Need assistance with anti-flea cleaning and planning
August 19, 2021 6:40 PM Subscribe
Our cats have fleas and I’ve got a bunch of questions. How should we plan various cleaning tasks and strategies to get rid of them as fast as we can?
We have fleas in our apartment! Our cat Weasel had some itchy sores on her neck and then Bagel started getting them too. I never saw any before Bagel started getting itchy but I have since worn my white socks around the house and have seen one on my sock and one while flea-combing Weasel. We’ve been cleaning nonstop ever since and I have some questions about strategizing and timing things to get rid of these guys.
1. We got Advantage Multi from our vet on Monday and I bought a flea comb. Combed up a flea on Weasel but couldn’t get it. We applied the Advantage Monday night after the combing. Today (Thursday) they are still scratching their necks a lot but I haven’t seen any fleas since, even when combing (but it might be hard to see any on Bagel and my flea-combing-a-squirmy-cat abilities could also just be very poor). Should they be scratching less by now because of the Advantage or does it take a while for it to kill the fleas and for the bites to heal up?
2. One thing I was thinking of doing before this whole flea situation was renting a rug/upholstery shampooer from Petsmart and deep cleaning our biggest area rug and our beloved huge secondhand couch. Now I’m thinking about doing that over this weekend, but I’m not sure if it’s too soon - I want to avoid doing that multiple times since I think it’ll be a lot of work (HUGE couch) and I don’t want to deep clean things just to have them become flea hangouts again. But I also have a big infestation-phobia and am really hesitant to lounge on the couch until it’s been deep-cleaned but the thought of not couch-lounging for so long bums me out. My alternatives have been: standing on as much non-rug floor as possible, sitting in a dining room chair, spending as much time as I can in our closed off extra room which happens to be my work from home zone. (I returned from sleeping in my office to sleeping in the shared-with-cats bed and am just gonna wash the sheets every other night). Is it a good idea to rent the cleaning machine at this point or should I wait? If I rent it should I deep clean EVERYTHING else too (office chairs, dining room chairs, couch 2, recliner, cat trees, other rugs)?
3. We’ve moved most soft things off the floor, washed the baseboards, and have been vacuuming different subsets of our area rugs, cat trees, and furniture every night. I put a huge bunch of pillows and blankets we had on open shelves into big snap-top rubbermaid containers and put them in our basement. Will quarantining those items for a long enough time ensure that no fleas survive on them? How long would be safe enough before bringing them back into the apartment? Should I quarantine other stuff we have near the floor like bottom shelves of books and records or is that overkill?
4. We were planning to go to a friend’s house tomorrow but weren’t sure if there was a chance we’d bring them fleas (we’ll cancel if so!). It’s for a band practice and we haven’t washed the soft case for the guitar we’d be bringing. Bad idea?
5. Finally, we have a ton of various sneakers and shoes that live on the ground or on open shoe racks. Should I do anything to decontaminate those or will it be fine to just continue vacuuming and laundering clothes/sheets around them?
I’d appreciate any other wisdom you might have to offer for this experience.
We have fleas in our apartment! Our cat Weasel had some itchy sores on her neck and then Bagel started getting them too. I never saw any before Bagel started getting itchy but I have since worn my white socks around the house and have seen one on my sock and one while flea-combing Weasel. We’ve been cleaning nonstop ever since and I have some questions about strategizing and timing things to get rid of these guys.
1. We got Advantage Multi from our vet on Monday and I bought a flea comb. Combed up a flea on Weasel but couldn’t get it. We applied the Advantage Monday night after the combing. Today (Thursday) they are still scratching their necks a lot but I haven’t seen any fleas since, even when combing (but it might be hard to see any on Bagel and my flea-combing-a-squirmy-cat abilities could also just be very poor). Should they be scratching less by now because of the Advantage or does it take a while for it to kill the fleas and for the bites to heal up?
