Flea bombing with cats?

[french_fry]

It’s looking increasingly likely that I either carried home a few stowaway fleas from the rescue dogs I work with or one of my fosters introduced some into the ecosystem of my apartment. My (indoor-only) cats and I are ITCHY.

I treated both cats with Advantage II a few days ago but I am still getting bitten and yesterday the pest control guy (who I brought out to inspect for bed bugs - I was having a real meltdown) saw a bug that was definitely not a bed bug and was almost certainly a flea.

The pest control guy told me he could treat my apartment for $500 or I could just buy a couple of flea bombs myself and spend $30 for essentially the same treatment.

I’m very leery of setting off these things in my tiny 1 bedroom apartment and their residual effect on my cats.

Advice? I tried the diatomaceous earth/vacuuming route and it doesn’t seem to be fully doing the job.

[Highflyer]

You need somewhere else to take them for the day-- can you board them with a vet or something? Be sure and do it ASAP because you need to be able to open all the windows afterward.

[kerlin]

We did a 2 bdrm apartment with a cat. Here’s the precautions we took.

• covered all surfaces (non-cloth) in plastic
• got a hotel for the night that would accept the cat
• set off the flea bombs as soon as we got home from work
• checked back in a few hours and opened all the windows, left them all open overnight
• got up super early and threw out all the plastic, vacuumed all the fabric surfaces very intensively
• then brought the cat home from the hotel, but closed him in the kitchen (no fabric surfaces, no flea bombs in that space) and left the windows open for the rest of the day

The cat also gets an injection every 6 months that is supposed to be in addition to Advantage…I’m honestly not sure what it is, because he’s my husband’s cat, but it’s a longterm thing that kills all the fleas on him at the time and renders them infertile in the meantime. We have not had a recurrence since doing the flea bombing and keeping him on the injection.

[jen-s]

Flea life cycle is also 2 weeks so you may need to repeat. Sorry, OP.

FWIW, I think the DE hype is just about all crap. I know soooo many people swear by it, but it just doesn’t make logical sense to my brain that a sprinkle of some special dirt can magically slice/dice and suck all of the moisture from just the critters of interest. And I think the idea of it as a treatment for intestinal parasites is even more far-fetched. However, YMMV.

[french_fry]

Thanks guys! I don’t have anywhere else to put the kitties (although I read some internet advice about closing them in the bathroom with the fan on and a towel under the door for a couple of hours, I’m way too nervous to do that) so I called my vet for advice.

Per my vet’s office, I can spray or bomb with just about anything (I was working myself into a tizzy trying to find something permethrin-free) but the cats need to be out of the apartment for the whole day.

I’m going to board the cats with them for a day (for a surprisingly reasonable cost, honestly) and do it this weekend. Hopefully the foster dog goes to her adopters before then - I really don’t need one more animal to be juggling throughout all of this!

[BuddyRoo]

Unless you have no furniture in your house, I wouldn’t bomb it. I would get the spray with IGR.

You can easily do the house in phases and keep your kitties safe at home while you do it.

1. Vacuum (and get rid of contents outside!), wash bedding, etc.
2. Put kitties in one room and shut door.
3. Spray surfaces with the IGR spray. Once dry in that room, move kitties and treat other rooms.

Repeat process once every 7-10 days for 3 weeks or so and you should be good to go.

ETA: Bombs don’t seem to work very well when there’s furniture in place. Great for an empty room but since most of the areas of concern are on the floor, furniture blocks the bomb stuff from getting there.

[french_fry]

[QUOTE=BuddyRoo;8350271]
Unless you have no furniture in your house, I wouldn’t bomb it. I would get the spray with IGR.

You can easily do the house in phases and keep your kitties safe at home while you do it.

1. Vacuum (and get rid of contents outside!), wash bedding, etc.
2. Put kitties in one room and shut door.
3. Spray surfaces with the IGR spray. Once dry in that room, move kitties and treat other rooms.

Repeat process once every 7-10 days for 3 weeks or so and you should be good to go.

