May the Fleas of a thousand Camels infest your
By winterose
@winterose (39887)
Canada
July 1, 2008 4:36pm CST
May the fleas of a thousand camels infest your ...
I don't know if it is an Irish curse or much older than that.
But I do know that someone has cursed me. Each year I get so infested with them that I want to die!
I had cats for 23 years but I never had a flea problem before moving into this flat three years ago.
Okay it was the first time my cats were ever let out, and it was the first time, I had a backyard, and it was the first time I lived directly over a cellar, either way I got fleas and I can't get rid of them.
The fleas attack me they attach my feet and legs, they attack, continuosly day and night. I just killed 15 fleas, on my legs in the course of few hours.
The fleas give me infection and I constantly have to be on benadryl. I can't describe the aggravation, how I literally wish I could do myself in it is so bad. Keo, had a visit with me and she saw the condition my legs and feet were in last year.
People say living on top of a cellar with isolation under the floor could be the reason I have them since my cats never had them before.
I have only one cat left, Junior, and he is flea free but the fleas are still in the floors.
I got pyrethrin which is what is standard for getting rid of fleas, but my bottle must be too old now because it is not working.
It is very hard to find that stuff here in Montreal I have been told that Quebec has a ban on chemicals.
Now my friends all know that I have very little money. And it takes time to get money together to get things like this that are not in not a regular budget(and just in case anyone assumes, no I have not asking for money I am just telling you about my sorry existence).
I was thinking of ordering from the States, and then there was the issue of good it come across the border without being rejected at customs.
Lots of the online stores like petsmart, does not even ship to Canada.
And so I was reluctant to try to purchase pryrethrin from the states for that reason.
A friend of mine told me to check out amazon, so I did. I saw lots of pryrethrin there, but I also saw something called Sinergy. Sinergy is a natural compound made from sand crystals which are supposed to kill the fleas and there larvae.
I was so happy, the bottle was only $9.99 American, so I purchased it. Now, they did not give me a place to select the type of shipment I wanted, and bear in mind I am new to online shopping and I clicked except order before I checked it.
The invoice came to my email box, 44 dollars and change. I nearly had heart failure. I wrote Amazon and asked why the delivery to Canada was more than the cost of the product and they explained they charged 3.95 for a foreign tax fee, 19.95 for delivery and 9.95 per pound for product. I told them it was way too much and I didn't have an option for shipment, they choose ups.
They were nice though, they said they could not change the shipping as it was already in progress but for this one time they would refund a portion of the shipping by 10.00. I was happy for that.
In all this I forget to tell my son to wait for the ups driver. I wake up yesterday to a notice saying their was no answer and now I have to wait again while I suffer with these fleas from hell.
The number they left on the card to call, does not allow you to speak to anyone it is just a recording. The say they come back the next business day, but today is Canada Day so they are not working. Now I have to wait until tomorrow and mean while they are biting like crazy.
I am a big woman they are having a feast for a King!
Did you ever have an infestation of any kind that was difficult to get rid of?
If so what did you do to get rid of it?
8 people like this
18 responses
@beautyqueen26 (16030)
• United States
1 Jul 08
I did an entire article on this on one of my blogs.
One of my best tips would be to use
cedar oil shampoos on the cat.
And cedar oil on the pet bedding.
Vacuum the floors and carpets daily and throw out
the bag. Otherwise the fleas will get
back into the carpet.
We used to have fleas, too.
They were really bad.
You just have to fight them one room at a time.
You could also use Diatomaceous Earth.
Just get it from the health food store or online
and sprinkle in carpet and furniture.
Then vacuum up the next day.
Supposedly it kills fleas.
Here is a link to the product.
http://www.dirtworks.net/Diatomaceous-Earth.html
It's all natural and no chemicals.
Best of luck.
3 people like this
@beautyqueen26 (16030)
• United States
1 Jul 08
I meant to say, "Food grade" Diatomaceous Earth, that
way it's safe around pets and humans.
3 people like this
@winterose (39887)
• Canada
2 Jul 08
thanks beautyqueen, I don;t have carpets, only one cat now and he doesn't have fleas, he gets treated all the time, so I up now waiting for that product to come, and hopefully we will be rid of them once and for all.
