From: AscoltA@dsd.trw.com (AscoltA)
Subject: Re: Need help - traumatic flea removal situation
Organization: Comm Services
Distribution: usa
Date: Fri, 16 Oct 1992 22:03:36 GMT

In article <1992Oct15.221355.13132@analog.com> john.hayden@analog.com writes:
>From: john.hayden@analog.com
>Subject: Re: Need help - traumatic flea removal situation
>Date: Thu, 15 Oct 1992 22:13:55 GMT
>In article <1992Oct14.133435.19491@viewlogic.com> greg@mobius.viewlogic.com (Gregory Larkin) writes:
>>
>>Can anyone recommend their preferred method of flea removal?
>>I have read the FAQ on fleas.  I am mostly interested in the
>>actual removal from the kitty.  We will cover the other
>>areas (vacuuming, etc.).
>>.....deleted...
>>With all of the problems, though, I have to say that the
>>spray worked really well.  We picked about 7-8 live fleas
>>off of him last night and several more showed up on his
>>sleeping towel this morning.  
>>
>
>When we got our two kittens last January, we had the same problem- 
>fleas. The two were so drained, they didn't even play much- just 
>exhausted. We called them 'the fish' because they were about as animated 
>as goldfish. Anyway, we got some of the spray stuff. (It has the
>pyrethrins in it that are also in various bug sprays, lice shampoos,
>home termite treatments, etc.) and it was quite effective.
>
>The cats hated it, as did yours. Someone posted a suggestion of
>soaking a washcloth in the stuff, which I think is a good idea.
>
>The kittens were cured after many treatments - it took about ten days
>of treating them maybe every other day. (We didn't want to spray them
>too often.) We would spray them and then flea-comb their fur. The first
>time we got about ten off each one, then three or four the next time,
>then one or two until they were clean. We kept them indoors, so after the 
>final decontamination of the house, we had no further incidents, and
>finally they (yay) started to play again.
>
>Of course now they're huge and rambunctious.
>
>
>-- 
>+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
>| John Hayden,  SPD Div. CAD Manager       Internet: John-a.Hayden@Analog.Com |
>| Analog Devices Inc, 3 Technology Way, Norwood, MA 02062 |   617-461-3862    |
>+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
When my cat had some big flea problems, I asked my vet about it but expresed 
great concern about anything to go on my carpet because of my cockatiel who 
loves to run around on the floor and eat things (yes, the bird and cat get 
along wonderfully).  You must treat the carpet to effectively get rid of 
fleas since the eggs will hatch there.  The recommendation I got I have been 
using for about three years with great success and it is very cost 
effective.  

Here it is:

BORAX!  Get enough borax to sprinkle on your carpet (I can make one box do 
around 1100 sq feet).  Vaccum your carpet.  Sprinkle the borax on the carpet 
and sweep it in with a broom.  Do this weekly for one month, then once a 
month after that.  You can stop when the weather gets cold since the fleas 
hibernate.  Start in the spring before the fleas start hatching with the 
once a month treatment and you'll notice a big difference.  I started in 
February this year with the once a month treatment and have seen a total of 
about three fleas and I heard from other people that it was a bad flea 
year!  Oh yeah, my cat is not strictly an indoor cat, he plays outside when 
I'm home and it's light outside.

Denise Dickson
Ascolta
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats