worth a shot. There are hose attachments which can be filled and then water everything. xo
ReplyDeleteYuuuugg. Fleas. I went to an outdoor event, evening..and the gnats few into my hair, eyes, mouth..Not a huge number...but one in the eye is enough to feel the yuuuugggs.
ReplyDeleteOh no! Fleas?! Our son's dog had them really bad last year and the house was full of them. I finally broke down and bought the expensive treatment for his and our dog too. He also got a bomb (illegal in Canada, obtained in Maine heehee) which seemed to do the trick. I start defleaing them in May through October. And yes, I pay for it! I can't offer any suggestions Vee. Sorry. I hope the one you found was just a stray.
ReplyDeleteSorry can't help with the fleas. We did have them one time years back and I just don't remember how we got rid of them. I must have blocked it right out of my mind!!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the blog mention and glad you got such a kick out the teat story. I'll have to tell Christina how much laughter she caused. : )
I'm itching, just thinking of fleas. The only thing that I'm allergic to, is fleas... I go into a creepy - crawly- itching feeling all over my skin. Every four weeks I go to the VET and buy Revolution to put on our dog and 2 cats.... expensive, but so worth it to me.
ReplyDeleteI wish you lots of luck of getting rid of these nasty bugs.
HI Vee, I loved Happyone's 'teat' story also..... Too cute!!!!
ReplyDeleteWe don't have a flea problem (no pets right now) --but since we had such a mild winter, we have been told that the ticks, chiggers, mosquitos, etc. are RAMPANT this summer...
Even though we both wear one of those repellent fans when we work in the yard, hubby still got some nasty bites on his legs... No Fun!!!!
Good Luck with your fleas....
Hugs,
Betsy
HI Vee,
ReplyDeleteWe have had so many ticks where we are. We got the dogs tick and flea collars. They seem to be working. We live in the woods so it's always something.
Lovely photos as always, Vee.
Have a lovely evening.
karen
We did the soapy water baths for the dog but you have to do it pretty frequently because of the eggs hatching, for the house we just kept vacumning. Fleas are no fun!!
ReplyDeleteflea advice - can you believe I have had no experience with them ever - thanks goodness!
ReplyDeleteHugs
It's been quite a while since we have had fleas. When we did have them, we only used the standard treatments. Sometimes it would take a couple of applications for it to work. I'm no help.
ReplyDeleteAs for giggles at Happyone's place...you are so right! Thanks for sharing! :D
Oh NO!
ReplyDeleteWell I sure hope that get fixed soon, you poor dears. All 4 of you!!!!
Keeping my fingers crossed for ya!
We've had problems with seed ticks for years and they will kill a dog before you realize the problem--you can barely see them, but we do live in a semi-rural area with lots of woods! This year we have fleas, but we had such a mild winter. Advantage works wonders for cats and Advantix for dogs --can't use the Advantix on cats because it is toxic to them. One application, took care of the problem! Also Revolution for cats is good!
ReplyDeleteI've had pets my whole life but thankfully none of them ever had fleas. The worst experience we had was when my then kindergarten age daughter brought home head lice. Yuck! I had to sterilize everything.
ReplyDeleteput salt or baking soda on your carpets and furniture. it dries out and kills the critters. set bowls of soapy (something the animals won't drink) or bleach water on the floor by night lights. fleas are like other bugs and attracted to light. vacuum, vacuum, vacuum, wash, wash, wash. it is a horrible job to get rid of the critters. so sorry you are having to deal with them.
ReplyDeleteThere you have bugs and here we are dealing with moss and mold - not usually found in our drier climate.
ReplyDeleteThanks Vee for the spot on your "Favorites" I've enjoyed the company! Ecclesiastes 5:20 has been a special verse to me. I love that He keeps us busy with the joy of our hearts!
That sounds awful. One thing about cats that's not fun.
ReplyDeleteHi Vee, this is Juju from TVCH. A friend posted the link to your blog.
ReplyDeleteTry sprinkling 20 Mule Team Borax wherever you have carpets, then vacuum it up. It is the same principle as the baking soda. It kills the eggs which fall off and hatch in your carpet. Pretty soon no fleas.
I suggested baking soda or salt because it isn't toxic.
ReplyDelete