Found fleas on my cat and in my house. House being bombed Monday...

[Zeal]

I also think your roommate should provide sources to back up his insisting need to Bomb the place. Cause bombing is less effective than a number of other options not to mention less dangerous for other life in the house including human and pet.

I understand the thought of living with fleas is torturous and bombing seems the quickest easiest way (I jumped to that conclusion too once) but I assure it’s not the best, for the fleas or for the living animals in your house including you and your roommate. Far from it.

Thats what I told him... and I cant say were living with fleas because he only saw one on her head and one on his bed.

This was after we stopped treating her with flea medication... We stopped for like 6 months maybe even more

 

[samnaz]

Thats what I told him... and I cant say were living with fleas because he only saw one on her head and one on his bed.

This was after we stopped treating her with flea medication... We stopped for like 6 months maybe even more

Tell him the two he saw laid 100 eggs every 24 hours and you’ll be living with a **** ton of fleas sooner or later if their eggs are not vacuumed up and disposed of.

 

[Jeeperz]

If you can't prevent the bombing, run the skimmer line outside. Seal the tank/sump completely, twice, with heavy plastic sheeting and duct tape. Then explain to the roomie they are responsible for any deaths and aftermath.

Explain that for bombings to be effective, every room needs it's own can, large rooms need 2. And it needs repeated every few days for at least a week or more. Then everything has to be washed/vacuumed after each bombing. They really are not very effective. And it's just fleas.

 

[HawaiianReef]

If you can't stop the treatment and end up bombing/fogging, be sure to have at least 50% new saltwater ready when you cut open the plastic. Remember the air exchange will create ammonia spike instantly.

 

[Zeal]

Talk to him, hes no longer doing it. Were treating the house the correct way and treating the host. Thanks for all the help everyone. Helped me present him a good argument.

 

[NewGoby]

Yes only pet. I’m going to buy a flea collar tomorrow
My roommate (cousin) won’t listen to me and he refuses to do anything else other the bombing the house. So I’m not going to fight with him and just let him do it.

why are people saying to put a towel over the tank instead of bag???

house is being bombed Monday regardless of what I say.

If you can't change his mind.
Get multiple towels, make sure they're moist, but not too moist to the point where they're dripping, and put 2 or 3 layers of towels over the tank, if you have a sump, do the same for the sump.

The first layer will catch the toxins, the second will catch any leakage & the third will prevent any of the leaking water to fall into the tank, and the towels create a better seal as they're weighted down by the moisture in them, than dry towels or a bag would've.

 

[Mical]

Years ago when living in so Florida we use to sprinkle 20 Mule team Borax into carpets once a month. Let it sit one day then vac. That eliminated fleas & bugs.

 

[siggy]

You could always bring home a Horse, Isn't that how people survived the Plague
I hate those little ankle biters and can't blame your roommate for wanting to nuke the place. When the kids were small they would lay on the dog, when my wife found a flea in my daughters hair it was an all out assault. A pro came in and nuked the place.
Buy the house and you get the crows on the roof, in this case the fleas on the cat.

 

[sfin52]

Tell me what I should do then?

Understanding the Flea Life Cycle

There are four stages in the life cycle of a flea: egg, larva, pupa, and adult. Depending on the environmental temperature and humidity levels, the total life cycle will take anywhere from a couple weeks to many months.

m.petmd.com

I would use advantage II

Vacuum throughley and offer. The fleas live on animals. Wash all cats betting clean areas where your kitty lays like a cat tree. I would also treat the carpets. But you could take care of the problem with just treating the cat.

 

[Shufflepig]

Flea collars are poison for your cat. Use advantage, advantics, Frontline or the like. Vacuum daily. The fleas will go away eventually if you keep the pet treated and wash all bedding. Bombing once does nothing. It has to be done every few days for a week or two to break the life cycle. I've only had success by doubling the number of bombs recommended and using the ones for bed bugs. I have never bombed with a tank running

Flea collars are no more poison than advantage or frontline and you can’t use advantix on cats. None of them are a “poison”. Their active ingredients affect insect nervous systems but do not affect mammalian nervous systems. And the Seresto collar is actually safer in some ways than the topical products.

 

[Jeeperz]

I was referring to the store bought collars like hartz which can, and have, caused serious harm to pets. As far as advantix I was pointing out the liquids and what to look into. I've had to switch between Frontline and advantage as some years fleas don't get controlled by one type. And yes, all of these things ARE poisons, it says right on the info sheets. Also why you put it on the neck of cats where they can't lick it and why the dog version will kill a cat. If they were not a type of poison, they wouldn't work. And some pets don't tolerate them on the skin. I had one cat lose all it's hair around the application site. The seresto collar is also less safe in some ways. I would never collar a pet if I'm not watching them as they can get stuck and choke to death, which is a real possibility as it does happen, especially with cats that go outside or dogs on runners.

The fleas where we moved were so bad, Frontline did nothing. I even bombed and had carpets steam cleaned twice before moving in. Our dog had to go on the internal medicine as it's a different active ingredient, which still has not 100% controlled the fleas. But it's getting better with monthly treatment on the cats and the pill( Perfecto or some such) thing every 3 months on the dog.

To the op, maybe they have the Perfecto or whatever 3 month pill for cats, I never asked the vet about that as I've never had mutant fleas like where we moved too.

 

[Rilo]

I recommend oral flea/tick medications for long term treatment. They are more effective then topical treatments based on my research and easier to apply. I like nexgard and simparica. I've heard good things about bravecto.

 

[Jon Fishman]

Get rid of the tank or get rid of the roommate. If your roommate is so self-indulged that he is willing to use an antiquated, somewhat ineffective treatment that puts your tank’s inhabitants at risk because he saw a flea on a cat and won’t listen to reason, he doesn’t need to reside in the same dwelling as a reef tank.

I’d be angry that OP is making me reside with a cat...... so perhaps the roommate doesn’t care much for the tank

 

[EmdeReef]

Comfortis is an option. Lasts a month and no bad side effects on cats. Vomiting is common with all of these oral meds though so don’t freak out.

I volunteer at an animal shelter and we’ve managed to eliminate serious flea issues with capstar and Comfortis given to affected incoming animals.

I use Seresto collars on my dogs whenever I go to tick prone areas. FWIW It’s not bulletproof on ticks...

 

[jd371]

My sister had to deal with bedbugs in her house and that was a nightmare. She got them from one of the nurses that was taking care of her BIL that was suffering from ALS and living with them. The pest company brought in their beagle that sniffs them out and he went right to the chair that the nurse sat in, when my sister moved the chair they were crawling all over the back.
To treat what they do is set up heaters throughout the house with blowers and run them for 24 hours at a temperature of 180 degrees. My sister had to get all the clothes and linens out from the drawers and closet and lay them out, had to remove anything that would get blown off the walls and anything that would melt at that temperature. The beagle was brought back after the treatment and again two weeks later to confirm there were no more bed bugs. It took a week for my sister to get her life back to normal after the treatment at a cost of $8000.