2. One thing I was thinking of doing before this whole flea situation was renting a rug/upholstery shampooer from Petsmart and deep cleaning our biggest area rug and our beloved huge secondhand couch. Now I’m thinking about doing that over this weekend, but I’m not sure if it’s too soon - I want to avoid doing that multiple times since I think it’ll be a lot of work (HUGE couch) and I don’t want to deep clean things just to have them become flea hangouts again. But I also have a big infestation-phobia and am really hesitant to lounge on the couch until it’s been deep-cleaned but the thought of not couch-lounging for so long bums me out. My alternatives have been: standing on as much non-rug floor as possible, sitting in a dining room chair, spending as much time as I can in our closed off extra room which happens to be my work from home zone. (I returned from sleeping in my office to sleeping in the shared-with-cats bed and am just gonna wash the sheets every other night). Is it a good idea to rent the cleaning machine at this point or should I wait? If I rent it should I deep clean EVERYTHING else too (office chairs, dining room chairs, couch 2, recliner, cat trees, other rugs)?
3. We’ve moved most soft things off the floor, washed the baseboards, and have been vacuuming different subsets of our area rugs, cat trees, and furniture every night. I put a huge bunch of pillows and blankets we had on open shelves into big snap-top rubbermaid containers and put them in our basement. Will quarantining those items for a long enough time ensure that no fleas survive on them? How long would be safe enough before bringing them back into the apartment? Should I quarantine other stuff we have near the floor like bottom shelves of books and records or is that overkill?
4. We were planning to go to a friend’s house tomorrow but weren’t sure if there was a chance we’d bring them fleas (we’ll cancel if so!). It’s for a band practice and we haven’t washed the soft case for the guitar we’d be bringing. Bad idea?
5. Finally, we have a ton of various sneakers and shoes that live on the ground or on open shoe racks. Should I do anything to decontaminate those or will it be fine to just continue vacuuming and laundering clothes/sheets around them?
I’d appreciate any other wisdom you might have to offer for this experience.
1.) It takes a few days for the cats to stop itching, especially if they also happen to have a flea allergy.
2.) Vacuum regularly and throw the vacuum bags in a trash far away (ie not in the kitchen garbage). I think I would rent the steamer now, to get up flea eggs and prevent them from hatching. But also: I don't think I've ever rented a steamer for fleas- any infestation our animals have had went away with vet-prescribed flea control, lots of vacuuming and lots of laundry doing.
3.) two weeks for all flea eggs to hatch, but fleas can live a very long time without a host. If you can't wash those things, get some diatomaceous earth and sprinkle it in the bottom of those boxes.
4.) this seems unlikely if you are clean and your clothes are clean.
5.) I have never done this. Fleas like warmth and blood. They tend not to linger in things like shoes if they can help it.
posted by oneirodynia at 7:57 PM on August 19, 2021 [2 favorites]
2.) Vacuum regularly and throw the vacuum bags in a trash far away (ie not in the kitchen garbage). I think I would rent the steamer now, to get up flea eggs and prevent them from hatching. But also: I don't think I've ever rented a steamer for fleas- any infestation our animals have had went away with vet-prescribed flea control, lots of vacuuming and lots of laundry doing.
3.) two weeks for all flea eggs to hatch, but fleas can live a very long time without a host. If you can't wash those things, get some diatomaceous earth and sprinkle it in the bottom of those boxes.
4.) this seems unlikely if you are clean and your clothes are clean.
5.) I have never done this. Fleas like warmth and blood. They tend not to linger in things like shoes if they can help it.
posted by oneirodynia at 7:57 PM on August 19, 2021 [2 favorites]
My cats have gotten fleas a couple times and I suspect one is allergic. Advantage plus normal vacuuming a little more often has always taken care of them. Make sure to keep up with the Advantage application schedule for a bit. Good luck and don’t panic!
posted by sepviva at 7:58 PM on August 19, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by sepviva at 7:58 PM on August 19, 2021 [1 favorite]
Echoing oneirodynia's vacuuming advice. We had a bad flea infestation during the hard lockdown, and vacuuming every day was very effective in getting rid of the little buggers. Especially along skirting boards and cracks, etc. I didn't have access to anything else because of the lockdown, but nothing else was needed. A tip on flea combing, keep a bowl of soapy water handy, and drop the fleas in as you find them. The soap breaks the surface tension and makes it less likely for a flea to hop out again.
posted by Zumbador at 10:16 PM on August 19, 2021
posted by Zumbador at 10:16 PM on August 19, 2021
When a friend had this happen, a Seresto collar was super helpful to rid the cat of the little buggers that were living on its face.Tooicala didn’t quite do the trick in his case.
posted by OneSmartMonkey at 10:34 PM on August 19, 2021
posted by OneSmartMonkey at 10:34 PM on August 19, 2021
Advantage and similar systemic flea poisons will turn your cats into little Flea Vacuum Cleaners of Death; flea bites cat = flea dies, and fleas will seek out the cats to try to get a feed. So between that and aggressive use of the big Vacuum Cleaner of Death on carpets and the occasional swipe over furniture, you won't have the little bastards around for as long as you might fear; they're unlikely to persist much beyond the hatching of the current generation of eggs (two or three weeks), many of which you'll pick up with the vac.
Sucking up a bit of the diatomaceous earth and/or pyrethrin based flea killing powder you've been sprinkling along the skirting boards in the same vacuum run as a flea hunt will kill pretty much all the fleas that end up inside the vacuum bag.
For long term control, make sure you're rotating your flea poisons between several with different modes of action so you don't build up a resistant local population.
posted by flabdablet at 10:48 PM on August 19, 2021 [5 favorites]
Sucking up a bit of the diatomaceous earth and/or pyrethrin based flea killing powder you've been sprinkling along the skirting boards in the same vacuum run as a flea hunt will kill pretty much all the fleas that end up inside the vacuum bag.
For long term control, make sure you're rotating your flea poisons between several with different modes of action so you don't build up a resistant local population.
posted by flabdablet at 10:48 PM on August 19, 2021 [5 favorites]
Mainly, don't worry too much about this. Fleas aren't like bedbugs. They can't last anywhere near as long without a feed, mainly because they're both very small and very energetic, and as long as their main source of feeding is killing them as they go, they won't bother you much for long.
posted by flabdablet at 10:56 PM on August 19, 2021 [5 favorites]
posted by flabdablet at 10:56 PM on August 19, 2021 [5 favorites]
More anecdata - Our cat got fleas once without our noticing (she didn’t really get itchy for some reason...only noticed on combing by the vet). We treated her and did a ton of vacuuming (well, we increased our regular vacuuming of everything for a month) and that was sufficient to end the problem.
We also brought home two very flea ridden kittens (from nature). It was bad... I could see the fleas crawling around in their poor little ears and you could tell they were all bitten up from the crazy scratching and dancing they were doing. (I get all teary just thinking how tragic they were.). Several hours of them in our car didn’t cause a car infestation (I don’t know why I didn’t worry more about this at the time) and we did nothing to combat the fleas except the vet gave them two flea treatment 3 weeks apart. No mad vacuuming at home that time, but we did launder their bedding every few days. Again, 100% effective.
So doing all over again, to allay any worries, I would just do a lot of cat combing (after treatment) and vacuuming for my own piece of mind.
posted by Tandem Affinity at 11:42 PM on August 19, 2021
We also brought home two very flea ridden kittens (from nature). It was bad... I could see the fleas crawling around in their poor little ears and you could tell they were all bitten up from the crazy scratching and dancing they were doing. (I get all teary just thinking how tragic they were.). Several hours of them in our car didn’t cause a car infestation (I don’t know why I didn’t worry more about this at the time) and we did nothing to combat the fleas except the vet gave them two flea treatment 3 weeks apart. No mad vacuuming at home that time, but we did launder their bedding every few days. Again, 100% effective.
So doing all over again, to allay any worries, I would just do a lot of cat combing (after treatment) and vacuuming for my own piece of mind.
posted by Tandem Affinity at 11:42 PM on August 19, 2021
Buy an extra large flea collar and cut it up into pieces. Throw a piece into your vacuum and then vacuum everything. And over and over again. That'll keep the eggs in your vacuum from renewing the problem.
posted by phunniemee at 5:23 AM on August 20, 2021
posted by phunniemee at 5:23 AM on August 20, 2021
Do not use Seresto as they have been linked to death in some pets.
1. Get some oral capsules that will start killing the fleas right away. Combine this with drops on the cat's necks.
2. Get a flea lamp for every room in the house the cats use. This is a small light bulb that hangs over sticky paper that will kill them.
posted by soelo at 6:23 AM on August 20, 2021 [1 favorite]
1. Get some oral capsules that will start killing the fleas right away. Combine this with drops on the cat's necks.
2. Get a flea lamp for every room in the house the cats use. This is a small light bulb that hangs over sticky paper that will kill them.
posted by soelo at 6:23 AM on August 20, 2021 [1 favorite]
Soelo’s pill suggestion is good, I forgot about that. It’s not necessary for eradication but does provide immediate relief for the itchy cats.
posted by sepviva at 7:14 AM on August 20, 2021
posted by sepviva at 7:14 AM on August 20, 2021
In Florida and other states where it never gets cold enough for fleas to go dormant, advantage may not work any more.
