My younger brother was over the other day to mow the lawn. Due to health problems, I can no longer handle that myself. He came inside afterwards to talk for a short time. I think I should talk to him out on the porch instead from now on. He has 3 young, and flea infested cats at his place. He has tried unsuccessfully so far, to get rid of the fleas. Unfortunately, some of the fleas seem to have decided to come over to my place with him the other day, and at least some of them moved in. After a couple of days I started getting the familiar tickling sensations on my legs, and then started getting bites. I sprinkled baking soda on all of the carpets. Diatomascious earth and salt also work. The crystals of baking soda, salt, and diatomascious earth shred the joints of many types of insect, causing them to bleed to death. They sometimes need to be reapplied a few days later, and perhaps a third time a few days after that to kill bugs that hatch out later. Unfortunately this method doesn't work well if the infested animal is still around, and has not been treated for fleas, as the animal will keep reseeding the area with more fleas. My brother has tried several methods to deflea the cats, and so far, none of them has worked. The only one he hasn't tried is to give them a flea bath, but he doesn't want to be shredded by the cats, so he doesn't want to try that method. I don't blame him, but he is going to have a flea problem until the cats are rid of them. My brother doesn't have spare cash, so he can't afford to take the cats to a groomer to have them give the cats a flea bath. I don't have pets now, so the baking soda will fix my problem. I wish I could help my brother out with this somehow, but if I were to give him money to take the cats to a groomer he would put it towards paying some of his bills instead, and I don't blame him.
This area has been economically depressed for decades, so jobs are hard to get here. He is lucky to have one, but it doesn't pay well, and he struggles to pay his bills.
I think he got the cats as a feral litter. He wants them around to keep down rodents, but at least he plays with and feeds them, too.
My brother tried flea collars, flea powder, and the liquid stuff you put on the back of the cat's neck, and none of that worked. Does anyone know of any other methods to deflea the cats that doesn't involve bathing them?
14 Jul 2012, 2:15 pm
