I'm doing the same thing at the moment as the rescue i've brought in has fleas and i'm scratching like mad. I have been doing a room at a time. Mine is called R.I.P fleas extra but its a once a year job so must be the same.

Hoover as much of the carpet in the room as possible, then spray leave the room for an hour then go back in and open the windows wait 24 hours then vacum again. You can go back into the room after an hour of ventilation.

Then it says hoover again at least twice a week for 2 weeks, i'll prob be hoovering every other day.

Good luck, goes off to scratch head again.

 

See as always i have to be different.
I hoover first to wake the little blighters up, then i spray around the skirting boards and hoover again, make sure you empty the hoover after each room.

Not had a problem with fleas, touch wood and i flea treat the house once a year, i do keep the cats out of that room for 2 hours.

 

I am curious about this , and would like some advice please on the best stuff to remove any possible fleas , with the least harm/disruption to my girls .....



We are moving on the 19th ( Mon) , the seller has 2 outdoor girls , now this does not mean that they have fleas...... Ours are indoor ladies and are totally flea free ...... However i want to spray the house just to be safe/sure , we get the keys , this Wednesday (16th) ....... Would welcome any help on this from you guys .... Thanks x

 

However i want to spray the house just to be safe/sure , we get the keys , this Wednesday (16th) ....... Would welcome any help on this from you guys .... Thanks x

This is one of the few situations where I'd consider using flea bombs. It's probably the easiest and quickest way to be sure in a new house. Treat the empty house before you move any of your own stuff in.

 

The last two times I've moved I've put my cats in a cattery for a few days, so I don't not know where they are when the big day comes. If you do that it will give you the chance to hoover really well hopefully before any furniture is in. As well as hovering the carpets, use the crevice tool along the edges of the carpets and also along any visible joins between floor boards. Then treat with one of the long-acting sprays. If you want to be extra sure you could also treat your cats with a spot-on before you move them in.

 

I have treated the cats this morning however I've not started the spray treatment on the house yet :/

 

I'm still sitting with the can completely unused..... I just feel like bursting into tears I am so lost Could people explain in great detail exactly how to use it as if you were speaking to an alien who had just came down to earth and didn't know anything. I really have no idea if the entire carpet or round the edges, I don't know if I'm supposed to spray the bed, I don't know if I'm supposed to move drawers and wardrobes and spray underneath them? I really don't know nothing and feel like a complete idiot, I don't think the instructions on the can are very clear. Please help, I'm desperate :/

 

Ok stop panicking. Fleas are annoying but they can be killed. Take out of the room as much as you can and put it in the washing machine, bed covers and other clothing that kitten may have been near, dont foget those little buggers can jump.

Then hoover thoroughly, use the thin crvice tool for around the skirting boards, under the bed, any gaps under or around the wardrobe. Then spray. I did this yest and left the windows shut for an hour then opened them and shut the door for another hour. Then hoover every other day thoroughly again.

Wash any bedding that the kitten has been on every couple of days.

The fleas on the kitten should start dying within about 12 hours. I'm with you i'm still scratching but i am finding dead fleas and yesterday i managed to get the kitten to lay down and pulled come critters out with tweezers.. It will take a couple of weeks of you doing this but once their gone their gone.

Good luck

 

Ok stop panicking. Fleas are annoying but they can be killed. Take out of the room as much as you can and put it in the washing machine, bed covers and other clothing that kitten may have been near, dont foget those little buggers can jump.

Then hoover thoroughly, use the thin crvice tool for around the skirting boards, under the bed, any gaps under or around the wardrobe. Then spray. I did this yest and left the windows shut for an hour then opened them and shut the door for another hour. Then hoover every other day thoroughly again.

Wash any bedding that the kitten has been on every couple of days.

The fleas on the kitten should start dying within about 12 hours. I'm with you i'm still scratching but i am finding dead fleas and yesterday i managed to get the kitten to lay down and pulled come critters out with tweezers.. It will take a couple of weeks of you doing this but once their gone their gone.

Good luck

I really don't understand what I need to spray though. Do I spray my entire carpet or just the edges? Do I spray my bed? Do I need to spray under wardrobes and drawers? Should I actually spray onto the wardrobe and drawers or just soft things? Can I do one room at a time over couple of days or does the entire house need to be done? Do I need to remove my cats from the house completely or just the room I am doing? How soon can they enter the room after the process?

