Like a Parasite, I Wanna Crawl All Over You

My furry little bundle of joy has brought home yet another surprise. Fleas!! This is my first encounter with these buggers and I am ripping my hair out. If you know me at all then you know that bugs freak me out to no extent. So of course the first thing I did was go online and Google. A lot. I was trying to find a general consensus on how to take care of the situation. After surfing the web for an hour I came up with a general game plan. I also picked up a few tips that I had never even heard of.

When attempting to get rid of fleas you are declaring war! Clear one day completely and get the pets and kids out of the house if you can.

The very first thing I did was put a flea collar in the collection tank of my vacuum. This is suppose to help kill any bugs or eggs sucked up in the process. Most flea collars are the same so I bought a cheaper one from Wal-mart.


Next you have to do a lot of vacuuming and a lot of laundry. Wash all bedding, all clothes on the floor, all pet beds, all cloth pet toys, and any drapes that touch the ground in very hot water. Pretty much any fabric in your house. Then I decided to use a flea powder to put on the furniture and carpet. I was really nervous about doing this because most bug killers are very toxic and harmful. So I chose Natural Defense fabric powder from Sentry. It's safe to use around kids and pets so I don't have to freak out about my dog walking across treated carpet. Basically you sprinkle the powder all over the carpet and use an inside broom to work the powder further into the carpet. Concentrate on ares the animals usually hang out. You can vacuum after only an hour but they suggest that you wait 24 hours. Fair warning, this one may set you back a little. One 10 oz bottle runs for about $17. I used almost three but I was really, really thorough.

***Cover any animal tanks or aquariums before using!***


Another key factor is to treat your animals the same day you clean the house. Or else all that work will be for nothing. First I give them a thorough scrub down in the tub. I use the Sentry flea shampoo. It works and it actually smells good. It doesn't have that weird chemical smell.




Last but not least put your pets on some sort of flea and tick prevention. Honestly, I couldn't afford some of the more popular brands so I'm giving Hartz Ultraguard a try.

Well, when this is all done and over with I will let you guys know if they're really gone for good. Wish me luck!

"The flea, though he kill none, he does all the harm he can."
--John Donne

***UPDATE - August 28, 2009***

They're gone! The fleas are really gone! The Natural Defense flea powder worked so well. During this process I also discovered that the power also deodorizes the fabric it is being used on. Got a couch that smells like dog? Not anymore! After letting the powder sit for 24 hours everything in my house smells clean. The Hartz flea medication worked really well too. No fleas, no ticks, no bugs at all! So, yes, I would definitely recommend these products to anyone. They worked great!