@mtdewgurl74 (18151)
• United States
29 Jul 08
Well this has been 4 weeks ago, so did the stuff help any? I sure hope that it did. My mom as you know had so many fleas once it made my sister sick her bites got all infected cause she wouldn't stop scratching them. We used Skin so soft origional lotion from Avon that helped a little but only if you were putting it on several times a day. Every hour or other hour. My mom also bought this electric flea killer the fleas were drawn to it and it Zapped them didn't do alot of good seem for everyone we killed fifity would take their place we also used salt and sprinkled it all around and it says to keep your floors vaccumed everyday if not twice a day. That doesn't kill them though. I have heard also that vinegar works..I use alot of bug spray. I just hope that your are doing better now.
1 person likes this
@mtdewgurl74 (18151)
• United States
29 Jul 08
Well she finally bought bug bombs to help get rid of most of them but she also done the other things to help in thinning them out. I myself bought a product called Roach pruf and it worked well in getting rid of them but that is just bascially boric acid. Have you tried sprinkling the boric acid all over the carpets/floors and letting it sit for a few days then vaccuming? that might help.. I fold them tip just now from stretcher.com so I hope it would work aslo it is worth a try.
I read this in a Mother Earth News Magazine about 15 years ago and it works great. At night you put a dinner plate on the floor (preferably in the room with the worst flea problem) and put a drop of dish soap in some water on the plate. Put a lamp on the floor next to the plate. The fleas are attracted to the light and jump on the plate. Without the dish soap the water surface tension is enough that they can jump off but with the soap the sink and drown. If this is done for several nights eventually all the fleas will be gone unless more are brought in.
This one sounds simple enough..
@winterose (39887)
• Canada
29 Jul 08
how did she finally get rid of them,
I am using borac acid as you know it is killing a lot of them, but they are still around and now the man next door is mad at me, his cat and her kittens got fleas and of course he said I brought them in when I visited.
@chertsy (3797)
• United States
2 Jul 08
Gees, that's outragious for a chemical to get rid of fleas. If you have a Walmart or any place that sells Borax (boric acid), it's safe for animals and people. You can sprinkle it around your home and inside your house. It's found in the laundry section of your store. This is something I found that might help, I found it from yahoo answers, and this sounds like your problem. You should also be able to find it at Home Depot.
We had a TERRIBLE problem with fleas and my son was ATE ALIVE. Like you, I was over pesticides. This is what I used and I SWEAR by it!!!
1. Sprinkle your home with boric acid, more formally known as BORAX. You can get it in the laundry section at Walmart. It will not harm pets or children. Let it sit for at least 24 hours. Walking on it only helps push it into the carpet fibers and it works like a dream!
2. Remove any carpet/mat outside your doors. They are just fleas magnets and you will just carry the eggs in your home on the bottom of your shoes.
3. Go buy Garlique orderless garlic tablets. Take as directed. IT WORKS!!!!! My sons has totally STOPPED getting bit!!
4. For all over protection from fleas, mosquito's etc. I use Original Skin So Soft Bath Oil from Avon. It works BETTER than OFF spray!!! Just rub a small amount over your skin, and VIOLA...It works so good my husband even puts it on!!!!
1 person likes this
@winterose (39887)
• Canada
2 Jul 08
thanks hon, I don't think we have borax acid here I think they stopped selling it but I will certainly inquire if that stuff I am getting does not work.
1 person likes this
@chertsy (3797)
• United States
2 Jul 08
I did a search about Borax being sold in Canada. In the beginning it was being sold in the food section, which I find weird. It's suppose to be sold in the laundry sections of stores that sells detergents, because it helps get your clothes cleaner. I think that's why it was removed. You can also try the Garlique product, or any garlic pills. With the Avon products, it works, but I don't know if you can get that in Canada, and if you can, would it cost you an arm and a leg in shipping costs.
Pour salt on the carpet. That's it! Apparently that's how to get rid of fleas the natural way. Supposedly the salt gets down into the carpet where they are breeding and it burns them up.You can also dump salt in your pet's bath water as part of your pet flea control program. Put salt outside around your house, and on any mats outside the doors.
@gemini_rose (16264)
•
4 Jul 08
I sympathise with you completely, once the fleas are in they are very hard to get out again and I have had quite a few battles with them. All of which I won I might add.