ETA: Bombs don’t seem to work very well when there’s furniture in place. Great for an empty room but since most of the areas of concern are on the floor, furniture blocks the bomb stuff from getting there.[/QUOTE]

I am thinking I want to spray (Knockout maybe?) vs. bomb. Do you really think it’s safe for the cats? My apartment is VERY small, though I do have a separate bedroom and living room that can be closed off.

[Gainer]

I would not leave the cats at home, no matter which method you use. It’s just not worth the risk.

[BuddyRoo]

[QUOTE=french fry;8350279]
I am thinking I want to spray (Knockout maybe?) vs. bomb. Do you really think it’s safe for the cats? My apartment is VERY small, though I do have a separate bedroom and living room that can be closed off.[/QUOTE]

Knockout would be a good one. I would prefer to remove all animals (and fish and humans) from the home before spraying til it’s dry but I think you could pretty easily open a window and stuff a towel under the door to protect the cats while you treat one section of the house at a time. You could also just put them in crates and keep them in your car for a bit if the temps are okay. The stuff dries pretty fast.

[Marshfield]

Siphotrol spray

[Zu_Zu]

Ask your vet/ boarding place to treat your cats with Capstar while they are there - works quickly and cats will be ready to re-enter the apartment flea free.

** if ^ this appropriate for your cats and your situation.

Good Luck - JINGLES & AO

• I always stress to ‘heart-attack’ stage when dealing with this type of bug nightmare …

[Gestalt]

Definitely board your cats for the day, safer for them and less stressful for you. I’ve used the flea bombs with good success. Even tho you have furniture, with everything closed up tight for at least two hours the chemicals will reach the little buggars. Make sure you’ve stripped your bed and put your sheets in the washer (with water and soap). I don’t cover anything, the bombs say to put something directly under them, but other than that I leave all counters and floors open to the spray.

After several hours you can open the windows and turn on fans. But first I always wipe down countertops and damp mop floors, then vacuum and take the bag immediately to the trash outside. I also set my house plants outside in the shade.

Diatemaceous earth works the same way talc does, it pulls the moisture from the fleas shell and makes them crumble to death. I like the thought of that! But it takes weeks. For the future you can sprinkle talc powder in cracks and crevices just to be double sure no creepy crawlies are hiding.

Bugs can be tenacious, so you have to be stronger!

[Zu_Zu]

ff - any update ? what method did you use ?

everything copasetic again ?

[halena]

I need to flea bomb my house.
Lucky is a free-roaming squirrel and will obviously be removed while this is going on. However, I just read this online article website:

“Most flea bombs contain permethrin, a chemical dangerous for cats. There is a chance a cat will ingest the insecticide, as it may get on her feet and fur from walking or lying on treated areas. Cat owners should use caution when using any insecticide containing permethrin.”

Get on feet from walking on treated areas?? Of course, she will, she’ll be walking on the carpet!

flea bomb and had any adverse reactions with squirrels too…? The directions for the flea bomb say to air everything out for an hour after the fogger is complete, but what about the remaining residue?

I MUST get rid of these fleas, but now I don’t know what to do. I have a headache.

[AnastasiaBeaverhousen]

This worked for me when I got two kittens.

Boric Acid powder.
I

The boric acid I used was in powder form.
Sprinkle it all over your carpets.
Then take a broom and work the powder down deep into the carpet. .
Wait for 30 minutes and then vacuum the carpet.

You’ll probably have to reapply in three weeks but it really works

The boric acid cuts the fleas into pieces. If their eggs do hatch they will be cut up too.

It is better to board the cats so that you can do all your rooms at once. But I didn’t have that option so mine were in the bathroom.

Once you’ve vacuumed up the excess powder, there will be no harm to your cats.

Of course, you may want to do research first.
A pest control man told me about this method.

It wasn’t an overnight thing. But I only had to do one treatment.

Hope this helps

[4horses]

I would probaby buy Frontline plus and treat everyone. Nexgard or advantage 2 has worked really well for me too. We had an outbreak of fleas earlier this year. I did not treat the premises as it was not that bad and the topicals eliminated the problem.

If you need to spray, use Precor.

Just make sure it is definitely fleas. My cats have demodex mites (the contagious ones). Eliminating that is a whole other fight. Trying revolution plus next.