Comments on: How to Get Rid of Fleas

on 8/8/2006 I found out that if you put a teaspoon of vinegar in your pets water it gets the fleas off!

on 8/8/2006 Palmolive brand dishsoap. The stuff with bleach alternative. We took in an abused stray tonight, and discovered it was covered in fleas. I caught 4, stuck them in separate jars with Saran Wrap over the tops. Lemon juice, no dice. Lime juice, no dice. Bleach, no dice. A bit of Palmolive diluted in water? Killed the 4th one in about 15 seconds. Diluted some in a spray bottle (about a tablespoon in an 18 ounce bottle) sprayed the other 3 with the same results. I washed the dog in a very strong concentration, and sprayed everything in sight with the mix. We were finding dead fleas everywhere (we have hardwoods with no rugs or carpets anywhere).
So far, so good!

on 8/8/2006 I use cedar chips as cat litter! I also take this and soak clean chips in a spray bottle of water and borax.
I spray or mist carpets and furniture with this solution.
I tried the lamp water and soap in a dish and never caught one flea! I have used this method for 15 years and it works!

on 8/8/2006 Even health food stores sell products that can kill your pets! Please, always research the ingredients. I bought an all natural essential oil product labeled for both cats and dogs at the health food store, only to find when I researched the ingredients that you should never use essential oils on cats! They accumulate to toxic levels building up in the cat's system, causing organ failure. My veterinarian also told me not to use Advantix on a dog that will be around cats, because it highly toxic to cats.

on 1/9/2008 Water. Yes, drowning works. Want proof? Take a flea comb and put the captured fleas into a glass of water.
You can see them start to drown.

Train your pet to be at ease when submerged in water up to it's neck. My cats don't mind this anymore. While doing it, remember you need 2 minutes plus.

I suggest going in stages, while constantly reassuring your pet of the wonderful treats it will get later. Keep it up to it's neck in water. Next, get the flea comb on the face and neck. Be very careful not to scratch the pet around the eyes or ears. Fleas are pretty smart and try to get away from water.

Any detergent will kill flea eggs. You don't need pesticides. Remember to thoroughly rinse your pet after bathing it.

At the end of the day, water is just fine for killing fleas.

on 8/2/2006 Put moth balls in your sweeper, this will kill the fleas that have been sucked up. It really works.

on 7/31/2006 We combined several of the tips we found on this thread, and improved the process a bit by using a shop-vac.

We found that Dawn soap really does kill fleas instantly, and that burning a light at night caused the fleas to congregate. Unfortunately, the fleas would never jump in the pan of water like they were supposed to, and we were reduced to picking individual fleas out of the carpet and dropping them in the water ourselves.

Finally we hit upon the idea of putting a couple of inches of soapy water in the bottom of my shop-vac, and then vacuuming the carpet around the light in the morning. The fleas go to the light during the night, get sucked into the soapy water at the bottom of the shop-vac, and die. It worked like a charm!

on 7/29/2006 I tried using the 3 month medication that you put on your cats back from Hartz. I noticed a few hours after applying it, that they were acting very funny and delusional. I immediately rushed and put them under warm water to try and rinse off the medication. I had to wrap them tightly in blankets because they were shaking so bad.

Since it was 12 AM, I couldn't take them to the vet. The next day when I called Hartz to let them know how all three of my cats reacted, they were nasty and told me I couldn't get my money back. Mind you, I never once mentioned anything about money, I was more concerned for someone else using the product on their cat. I told him I was just giving him feedback and I thought there should be a warning on the label. He told me there's nothing they could do about it and sometimes cats have bad reactions to their medicine. I found it funny how all three of my cats had bad reactions.

