[MobiusStrip]

And if I have fleas in one bedroom do I have them throughout the house? :/ I had some kittens in the one of the bedrooms but they have ringworm so have been moved to the master bathroom - I treated them with Capstar before moving. Not near as comfy for them but you do what you have to. How much salt is enough for 1800ish sf of carpet? Do I really need to get an actual poison? What good will a steam cleaner do?

[brokencrayola]

If you have fleas bad in one room you probably have fleas in other rooms. I am not a person that loves using chemicals, but if the fleas are bad you may need to. I used to live in S. California and we were close to the ocean and had sand fleas. I had 4 cats and one had kittens. The fleas got bad so we bombed the whole apartment and it got rid of them all, we didn't have anymore problems. We got all the cats out and took them to all get flea baths at the groomers. We also got all of our plants out of the place. While gone we bombed the place and then came back when it was done and opened all the windows and let it air out. Once it did that we all went back in. It was nice to get rid of all of the fleas at once and not have to deal with it.

[Opsimathia]

If its really bad in one room you may be able to get away with bombing the one room and treating you pet with something like Frontline plus that kills fleas and eggs for a couple months. (3-6 months of treatment on pets)

I use the zodiac foggers which on petco's site doesn't have good reviews but it does actually work.
After the initial fogging I did see random fleas but it was nothing like when it started. The fleas were smaller and appeared drunk. The fogger kills up to 7 months so that in combination with treating the pet with frontline fixed the issue.
However, once when there was a bad infestation I had to bomb the whole apartment and put some flea powder in the cracks of the soft furniture. (where the arm of a sofa meets the backing etc)

Just a tip if its in a bedroom flip your mattress up against the wall. That way the fogger gets to both sides of the matress and boxspring. I did do a deep cleaning of the room before fogging too. (washed everything, wiped all surfaces down with bleach water dilute or 409, swept and steam cleaned)

It was an apartment so I used 1 fogger per room rather than the square footage guide as listed. In the larger rooms I used two foggers and let it sit for 8 hours before venting. The largest room was slightly longer than the guide and had an open doorway to the second large room that was about the same size so I just used three for those two rooms. (one at the front of the large room, one at the back, and one in the middle of the slightly smaller large room)

You can try just the steam cleaner. I also had that work when I caught a flea problem really early before they were jumping out of the carpet etc. You should do that anyway chemicals or not. It really does help.

[brokencrayola]

Originally Posted by MobiusStrip

And if I have fleas in one bedroom do I have them throughout the house? :/ I had some kittens in the one of the bedrooms but they have ringworm so have been moved to the master bathroom - I treated them with Capstar before moving. Not near as comfy for them but you do what you have to. How much salt is enough for 1800ish sf of carpet? Do I really need to get an actual poison? What good will a steam cleaner do?

A lot of people don't realize that their cats can die from a bad infestation, especially kittens. look at the kittens gums, if they are white they are probably very anemic from the blood loss from the fleas.

[Nickchick]

I would not use chemicals. I don't think they work well but no I don't think salt will either. Fleas are hell to get rid of. I would use this powder. I forget what it's called...something earth and let it soak into the carpet. Then vaccum really good after you let it sit. Make sure you wash everything you can. Frontline is also essential as well. I know how cats are with bathing but if you can, bathe with natural oatmeal shampoo. If not then you can try a flea comb. At least this is the procedure that worked for me anyway. Unfortunately they seem to have come back now that it is summer but I wouldn't even call it an infestation this time..just a few random fleas.

[Opsimathia]

Originally Posted by Nickchick

I would not use chemicals. I don't think they work well but no I don't think salt will either. Fleas are hell to get rid of. I would use this powder. I forget what it's called...something earth and let it soak into the carpet. Then vaccum really good after you let it sit. Make sure you wash everything you can. Frontline is also essential as well. I know how cats are with bathing but if you can, bathe with natural oatmeal shampoo. If not then you can try a flea comb. At least this is the procedure that worked for me anyway. Unfortunately they seem to have come back now that it is summer but I wouldn't even call it an infestation this time..just a few random fleas.

diatomaceous earth

It has to be food grade though to be safe for use around pets and humans.

For bathing, one of those spray hoses really help with rinsing out fleas and eggs if you cat won't tolerate combing. I found flea type shampoos to be the best but for a kitten I would probably use something non-toxic like the oatmeal. I have even used baby shampoo in a pinch. The fleas will try to leap off so you should have a cup of hot soapy water to toss them in when they try to make a break for it!
I used Dawn or a flea shampoo in the cup to make sure they die.

I also suggest washing all your clothing in hot water immediately after the bath and yourself too in case they jumped in your hair. Clean the bathroom like a nut too when done. Use anything that you can that is a known degreaser. It breaks up the waxy coating on the flea and they dehydrate to death.

[passwithoutatrace]

Salt is completely ineffective at killing fleas, unless you are dipping them into some kind of saltwater bath. They do not have porous skin like a snail; they have a hard exoskeleton which would prevent it from drying them out and they certainly won't eat salt. The reason DE does work at killing fleas is because it penetrates the exoskeleton.