Anymore our cats (two inside and one out) get cheristin (from Amazon, no prescription), which smells awful and all of us hate it, but the outside cat has flea allergies and if I dose her every month, she NEVER gets bitten. Srsly she went from raggedy coat and weeping sores at the base of her tail to lush, velvet coat.
posted by toodleydoodley at 6:56 PM on August 20, 2021
Anymore our cats (two inside and one out) get cheristin (from Amazon, no prescription), which smells awful and all of us hate it, but the outside cat has flea allergies and if I dose her every month, she NEVER gets bitten. Srsly she went from raggedy coat and weeping sores at the base of her tail to lush, velvet coat.
posted by toodleydoodley at 6:56 PM on August 20, 2021
Capstar will get your cats immediate relief from adult fleas. It is not a long term solution because it does not kill all fleas through their life cycle but will stop the itching for now.
If Advantage Multi does not work try Revolution. Whatever you get use it for three months at least.
You may need to treat them for tapeworms as fleas transmit them. Unfortunately neither Advantage Multi nor Revolution cover tapeworms so this is something to discuss with your vet.
I used to do cat rescue and dealt with a lot of flea-ridden cats. If the topical you're using is killing them then vacuuming and all of that is not really needed (unless you're grossed out). Fleas last at most three weeks without a host. They don't survive on humans and your cats will be poison. The only reason I say treat for months is in case the source is still around (though if they go outdoors the source is ALWAYS around and you should give them a broad-spectrum topical monthly).
posted by Anonymous at 10:48 AM on August 21, 2021
If Advantage Multi does not work try Revolution. Whatever you get use it for three months at least.
You may need to treat them for tapeworms as fleas transmit them. Unfortunately neither Advantage Multi nor Revolution cover tapeworms so this is something to discuss with your vet.
I used to do cat rescue and dealt with a lot of flea-ridden cats. If the topical you're using is killing them then vacuuming and all of that is not really needed (unless you're grossed out). Fleas last at most three weeks without a host. They don't survive on humans and your cats will be poison. The only reason I say treat for months is in case the source is still around (though if they go outdoors the source is ALWAYS around and you should give them a broad-spectrum topical monthly).
posted by Anonymous at 10:48 AM on August 21, 2021
Response by poster: Thanks all! we rented the upholstery shampooer this weekend and went to town (very satisfying and challenging experience, highly recommended). It really reminded me of how many rugs and upholstered items we have in what I considered a small apartment... We're getting well acquainted with our vacuum and washing machine and sprayed under carpets and along baseboards with a cat-safe IGR.
The cats are still scratching after a week on the Advantage so I still can't tell if it's killing things but I haven't seen any more adult fleas come off them. Flea combing has been fruitless and incredibly challenging so we have abandoned it. They're indoor only but we're definitely planning to keep going on the Advantage/some topical, probably indefinitely. Good to know about the oral capsules - I was thinking I'd follow up with the vet in another week if they are still itchy.
I found this extremely informative fleascience.com website over the weekend which I read obsessively (warning large insect pictures on main page). It has a ton of details and a great Q&A archive - posting it here in case it is of use to any future flea-havers.
posted by ghostbikes at 10:40 AM on August 23, 2021
The cats are still scratching after a week on the Advantage so I still can't tell if it's killing things but I haven't seen any more adult fleas come off them. Flea combing has been fruitless and incredibly challenging so we have abandoned it. They're indoor only but we're definitely planning to keep going on the Advantage/some topical, probably indefinitely. Good to know about the oral capsules - I was thinking I'd follow up with the vet in another week if they are still itchy.
I found this extremely informative fleascience.com website over the weekend which I read obsessively (warning large insect pictures on main page). It has a ton of details and a great Q&A archive - posting it here in case it is of use to any future flea-havers.
posted by ghostbikes at 10:40 AM on August 23, 2021
The cats are still scratching after a week on the Advantage
When I've had flea bites, the itch has lasted four or five days.
posted by flabdablet at 11:19 AM on August 23, 2021 [1 favorite]
When I've had flea bites, the itch has lasted four or five days.
posted by flabdablet at 11:19 AM on August 23, 2021 [1 favorite]
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