Please, do not use Hartz products on your cat(s). I felt terrible and the company's response to how it affected their customers was terrible. I hope this helps next time you are considering any Hartz products.

on 7/23/2006 I have a mother cat and 5 kittens. Coming in contact with fleas is a trauma I have to deal with.The mother cat is nursing and the kittens are way too young for advantage. So, I comb them by putting Vaseline on the edge of the comb. It is harmless. As you comb out the fleas, keep a blob of Vaseline on a paper towel to put the fleas in.The fleas are helpless and cannot move or pop. They suffocate in the Vaseline. You have to keep at it till the mother is done nursing and the kittens can get a bath. I believe it is at 12 weeks old, but contact your vet to be sure.

on 7/22/2006 Be careful to never use Borax around pets, even on the carpet, it is extremely harmful to their lungs, and they lick their paws. Also, any aerosol sprays or shampoos and drops that are not from a health food store. The chemicals are more harmful than the fleas. I do love all the natural suggestions on eHow!

on 7/11/2006 There is no real quick fix to getting rid of fleas. I have been working on this now for over 3 weeks. I have a cat, who is indoors, somehow managed to get fleas. I was gone for a couple of days, came home, and my house and cat were infested. I have bombed my house with stuff from the vet, bombs you get at WalMart, Terminex has come in and I have bathed my cat in special shampoo and in Dawn, and I used Frontline!

After putting salt in the basement, around the baseboards, under the couch and on the couch cushions (make sure you have a cover on your couch) plus the rest of the furniture, closing off part of my house (even though I have all hard floors), daily baths, washing everything that touches the floor or that the cat has laid on (daily), and doing the soap in a bowl thing, I am making progress.

There are not as many fleas left and I really feel that I am on the tail end run, which is good considering I live in the country on a farm! It has been a very expensive process, in excess of $150.

The bathing and the soap are working great. I have even gone so far as putting salt in my rock garden (don't get it on plants or grass because the salt will kill them) and spraying my yard with dish soap.

I have a dog outside and 5 cats. I have had to get rid of the cats because they are up by the house all the time and we believe that is how we have gotten the fleas in the house. We treat our outside animals with Frontline. The dog is OK, but the cats have been a major battle.

It will not happen overnight and you have to be persistent and patient.

on 7/7/2006 Cut some lemons into quarters and pour boiling water over them. Let them steep overnight. Pour liquid into spray bottle and spray on your dog often, mostly before and after outdoor trips. This does not kill fleas but repels them. I tried this because my dog is allergic to flea collars and sprays and dips. It works.

on 6/30/2006 I woke up one morning to my kitty lying on the floor in diarrhea, drool, and seizures. I was told, by the vet that the over-the-counter flea preparation my husband had put on her the day before was the poison that caused her extreme illness and could have killed her. The cost of putting our cat on IV fluids (to flush the poison out of her) as well as transferring her to the emergency clinic after hours was quite high. We do not use any over-the-counter flea preparations on any of our pets anymore! If I see someone considering the cheaper flea alternatives in any store, I warn them of the consequences their pet could face.

on 6/30/2006 We got a beautiful 7 week old kitten today. Tonight I noticed she has fleas. In the past I've seen fleas, but these were the biggest I've ever seen. I didn't know they got so big! I bathed her in lemon Joy (store was out of lemon Dawn) and about 50 fleas surfaced. I picked them off and set them in water (just in case they went after her again.) I wrapped her in a towel while she was still covered in soap for 5 minutes and when I took the towel off it was covered in fleas. My husband took the towel, put it in a plastic bag and threw it outside in the trash. Then, when I rinsed her in the sink, more dead fleas were floating in there! I couldn't believe how infested this tiny little animal was. I was so tickled with the results of the dish soap - I was afraid to use any store-bought products on the tiny thing. She already seems much happier. I may try one more bath tomorrow to make sure I got them all.

on 6/30/2006 I got home after a three day journey, and my house was infested with fleas. I tried spraying some stuff from Home Depot, and then tried Borax, and they were still kicking. Someone told me about Siphotrol. I sprayed it around and within a couple of hours, the fleas were totally gone. It's been 3 days now, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed; I have seen no fleas.