The Great Flea Rodeo
Aug. 15th, 2006 11:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
witchscauldron(Prologue: On July 14th, or thereabouts, my cats pushed out the kitchen screen and spent a weekend larking about the great sandy outdoors of my neighbourhood. Zathras came back to us just filthy and infested with friggin' fleas. Leanan picked them up as well, but after a run of bathing and flea collars, we thought both were on the mend. HAH.)
The Great Flea Rodeo was sort of a success. Sorta. 4 hours of not fun.
Vacuuming was the start of the not fun. Both my back and knees are very angry for moving a lot of furniture and crawling around getting into weird nooks and crannies. Every room is clean clean clean now, though. And my feet are not getting bitten at my computer desk. Bag's tossed out in a tight-tied single bag in the garbage bin outside. Good riddance. Living room and bedroom are now shut off from cats to prevent re-infestation.
Laundry was done. We had to wash everything the cats had touched, slept on, or had touched the bedroom floor. This included all the bedding. Now everything is clean, but we have to keep Zathras out of the bedroom now, because he sleeps habitually on the bed or in the laundry. Until his fleas are gone, no dice. First one, now the other. Argh.
(Errata: Since the heat wave, which was Leanan's first without A/C, he has not been at all inclined to leave the tile kitchen. Even with the bedroom door wide open, Leanan will not get on the bed. He has slept on the dresser a couple of times, but that's it. We haven't had any pee problems since the night we came home to find out he was missing; since then he's been a model citizen. I think mebbe he appreciates home more.)
Bathing: OY. Used the showerhead this time instead of the traditional bath. Works well for Leanan; Zathras is still a pain. Leanan had...2 fleas. Seriously. I washed, and took the flea comb to him. Two fleas came off. He isn't scratching, isn't scabby, and has no flea poop on him. He's fine. And he was a very good boy.
Zathras? I took off at least 30 fleas with the comb. Probably 15 with the showerhead alone. Another 10 or so jumped ship in the end from the cidar vinegar bath. He spent 5 minutes completely soaking in soap and lather. AND...He's still got a lot of fleas I couldn't get off him. I just couldn't get him to hold still any longer. Punched a hole in my left arm. He absolutely was not helping himself by fighting us.
So...I have Bubba, who's likely to reinfect the carpet in the hall, and he's going to be itchy and annoying, esp. since he isn't allowed in the bedroom, living room, or computer room until they're gone, and he's getting a bath every single day until they're dead dead dead. He is a scabby, nervous, needy, wreck. I have Leanan, who is just hunky dory, although a little bit miffed we got him wet. And I am back to being stuck with all my doors closed and no air flow.
Next step: More vacuuming, perhaps with some brewer's yeast for extra killing power, next week. Bathing Zathras every day with soap, water, and apple cider vinegar, until the fleas leave. Perhaps getting some of the off-the-shelf liquid-between-the-shoulders flea repellent for him. Gods.
Goddamn fleas. >_< I can't stop scratching.
The Great Flea Rodeo was sort of a success. Sorta. 4 hours of not fun.
Vacuuming was the start of the not fun. Both my back and knees are very angry for moving a lot of furniture and crawling around getting into weird nooks and crannies. Every room is clean clean clean now, though. And my feet are not getting bitten at my computer desk. Bag's tossed out in a tight-tied single bag in the garbage bin outside. Good riddance. Living room and bedroom are now shut off from cats to prevent re-infestation.
Laundry was done. We had to wash everything the cats had touched, slept on, or had touched the bedroom floor. This included all the bedding. Now everything is clean, but we have to keep Zathras out of the bedroom now, because he sleeps habitually on the bed or in the laundry. Until his fleas are gone, no dice. First one, now the other. Argh.
(Errata: Since the heat wave, which was Leanan's first without A/C, he has not been at all inclined to leave the tile kitchen. Even with the bedroom door wide open, Leanan will not get on the bed. He has slept on the dresser a couple of times, but that's it. We haven't had any pee problems since the night we came home to find out he was missing; since then he's been a model citizen. I think mebbe he appreciates home more.)
Bathing: OY. Used the showerhead this time instead of the traditional bath. Works well for Leanan; Zathras is still a pain. Leanan had...2 fleas. Seriously. I washed, and took the flea comb to him. Two fleas came off. He isn't scratching, isn't scabby, and has no flea poop on him. He's fine. And he was a very good boy.
Zathras? I took off at least 30 fleas with the comb. Probably 15 with the showerhead alone. Another 10 or so jumped ship in the end from the cidar vinegar bath. He spent 5 minutes completely soaking in soap and lather. AND...He's still got a lot of fleas I couldn't get off him. I just couldn't get him to hold still any longer. Punched a hole in my left arm. He absolutely was not helping himself by fighting us.
So...I have Bubba, who's likely to reinfect the carpet in the hall, and he's going to be itchy and annoying, esp. since he isn't allowed in the bedroom, living room, or computer room until they're gone, and he's getting a bath every single day until they're dead dead dead. He is a scabby, nervous, needy, wreck. I have Leanan, who is just hunky dory, although a little bit miffed we got him wet. And I am back to being stuck with all my doors closed and no air flow.
Next step: More vacuuming, perhaps with some brewer's yeast for extra killing power, next week. Bathing Zathras every day with soap, water, and apple cider vinegar, until the fleas leave. Perhaps getting some of the off-the-shelf liquid-between-the-shoulders flea repellent for him. Gods.
Goddamn fleas. >_< I can't stop scratching.
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no subject
Date: 2006-08-16 04:19 am (UTC)Yeah, imagined flea itchies are the worst.
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Date: 2006-08-16 04:44 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-16 04:37 am (UTC)I've tried the various natural remedies for fleas in the past, when my original kitty Desdemona still went outside, but I never found any of them to be all that effective, unfortunately. I do prefer to use natural remedies where I can, but sometimes chemical warfare ends up being the only thing that really works.
no subject
Date: 2006-08-16 04:47 am (UTC)They're already with the flea collars, which have tamed past outbreaks when the girls would escape and bring them home. The cider vinegar really seemed to get them to jump ship, so we'll be trying that a few more times with daily baths and combings for Zathras. If it doesn't work soon, my birthday present to myself might have to be to try the over-the-counter flea stuff at Zellers.
I am really hoping we can lick them...I don't want to have to wait until after the handfasting to get rid of them chemically.
no subject
Date: 2006-08-16 09:07 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-16 06:00 am (UTC)kayucian at gmail dot com - for address information.
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Date: 2006-08-16 02:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-16 06:13 am (UTC)Good luck... I've got phantom itches just reading this!
no subject
Date: 2006-08-16 12:16 pm (UTC)Sprinkle it liberally on the carpet and beat it in with a broom, wait a few hours (at least), then vacuum up the extra. It can also be swept into the crevices of hard floors, sprinkled under the couch cushions,etc.
Apparently, it kills the fleas by dessicating them. However it works, it works!
no subject
Date: 2006-08-16 02:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-16 03:41 pm (UTC)Just thought I'd mention it to you.
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Date: 2006-08-16 03:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-16 04:29 pm (UTC)