Fleas in the house Any natural suggestions?

peachespeaches

I have sprayed our house for fleas with a proprietory aerosol and treated our cat with frontline from the vets. My husband is still getting bitten. He thinks the bedroom is worst and the cat doesnt go upstairs! Previous owner had a dog though. I dont want to continue with aerosols and sprays, particularly in the bedroom. They are giving me sore throat and headache symptoms.

I have heard of natural remedies such as borax, salt and diatomaceous earth. I am interested in treatments for the home in particular, the cat seems OK with his Frontline.

Has anyone had any success with natural or "safe" type remedies that wont affect the health of me, myt baby and toddler?

mrs_baggins

I have only just seen your post so you may already have sorted it!

I used to work for local pest control so can offer the following advice.

Fleas as you may know can remain dormant for a very long time and 'come alive' when a suitable animal is near!! its good that you have had your animal treated as so many people dont and then wonder why house treatment doesnt work!

Whatever kind of treatment you use for your house it isnt going to be instant and can take up to 2 weeks to become effective. In the meantime do not vacuum or you will be vacuuming up the stuff that kills them and when you do vac dispose of the contents outside. Even the stuff that professional use in a wet spray isnt totally effective and sometimes will have to be re-applied after 2 weeks.

If the problem hasnt gone away yet I would try again. Remove any fish/aquatic pets. spray each room and close the door behind you. i wouldnt strip beds as the stuff may create a skin allergy if you are doing bedding. As a precaution especially if you have young children I would vacate the house for at least a couple of hours if you can afterwards.

You can use any crawling insect spray or even ant powder. For ants in the past we have recommended borax and icing sugar mixed but as this would not attract fleas it probably would not work (ants were attracted by the sugar). Hope this helps but your pet may need treating again. Ps dont vac afterwards for at least a week

Fen1

Try putting juniper essential oil onto the fabric bit of your vacuum head, then vacuuming with it. Fleas hate the smell, but don't use if you are pregnant

peachespeaches

Ive just bought some borax. I stocked up on essential oils too ... pity I didnt know about juniper! I dont use that one as it has a strange effect on me. Ive got loads of others lavender, tea tree, eucalyptus, patchouli, peppermint etc... I might simmer some tonight and see if that does anything. I bought a lavender oil spray from Boots too to spray on our arms and legs to stop the biters.

I will report back on the borax. I need my DH to move furniture etc before I use it.

Any other suggestions gratefully received.

Maddie

Opps was going to suggest just using Frontline on the cat, then realised you already do! We found that this killed all the fleas in the house without having to do anything else. As frontline kills the flea before it had chance to reproduce, it seemed that all the fleas in the carpets etc must have jumped onto the cat and then died without any further effort.

How long have you been using frontline for?

black-saturn

I tried all those natural treatments when my dog got fleas but none of them work. Best thing you can do is buy a strong spray from the pet shop for about £18 and do the whole house. Anything else is false economy.

peachespeaches

Used a strong spray ... its not worked. I keep vacuuming though, contrary to the earlier instructions, Im convinced I can vac the little blighters up. I empty the vac container each time and spray it before I put it back in.

longforgotten

what about steam cleaning ? Boil the little blighters !

peachespeaches

I have thought about purchasing a steam cleaner and will do if I cant get rid. Can you recommend a good, inexpensive model? Or are they all pretty much the same?

Also, does anyone know if Vax or anyone else do a carpet shampoo that kills them? I wouldnt mind buying a vax or similar to do the carpets and combining it with pest control.

Are steam cleaners better than Vax? Do they really clean well? Do they ruin your carpets?

beetplek

I had them last year, and it took ages to get rid of them, but i found a really useful thing that was a light suspended above sticky paper, i got 3 off ebay for about a tenner each. Leave them plugged in in the middle of the rooms affected and that seems to work.

larmy16

I have tried loads of "Natural" methods and in my humble opinion they are a waste of time. I ended up with the spray from the vets - I think its called Indorex, but I am pretty sure you can buy it online much cheaper. Works a treat.