 

I would do room by room and don't let the cats enter for a couple of hours. Yes do the whole house. All the carpets, edges and bed. I also steamed my bed just to be sure, just make sure u ventilate well before kitties go back in.

Will be back on later if you need any help.

 

ok, dont worry or stress yourself.

Put the cats in one room, hoover the rest of the house then spray around the edges of the carpet, flooring and yes you can spray your mattress.
Leave for 2 hours then hoover those rooms, make sure you then open windows to air the room for an hour.

You can then put your cats somewhere else whilst you do the room the cats was in, if you start now by this evening the home will be treated and your cats can have free run again.

You dont need to spray directly onto wardrobes etc, just underneath will be fine.

Then if you hoover every day for 5 days you will find all fleas are gone as long as you have treated all your cats otherwise the cycle will start again.

It doesnt matter if you wanted to spray abit all over the carpets aslong as your cats are not in the same room for 2 hours.

 

I can't answer all your questions, but yes, the whole house apart (maybe) from any rooms the kitten hasn't been in. The whole carpet. I would take the sheets off and spray the mattress. Sheets would be washed hot and dried on the line, ditto all the bedding.

As well as all over the carpets, all nooks and crannies the eggs might be in need spraying - when a flea lays eggs they drop off the cat into the environment so unless you have floor-sweeping curtains they should be OK.

This link might help:
Tackling fleas on cats

 

I really don't understand what I need to spray though. Do I spray my entire carpet or just the edges? Do I spray my bed? Do I need to spray under wardrobes and drawers? Should I actually spray onto the wardrobe and drawers or just soft things? Can I do one room at a time over couple of days or does the entire house need to be done? Do I need to remove my cats from the house completely or just the room I am doing? How soon can they enter the room after the process?

You're overthinking this - something I'm often guilty of myself

The spray is a fine mist and, as such, will reach 'far' if you spray under low sitting furniture (i.e. furniture that sits up a few inches from the floor). There's no need to move any furniture that sits directly on the carpet; just try to spray along the carpet/skirting behind if you can. Spray all over the carpet - it doesn't need much, just 2-3 seconds burst will treat a square metre or so, as long as you hold the hold a few feet from the floor and wave it around as you go to ensure the fine mist doesn't all land in one spot - you really don't need to feel that you're spraying every square inch of carpet.

Spray all the nooks and crannies, the mattress, any other soft furnishings in the room; there's no need to treat any vertical, hard surfaces.

The size tin you have should be sufficient to treat, say, 5 rooms depending upon how many are carpeted/the size of the rooms - so as you can see, there's no need to go mad with it over every square inch.

 

Hi Tammi, this is how I do it. If the cats go into bedrooms I'd pick one of those to start on, I do one room at a time over a few days as I find it a big job. You shouldn't have to move furniture, I sometimes do but if there is enough of a gap to spray underneath it then leave it in place. If its a big object and next to the wall you may have to pull it forward a bit so that you can spray behind it. If the bed is along a wall I would pull it away enough so that you can get to the wall edge. Make sure, cats, children any other pets are shut out of the room. If there are high shelves or tables the cats might go on I spray those as well.

Strip all bedding and gather any loose clothes or fabric type things the cats may have slept on, get these in the wash on a hot wash. Check inside drawers and wardrobes, if there is signs of cats having slept in those then I'd wash anything they may have slept on, if need be empty out drawers and wardrobe so that you can spray inside them, put ok clothes into a sack and any others into a sack ready for hot wash. If you have woollens you can put them in a freezer for a few days and that will kill fleas.

Clear as many loose items from the floor as you can. Hard objects can be dusted off or hoovered if its electronic equipment.

Some of the insecticides are usable on matresses but some say not to, it will say on the can if you can do this. If you can't use it, you can get a small hand held steamer and steam the mattress or there are silicone based flea sprays, Wipeout and another called Flee, these are ok to use on a mattress.

Start in a corner, half bend over so the can is about 25-30cm from the surface, check on the tin it will say the best distance. I start with the join between the floor and the skirting board, go in a bit closer so you get it well into any cracks. Once you start spraying adjust the angle of spray so that its hitting the join.