Also, if your kittens have ringworm please make sure that is treated as well! Ringworm is extremely contagious to cats, dogs, and people. It spreads through direct contact as well as infected clothing or bedding. I don't recall the exact quarantine period but I think it takes several weeks to clear up

[MisfitBanana]

I adopted a kitten years ago who had been found in a dumpster. Within a couple weeks there were tons of fleas in the house. I tried various tricks without chemicals, and nothing worked. So I picked Raid Flea spray up at Target, and it worked a charm. I sprayed it on all the floors (wood, tile, carpet), left the house for awhile (with the kitten), then came back and vacuumed the carpet and mopped the tile/wood floors (using some vinegar water). I also did a flea bath for the kitten (one that was ok for kittens, according to the instructions), and then would pick through her hair with a flea comb a couple times a day for a week afterwards. All the fleas were gone.

[foxywench]

DE while works great, if you use it on Carpet will KILL your vacume cleaner...and the one after that and the one after that! only use de aroud perimiters and on SWEEPABLE surfaces.

Salt will NOT kill fleas...sorry not sure where you saw that but its misinformation at best.

if 1 room has flea your house has fleas, unless each room of your house is sealed airtight pressurized containment system...fleas are tiny, tricky, can jump FEET, reproduce faster than rabbits and are organized like a well trained army!
time tobreak out the big guns.

if you don't like unnessicary use of chemicals ook for products made or permethrin (crysanthamum blossom) its a NTURAL and highly effective flea and tick killer, and the residue will continue to protect form reinfestation for 3-6 months depending on location/wear and tear, washing, carpet cleaning ect.

i DO NOT like flea bombs,in my expeeince there not as effective, they rely on settling dust (which means you have areas under furniture that remain "safe zones" and they are risky if your not meticulous about after clean up.
intead i suggest a residual based spray. Enforcer is the one ive had wonderful success with, its permethrin based, i got 1 gal at TSC for about $25 and it sprayed my entire house every 4 months for 2 years and i never saw a flea in that time after the initial 2 week "kill em all" period.
within 2 weeks of running out i sarted having issues...so a new bottle and we start again.
treat the entire house. anything SOFT that can be taken and washe should be, add some color safe bleach and wash as hot as possible (check the care label on whatever your washing...pay particular attention to beds blankets and soft pet toys, sheets and bedding. fleas nest in SOFT stuff.

permethrin based insecticieds are all natural but like all they can be considere dpoisenoue when wet. so pick a room that orning (ie the main bedroom) remove any animals that can be removed (ie ittens put them in a carrier and relocate to a bathroom or something) strip the linens off the bed, take down tehe curtains and remove any bedding. then spray EVERYTHING that cannot be put in the washing machine...this includes UNDER the bed, the bottom top and sides of the matress, and pay particular attention to the perimeter of the room. lightly spray all carpets too. close the door and give it a couple hours to dry. when dry its perfectly safe to move animls and such back in.
if you want extra protection, when your linens come out of the laundry and are still wet, spay those, the blankets, comforter, curtains ect...and let them dry as normal...

then move onto the next room...do the same...work room by room until every thing SOFT has been treated and washed (or both)

be sure to spray the underside/ottom of your couch andchiars and such and if they have sirts/anything within 12" of the floor, spray that too, spray uder cushons and down the cracks and crevices...you don't have to "soak" but you do have to be thorough.

for rooms with hard floors us spray along the baseboards creating aperimiter. fleas cant nestin hardwood, tile ect so your more just putting up "gates"

treat any animals in the house that can be treated with a monthly topical (capstar ONLY kills he fleas ON the animalat the time it has no residual effects...great for emergency use but doesn't keep the bugs off them...)
any not oldenough for monthly topicals wash in original scent Dawn dish liquid, Dawn kills fleas on contact lie capstar...

now ufortunatly with all "residual based" flea control (which is what most of the "ntural" products are they only kill fleas in a certain stage of their life cycle...so expect to see a few fleas for a few days thennothing for about 2 weeks then expect to see more for a few days...this is simply the new eggs hatching/maturing and those newly hatched fleas have to then be exposed to the residue. these residue based sprays also work o nervous systems..so while you may see a flea walking around, they literally cant remember how to bite...

in the meantime while waiting for the residual wash the kittens every few days in dawn to keep the fleas off them and be sue to treatthier bedding with the spray (make sure its dry before putting them back on the bedding)

it SOUNDS like a lot of work, butput the effort in NOW wit a residual based spray and you realy will save time and money on the long run battling these nasty little monsters.

[Nanny Goat]

I used Chem Dry services (carpet cleaners) when I had fleas in a carpet in Florida everywhere; they came through the screened porch onto pets, in rugs. All my cats were strictly indoors so I knew they weren't bringing them in. Wasn't chemically, what they used. I never had a problem after that either.