The worst time I ever remember was when I moved into a council house some years ago. I had my dog, my son and I was fostering a young girl at the time. It was a three bedroomed house and so the children had a room each. The girl I was fostering complained of itchy legs and she had bite marks all over them. I had not noticed any fleas downstairs as my dog was regularly treated but figured I would do the downstairs room just in case. I did not bother with upstairs because my dog only came into my room and never went into any of the other rooms.
The flea bites on my foster daughter got worse, no one else had them and we could not understand it. So I wanted to decorate her room and moved all the stuff out of the room, I pulled up the carpet which was there when I moved in and then left the room for about ten minutes while I sorted my paint out. When I went back into the room after I have never seen anything like it, the floor was just a sea of black and they were jumping. Yep it was fleas, millions of them, it was like a horror film. I know for a fact they did not come off my dog, but the owner had pets who lived there before. I had to get pest control out and they came and sprayed the room to get rid of them. He told me that fleas go into the floorboards and hibernate in the dust and stuff under there and they can stay there hibernating until someone moves in, then of course as soon as life or food comes in then out they come. It was horrible, and it is making me itch reliving it!
1 person likes this
@winterose (39887)
• Canada
5 Jul 08
Oh gosh that is my problem, they are in the floor boards. You are lucky it didn't have them in the rest of the house.
@DonnaLawson (4032)
• United States
2 Jul 08
You are just having a bad time of it aren't you.. I hope that you soon get your merchandise and that it helps.. Do you not have a vets office that you can get the medicine that you just put on the back of the cats head and it kill the fleas for months.. We have it for our dog and it cost about $10 to $15 and it lasts for months.. We haven't had any fleas since we bought this the first time years ago.. I am not sure of the name but you do have to get it from a vet.. I hope everything gets better for you soon as I do know how it is to be so stressed out about circumstances.. When I sold on ebay, I don't remember shipping to Canada being quite that high, but you never know about some companies, they will charge as high as they can.. Everyone has their hand out for your money.. Good luck to you and take care..
1 person likes this
@winterose (39887)
• Canada
2 Jul 08
the cat doesn't have fleas, he never had fleas and he is treated each month, it is not the cat is that the fleas are in the floor and coming up from the cellar.
@DonnaLawson (4032)
• United States
2 Jul 08
Well, I read the post after mine.. If you try the salt and it works, let us know.. Hope you can get it taken care of.. We had fleas in an unfinished basement about 27 years ago right after my son was born.. We were in the process of moving anyway, so I am not sure what happened with them, but before we moved, they were all over the basement.. A cat had came into our basement and had a litter of kittens and the fleas were horrible.. We were spraying like crazy but it wasn't very effective and we couldn't spray much of the strong stuff, because of my newborn.. so, I do wish you luck and hope the salt trick works for you, please let us know, I will be watching for your post, you know, the one that says, The Fleas of the Camel are gone!!!
@Chispa514 (871)
• Montreal, Quebec
5 Jul 08
That is why I'm so scared to let my cats outside, even just on my balcony ! I dislike bugs of any kind, and to be infested with fleas would just drive me insane. Even when I brought my new kitten home from my friend, I gave her a bath the minute we got home in flea and tick shampoo, to make sure she had no bugs (just incase)
Sorry to hear that happened to you mom, hope you get rid of them soon. The only way I know to get rid of bugs of any kind is to get an empty spray bottle and filly it with bleach, abit of vineager and water and spary everything down with that. It works for ants and other bugs, so i assume it would work for fleas too
1 person likes this
@GardenGerty (169568)
• United States
2 Jul 08
I hope your expensive product works, but if it does not, sprinkle salt in the floor, let it set, then vacuum it up. YOu can repeat it often, it is what my mom always did.
@winterose (39887)
• Canada
2 Jul 08
I don't find the product expensive it was the shipping which is outrageous,
but I will try the salt for sure.
@raydene (9871)
• United States
2 Jul 08
Oh Sweets
I am so sorry for you that you are having a problem.
I use the spot flea control one one cat/dog a month and since I have 4 animals I am treating each every 4 months.
I never have fleas but did before I started with this regiment.
Good Luck
http://cgi.ebay.com/ADVANTAGE-FLEA-CONTROL-FOR-CATS-10-LBS-AND-UP-5-DOSES_W0QQitemZ230266548395QQihZ013QQcategoryZ20738QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
http://cgi.ebay.com/ADVANTAGE-FLEA-CONTROL-FOR-CATS-10-LBS-AND-UP-5-DOSES_W0QQitemZ230266548395QQihZ013QQcategoryZ20738QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
1 person likes this
@winterose (39887)
• Canada
4 Jul 08
yes hon the cat get treated and he doesn't have fleas, the fleas are nested in the hard wood floors.
