We have 3 cats. and a cat door> It is great because we don't have a litter in the house anymore. but now we have fleas in the house because the cats are in and out so much. do you know of any thing other that a flea bomb to use. on the house and the cats please help being eatin alive. thanks vickie

-- vickie (vduffys@cs.com), November 12, 2001

Answers

For the cats you can add a liberal sprinkling of garlic powder to their food at each feeding and it will keep the fleas away. As for the house there are powders that you can sprinkle on the florr then vacum that I have used with success

-- adam (possumdog@yahoo.com), November 12, 2001.

Just watch the cats carefully when you start using garlic. Some cats do not tolerate it well and will get sick. Speaking from experience here.

-- beckie (sunshine_horses@yahoo.com), November 12, 2001.

I do not use any powders or sprays, and garlic really made cat sick, and the chihuahua also brought in fleas, so I made a flea trap, filled cake pan with inch or so of water with dish washing soap mixed, sat in room of infestation, sat a light pointing toward pan and turn off all other lights and the fleas go to light and hop into water pan and die. I was amazed with the first attempt, they were already jumping in after just ten minutes, next moring hundred or so dead. Deborah

-- Deborah (theant00@yahoo.com), November 12, 2001.

sprinkel borax soap powder in your carpet in between your sofa cushions and so on. Leave over night and vac up. Do it again in about 3 days. It also kills the eggs in the carpet. You will have to give your pets a bath to kill the ones on them.

-- Teresa (c3ranch@socket.net), November 12, 2001.

It is chemical, but I swear by a product called Revolution. Ask your vet. It's like Advantage, Frontline, etc.

-- Shannon at Grateful Acres Animal Sanctuary (gratacres@aol.com), November 12, 2001.

I have 25 cats, only 6 in house, I also swear by Revolution, gets rid of ear mites and fleas, I takes care of all the crawly critters. I by the lg cat size, and divide it, half for each cat, I found it lasts a long time, about 5 months. no fleas, none in house, cost a bit up front, but you will spend a fortune on other stuff. Irene

-- Irene texas (catlady@cs.com), November 12, 2001.

Vickie - DO NOT use any products with garlic in cats (or dogs). Garlic in these species is VERY harmful to the red blood cells, causing oxidative damage to the hemoglobin. The safest and most effective flea controls today are products such as Advantage and Frontline. Sprays, dips, powders collars, bombs, etc are all obsolete now.Bathing to remove flea dirt is cosmetically helpful, but will not get rid of the problem, since 99% of the fleas and all the larvae are not on the animal. Good luck!

-- Cat Doc (kestrel91316@aol.com), November 12, 2001.

I use Brewer's Yeast on our dogs and cats for years now and they haven't had any problems with in. In fact they love eating it! You can pick it up at any health food store (don't buy it from a feed store - it'll cost you twice as much.)

-- Bev (cafemocha@ivillage.com), November 13, 2001.

Just buy a couple of plants of rosemary and/or sage from the store and the fleas will be gone in no time.

-- Chandler (ProvidenceFarms2001@yahoo.com), November 13, 2001.

Hey Cat Doc-- what about feeding diatomaceous earth to cats and dogs and putting in the litter box as an organic way to kill fleas?

-- Ann Markson (tngreenacres@hotmail.com), November 13, 2001.