Oh.my.god you guys one of our cats has fleas. Or maybe both? They are strictly indoor cats, how does this happen?! I'm sure you all have gathered by now what a neat freak/germaphobe I am so this is really giving me anxiety. I've never even treated my cats for fleas. So out of desperation I ran to the store to get flea treatment and flea shampoo. Bathed the cat with the black specs on her and treated the other since we didn't see anything on her. I'll treat the other cat once she's dry. But what the heck else do I do? We vacuumed the entire house, tore apart our bedding where the cats sleep...anything else we should do? I'm horrified 
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We had a flea problem this summer.
I shaved all our pets, gave them baths, used their flea drops, washed everything I could, and when all else failed I bombed the house. That worked. It took a couple months to get rid of them all. Shaving them really helped.
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Oh, you can get some powder to sprinkle in the carpet before you vacuum.
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Ugh. We had a problem over the summer, too. It was really bad, too. I don't even know where they came from, either.
I vacuumed like a maniac, we brushed our cat with a flea comb 2-3x a day, washed all of the bedding, bathed/treated the cat, and we bombed the house. Even when you don't see any anymore it's important to keep with it (the vacuuming, especially, in case of eggs...I vacuumed like 3x a day for months).
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@Mrs. Pickle: @lovehoneybee: bombed it with what?
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@Bao: we have been successful is ridding fleas by bathing all the critters in blue dawn at least 2 twice in one week and treating our carpet with baking soda. Sprinkle powder into the carpet and brush in let sit for 24-48 hours and vacuum up. I vacuum nearly daily so it killed me to leave it sit but it has really worked.
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Any flea meds you can buy at the store are going to be significantly less effective than what a vet's office will sell. They're over the counter, so you don't need an appointment, but its worth spending a little extra and buying from the vet. Our clinic carried activyl, but there are a number of products that are effective. Frontline is no longer the best option.
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@MrsRcCar: I'll try anything and everything!
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@2farmmoms: good to know, it was 9 at night on a Saturday so I just grabbed what I could. I didn't treat the cat with the fleas yet so I can still get something on Monday.
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@Bao: Yeah, probably a good idea. The newer products really work well, and going into winter you shouldn't have to worry for much longer (unless you live somewhere warm?)
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@2farmmoms: nope, MI. I'm still just stumped how this even happened? I was under the impression indoor only cats couldn't get fleas!
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@Bao: They probably came in on a person, unfortunately! Any wild animal carries them, so it was probably just a fluke, they happened to jump onto a pant leg right before you walked in the door or something. They do die off in the winter though, so as long as you get the cats under control you shouldn't continue to have a problem.
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@2farmmoms: even if they are already in my warm house? Or you mean new ones coming in? Sorry this is so new to me I'm clueless.
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@Bao: it sounds like you probably caught it pretty quickly so its not likely you have a real infestation. A thorough cleaning and vacuuming and treating the cats might be all you need. If you use activyl or something similar, that will keep them off the cats for a month. The only thing is that activyl is topical and quite oily and I think you have LOs. There are some oral products that might be safer around your kids. I'm not remembering the names at the moment but you could call around to vet clinics and see what they have.
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Comfortis is one of the oral options.
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@2farmmoms: thank you so much!
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@Bao: No problem! Fleas are no fun!
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@Bao: I haven't read all the comments but my cats have had fleas a couple of times. As long as you nipped it in the bud you probably do not need to bomb your house. That would be overkill I think. The flea shampoo probably contains some sort of pesticide and so does the treatment if you used the topical stuff that goes on the back of the cats neck. If the cats go outside then you will probably need to keep up with monthly treatments but I would recommend going to the vet to get a prescription because it will be more effective. Comfortis is great if your cat will eat it. It's a huge pill and has a really strong odor. As long as you vacuum really well, you probably got most of the fleas and eggs. Just make sure you empty the vacuum bag outside right away. When you treat the cats, any remaining fleas will not survive for very long because they won't have a good source (occasional bites on humans isn't enough to sustain a flea population). I know the feeling of finding fleas and how much anxiety it causes. Don't worry!! It's a pretty easy problem to treat if you get it early.
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Honestly, before you go bombing with chemicals I would see if you can't just get them off the cat. Fwiw I have never had any luck with store bought products. In fact we just did a three month trial of frontline again and I returned it to Costco because he was still itching. One dose of vet stuff and it was gone.
My ILs who have outdoor animals introduced us to Capstar. It's a one time thing that kills anything currently on them. So it doesn't prevent more from getting on them but it's a good way to kick start treatment if you have a problem.
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@Bao: we have 4 pets and the only (2) times we've has fleas was our indoor only cats before we even ever had dogs. They're sneaky I guess! The first time we freaked out and bathed them and took them to a vet and started a flea med (we did revolution, one cat won't take pills ). The next time we just restarted the flea med and kept them on it as a preventative. Caught it right away and didn't do anything crazy other than vacuum and wash sheets (they slept in our bed at the time).
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@MenagerieMama: @T.H.O.U.: @turquoisemama: thanks guys. I've never actually come across the actual flea bugs yet it's all been just the larvae stuff I found in our bed (shudder) but hoping like you guys mentioned we caught it early.
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@Bao: diatomaceous earth! Just make sure you get food grade, and it's SO much safer than chemical foggers. You can put it on the carpet and even on the cats!
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@ms.line: say what?! Lol what is that?
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@Bao: It's a naturally occurring rock that kills bugs with exoskeletons. There's a lot online about it - here's one straightforward site: http://www.richsoil.com/diatomaceous-earth.jsp It's hard to find the food grade in stores (stores like Home Depot will just have pool grade), but I buy mine off of Amazon.
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@ms.line: finally just ordered it after I found another flea
not on my pets but in LO's room! Why are these so hard to get rid of?! I cleaned and vacuumed and emptied the vacuum and sprayed and bathed and treated and washed. Insane.
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