@xXxMikesWifeyxXx (3072)
• United States
2 Jul 08
Oh man! i am sorry to hear abot this:( thats really sad... I cant stand fleas, i would never have an outside cat,if i have a total outside cat, it was a stray and never mine i would just feed it ex for that veary purpose, fleas can carry diseases im ot intrestedin getting any of thoes. so i would try my best to keep myself out of that sitatuon.
Now i mean in your situation. mabey your landlord will pay for an exterminator?.if not i would save up my money from mylot and hire an exterminator to come out and put poison down. i bet it will work 100& better then the stuff you are using now...
I hope that it getts better soon and that you dont get to sick from them...
as far as me having an infestation, when i was a kid baout 6 or 7 i was ing ymnastics with a gir who always carried live because of the living not to clean animals haireverywere anyways. she would come to practice roll around on the mats and give it to the whole team. we would get rid of it and get it back again. it got to the point were before we could come t practice the teacher checked our hair. we seen wer eit was coming from. and obviously the situation was handled. but for us to be getting it over and over and over again. cost alot of money and only goes away if you everything correctly and thruoughly,man that was bad.... so that would be my infestation story:)
@winterose (39887)
• Canada
4 Jul 08
no an exterminator cost too much, the landlord won't pay for that but he is supposed to fix the cellar and that might help the problem, I will stick with the stuff I bought I think it will work.
@Bluepatch (2476)
• Trinidad And Tobago
2 Jul 08
I got mites twice in my life. Once from my sister's home and once from sitting in a car whose owner allowed her flea infested dogs to sit with her.
Each time I ended up bathed in a solution from head to toe and had all my clothing and linen washed in warm water and kept separate from everybody else's for 24 hours.
I went to work covered in this solution and people noticed. It didn't smell bad but I still had to make excuses.
Believe me, I understand your problem.
I do empathise.
1 person likes this
@winterose (39887)
• Canada
4 Jul 08
for two days last week they were so bad that I couldn't stand sitting at the computer they were literally driving me crazy.
@dawnald (85137)
• Shingle Springs, California
1 Jul 08
I have had in the past. My cats are indoor cats now, so no problem. But what we did:
1. bathe the cats
2. flea bomb the house (an aerosol thing that you let off but you have to leave the house for a couple of hours). You have to do this more than once because of the eggs.
3. Wash all the bedding and linens
good luck!
1 person likes this
@winterose (39887)
• Canada
2 Jul 08
well I am at this point waiting for the synergy to come, it is supposed to be an application for an entire year so that is great, we will see what happens after that.
@momalisa65 (1971)
• United States
2 Jul 08
That happened to me one time when I lived in a trailer and had my first cat who had kittens.
I would drop my son off at school as I was wearing my work uniform for a restaurant, and I had to wear short white socks. I remember walking my son up the outside school stairs while bending down to pick fleas off my white socks!
I don't know how I would have got rid of them otherwise, but I ended up moving into the house I live in now.
I gave the cats away as I was moving and washed everything before brining it into the house.
Now I have a dog and a cat. I normally put "Advantage" on them in the summer, but I haven't had money to get any yet this summer. But I haven't noticed any fleas bothering us.
I had my carpeting all removed because of the dog, so I guess there's no place for the fleas to go except onto the dog and cat.
If you look up a post that one of my friends commented on a couple months ago, she told how to trap fleas by using a a bowl of water with dishsoap in it, under a nightlight....You'll have to find the post to see exactly how to do it.
I remember it was 'Polachicago' who started the discussion and 'Primalmom' made the comment, and it was a natural inexpensive way to get rid of fleas. They are both in my list of friends if you want to search for it. The discussion was titled something about being 'Eco Friendly'.
1 person likes this
@winterose (39887)
• Canada
2 Jul 08
thanks hon, I appreciate all the suggestions and I will use them all, I will let you know how it turns out.
@guybrush (4658)
• Australia
2 Jul 08
Yes, some members of my family have definitely wished the fleas of a million camels into my armpits, winterose ... but fortunately we don't seem to have them! We do have a lot of cockroaches in Australia sometimes, but at least they don't get on us and make us itch! I hope you manage to get your precious package soon, and that it works so you can get a bit of rest and not go crazy!
