Flea Infestation
Here’s the problem. Life doesn’t come with an instruction manual. OK, OK, we have our holy books, and they give us character guidelines. I am talking about specifics here, when life hands you those lemons, how do you make lemonade? Specifically!
When we move to Florida, we thought we were in Paradise. We had a house with a big pool, surrounded by shady trees, families of racoons, beautiful gardens – what’s not to like?
Paradise came with chamaeleons, lizards, cockroaches, even in the best houses. And fleas. We had to learn how to deal with them.
During our first and only flea infestation, at first we blamed the cats. Being a terrible mother, I asked my son to help, and he went into the walk in shower (No! Not naked! He was wearing swimming trunks!) to bathe the cats with anti-flea shampoo. I would get the cat trapped, put the cat in the shower, he would shampoo them, let one out and I would hand him the next one. Both cats loved him the best; he had chosen them from the litter.
When I saw this photo on LOLCATS, I really had to laugh.
see more crazy cat pics
Just so you will know, the solution is to take the cats to the vet and have them treated for fleas professionally. While the cats are at the vets, pour 20 Mule Team Borax over all your carpets and in all your upholstered furniture, let it stand overnight, and vacuum it all up. After you vacuum, bring the cats back. It really works. The borax creates a saline environment in which the fleas (and cockroaches) can’t survive, but it doesn’t hurt pets.
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Wow, I never heard about the 20 mule team borax. We had the same problem in Hawaii–it never froze to kill the fleas off. They used to jump in thru the low windows. We paid big bucks to Orkin and our cat developed a phobia for yellow rubber gloves.
The cockroaches don’t survive. That is some remedy. Squash them, squish them, squirt them – they always seem to come back to life!
Momcat – funny story. The cashier at the bank stopped me and said she had seen my check to pest control and didn’t I know about 20 mule team Borax? She told me how it worked, and I tried it. She was a true born-in-Florida Floridian, those gals KNOW things! I also learned that it could have been US that brought them in on our shoes – they are everywhere, especially in April.
Welcome, Eamon, especially because you like BOOKS! Here is the gross thing – when you have cats, what you find is pieces of cockroach, and pieces of chameleon, and pieces of spiders. I don’t think the borax kills them, I think maybe they go someplace else, which is fine with me, I don’t want dead cockroaches, I want NO cockroaches!
luved the pic!
but i hv a question.. how do you dry ur cat when its scared of the blow dryer?
Yepp – we had that kind of fun once when coming back from Norway.
Flees on the carpets and crawling things in the kitchen….yuck….!
awww that soo cuute ^^ i feel bad whenever I bathe my cat he gives me the saddest look on earth!
Great post, and very useful information. If I ever have another cat, I’ll be sure to remember this stuff! π
The cockroaches leave because of the cat. We never had them for long when we had a cat. Maybe the resiliant little buggers can smell cats or something. That was the southern solution to roaches and snakes–get a cat. I never saw so many houses with cats in the window as I did when I lived in South Carolina.
Although I have kept pets before in Kuwait, I’ve never seen any fleas on them like the crawling ones I saw on the cat I had to give away when I was in college in the States. My skin still crawls at the memory.
ge6awee – A blow dryer?? NEVER! We towel dry, holding the cat snugly, until we get him so he is not dripping, then we let him go and find a safe warm spot. They usually aren’t very fond of us for a couple hours.
The truth is, I have never bathed the Qatteri Cat. He was so wild when we got him, he would bite and scratch when anxious. We haven’t seen any of that behavior for a while, but once they are wild, they can revert to wild behavior when panicked. I would love to give it a try, but only with my husband’s help.
Oh Nicole, what a nightmare!
Sad is a whole lot better than wild, Vixen, trust me!
Thanks Lofter – didn’t you just get a cat? What happened?
Momcat – I didn’t know that!
Oh, Jewaira, that is so sad. The kitty needs a vet when they are at that point, and your whole apartment needs that Borax treatment to get all the fleas and their next generations!
My cat has to be groomed asleep at the vet. I would never be able to get my cat in a shower without being dressed with several layers of clothing for protection.
One day I would like to try bathing the Qatteri Cat, but I think I will do it with a pitcher, rather than running water. He has such long hair, I think a bath would be good for him. Sedated at the vet – that’s my next step!
Anyone know where to get borax from here in Kuwait. Thanks!
Kabdurr, I have seen it at the Sultan Center in Shwaik, the Sharq Mall, with laundry detergents. Good luck!