Walk slowly along the line of the wall (forwards or backwards whatever suits) keep the spray continual if you can, spray around, behind and under furniture on this wall, when you reach the corner, have a rest or turn and continue along the next wall, keep going until you are back where you started.

Once the edge is done, do the floor, start in a corner opposite the door, come along the wall line again about a foot in front of it, when you reach the far wall take a step backwards and keep going back to the first wall, step back and continue until you reach the door, exit without letting the cats in, close the door and check the washing, have a nice cup of tea, get a bit of fresh air, wash your hands.

Take a deep breath and start on the next room!

It will say on the can the length of time before you can go back in. I'd still keep the cats out for as long as possible, even to the next day if you can, once the allocated time is reach go in and open the windows wide to let fully air the room.

 

I do apologise I ment to say can I do one room at a time over a couple of days or does the entire house need to be done in one day.

Thank you all for your help and taking time to explain all this to me. I have 3 floors in my house so I think I will start in the middle floor where the kitten has mostly been which is the living room and the spare bedroom (where the kitten has been kept). Then the bottom floor where the kitchen and 2nd living space is where the kitten hasn't really been but my other 2 cats have then leave the top floor where our bedroom and my sons bedroom is because Hubby is nightshift and is asleep up there at the moment, the kitten ran up there for a few seconds the other day and got on our bed and our other 2 cats spend a lot of time in those rooms.

Another concern I have is clothes. I had all the newly washed clothes on top of my drawers ready to be sorted when I got home from work the other day and when I came back home Hubby (who really has no concern for anything) had thrown them all on the floor on search for his work shirt and had left them all laying on the floor which had pretty much been the entire day by the time I got in

 

Yes I do one room at a time, sounds like you have a good plan of attack! Just wash the clothes again or get hubby to do it

 

I'm just at the moment hoovering the entire living room in preparation and it feels like such a big job.... :/ I'm really not in a position to leave the cats out of anywhere for a full day as they are house cats and I don't want to put them in rooms they have not been in as I don't want to spread it even worse to there :/ I could maybe keep them out for couple of hours??

I might have a question that seems silly but as I preparing the living room to do and I empty the Hoover straight after when I then empty the washing machine won't things transfer to the washing so it will get contaminated again?

 

You really don't need to exclude the cats from a treated room for the whole day.. you're worrying too much If need be, take 2 or 3 days to do all the rooms you want to treat. Exclude cats from room, spray room, open the windows to ventilate the room for a hour or two. It's pretty smelly stuff so you'll still be able to smell it even in a well ventilated room.

There's really no need to empty the vacuum cleaner between rooms - just do it when you've completely finished.

It's very effective stuff and, honestly, it doesn't need planning out like a military operation.

 

Again I just want to thank everyone for their replies and being so helpful.

I feel like it is a military operation. I'm not even done hoovering every part of the living room :/ no spray has even went down yet.

So if I go and empty washing machine and hang it out as I go I won't contaminate the clean washing. I haven't actually seen any fleas in any rooms yet but I thought I better act quickly!!

 

Ok guys there is a massive television unit that I literally cannot move, the cats are never really at that area anyway. It is also where all the electricals are. Do I NEED to move that and Hoover under it and spray the edges of the carpet it is up against? :/

 

You might want to put a strip of a flea collar in the vacuum cleaner bag too to kill any live critters that get get vacuumed up.

 

You might want to put a strip of a flea collar in the vacuum cleaner bag too to kill any live critters that get get vacuumed up.

I don't have any flea collars I might send Hubby out for some when he goes out. Do I need to move that TV unit do you think and will I contaminate the washing if I touch it?

 

I wouldn't move the TV, and don't worry about the washing. It's not like you're sterilising the house. Any fleas that might escape the vacuum will soon be zapped once they find their way back to the cat.

 

I wouldn't move the TV, and don't worry about the washing. It's not like you're sterilising the house. Any fleas that might escape the vacuum will soon be zapped once they find their way back to the cat.

I really do feel like I'm sterilizing the house. Ah well he goes with spraying the living room, fingers crossed!! Onto preparing my sons room!! I will be sire to keep you all updated haha!