1 person likes this
@winterose (39887)
• Canada
4 Jul 08
it just got it yesterday I am still being bit but not as much, I guess it does take time before they go away.
@Nana530 (286)
• United States
3 Jul 08
We got fleas real bad one time when my son talked me into letting him get a little Eskimo Spitz puppy. Unknown to us this poor little fellow was covered in fleas and our home was crawling with them.
I took the dog to the vet and had him treated and my hubby got some kind of stuff from the co-op that came in a can and you would put several cans around the house, set them off and leave. I don't remember what it was called though. But it worked and we never had anymore fleas again.
Since you're in Canada, I don't know if they have things like this. But here where I live we just go to the co-op and get their advice on what to use.
I can't imagine such outrageous shipping. Bless your heart this has to be terrible for you. I sure hope that when it finally does get there that it works well for you. I know you will be happy to get rid of those little pests.
1 person likes this
@winterose (39887)
• Canada
4 Jul 08
thanks hon, I have the stuff now, and I am not as bothered with the fleas so they are probably dying which is wonderful.
@ElusiveButterfly (45941)
• United States
2 Jul 08
After having an infestation last year I understand completely what you are going through. I used borax and salt on the carpets to rid them of fleas. I also bought a couple of cans of spray bombs for specific rooms that were infested. It got rid of them.
1 person likes this
@winterose (39887)
• Canada
2 Jul 08
yep people are saying that is the way to go, I will see how this product works that I am supposedly getting today.
@Fishmomma (11658)
• United States
1 Jul 08
I think the high charges are terrible. Its so high that I would never order at Amazon or anywhere else for those charges. I'm hoping it works for you quickly.
The only problems we have are snails and moths. They keep coming back. I have tried all the safer treatment methods. Sadly, had to get drastic on the snails, as they were eating my plants.
1 person likes this
@winterose (39887)
• Canada
2 Jul 08
yes but it is the same international shipping is high anywhere when I order from the states.
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
1 Jul 08
Mmmmm....never heard that curse, and my great-grandmother was Irish..LOL. Thankfully so far all is well in my building, but the biggest thing in our neighborhood in general is bedbug infestations. Everywhere you go you see signs up in store windows for bedbug pesticides. I've been longing to get a new bed/mattress and often I see perfectly wonderful mattresses being tossed out in the garbage....they look brand new...then I think, yikes must have bedbugs in them
Years and years ago, my mother bought home a kitten. One of her co-workers female cat had had kittens and she bought them to work to adopt them out...they were all spoken for and taken save one...and as you can guess, my mother felt sorry for the kitten and took him home. Well my goodness. Up until then none of our cats had a flea problem...this poor kitten, that I named Tommy was literally a walking fleabag...crawling all over him like crazy. I was never too keen on chemical flea products and at that time they didn't even have natural flea products (this was in the 1970s) so I did the only thing I could think of doing...I gave Tommy bath after bath, after bath...miraculously the fleas didn't spread to the other cats or any of the furniture but it took a full week of constant bathing of Tommy and using a flea comb through his fur to pick them off him
One thing you'll have to do, to really get rid of the fleas is to do a constant vacuuming everywhere..since no doubt the fleas aren't only crawling on you but are probably infested in the furniture. Good luck!!!
1 person likes this
@winterose (39887)
• Canada
2 Jul 08
no my clothes and bed and all that is okay, it is just the hardwood floor in the living room by me, that is the problem,
my junior doesn't have any fleas and he gets treated every month, it is just me and the floor.
@JanetBRudman (158)
• United States
1 Jul 08
Try bees! Last year African bees set up a nest on our roof and managed to come in through a tiny opening in my bedroom window. They only came in during the evening, when my light was on, attracted by the light bulb. When they landed on the fixture, I'd spray with insect spray, which killed them. Then I had to pick up the bodies. Ugh! We had to call an exterminator to get rid of the hive. I got bitten so bad I still have scars on my legs!
We also have been invaded by ants and roaches. Clorox kills ants. On roaches, I use the spray, but I'm so allergic to it that I get an asthma attack! Never had fleas, though.
1 person likes this
@winterose (39887)
• Canada
2 Jul 08
oh gosh, bees, I am afraid of them and I have never even seen any in our area.
