So, my darling cats have fleas. I've been trying to avoid remedies with chemicals, but a traditional herb bath hasnt' worked so far and in the mean time my baby cats are miserable and I'm worried that house may get infested if I don't find a solution quickly. What have you guys found success with as far as home-treatment goes? I'm trying not to break the bank...

Thanks!!!

I hate to break the bad news, but if the cats have fleas, so does your house. Sorry.

For your home, the safest thing to use is a growth inhibitor such as methoprene, which is now available as Precor. (Make sure 1.2% methoprene is the only active ingredient such as in the Precor IGR, and NOT Precor 2000). This is a hormone which prevents the fleas from transitioning from larvae to adult. It doesn't kill adults, but it prevents the eggs from completing their lifecycle so in 1-2 weeks, no fleas. It is extremely safe for cats and people and the residue stays effective for months.

I used this with 2 treatments of Advantage/Frontline/whatever and in 3-4 days, there were no fleas I could see. If you were to skip the Advantage stuff, the methoprene would eventually kill off the flea infestation (because they couldn't transition into adults) but it will take 1-2 weeks. Just be sure to spray carefully everywhere with the methoprene if you use it alone so there are no coverage gaps.

If you want a quick remedy you are going to have to use something that will kill both the fleas currently on the cat and in the environment...they are there. One dose of Capstar kills all the fleas on your cat within 30 mins. After that, a spot treatment of either Advantage or Revolution will be necessary. If the fleas are bad you can do it every 2 wks until they are completely gone. For the environment I like Fleabusters. It is a natural product and safe to use around the cats.
http://www.fleabuster.com/
You can buy Capstar at Revival Animal Health and Advantage at Petsmart. Revolution is by prescription only, but it works. Don't try the cheaper spot treatments like Frontline and especially not Hartz...they can cause dangerous reactions in cats.

I agree with Tracy. You can use the capstar every couple of days, it is only short term but kills all the live fleas straight away. You need to use somethng like Frontline/revolution for at least 3 months to completely get rid of the problem.

Good luck

Susan

I'd also recommend Capstar pill. It's efficacy is only for up to 24 hours but it will kill all adult fleas on your cats ~ plus it can be used in conjunction with other flea products. I also avoid Hartz flea products too because they tend to have a toxic effect on cats (and dogs). There's a new flea preventive called Vectra that is sold at vet hospitals exclusively. It's topical and it's the latest product on the market. Many hospitals will sell them by the individual tubes so you can give it a try and see how it works for your cats.

If your home has infestations, you may want to vacuum frequently, change your vacuum bag frequently and I'd also recommend buying a flea collar ~ you can cut the collar into pieces and put them in your vacuum bag to kill off any fleas it picks up. I hope you find something that works because fleas can lead to all sorts of medical problems as you probably know.