Fleas on board.

[SailingTerrapin]

How do you get rid of flees on a boat? The only time our 15 year old cat has ever had flees. We've washed everything. Treated him with 2 flee baths and treated him twice with Advantage. We've also sprayed down everything with some flee spray.




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[Mirar]

Sort of like killing the messenger, you will risk the health of your pet with chemicals. Ours used to get so sick after a flea treatment. We found a very effective way to get the nasty critters off the boat (or a house) was to shine a bright light down very close to a small bowl of heavily soaped water . The fleas hop towards the light , into the bowl of soap and drown. The light should be only a few inches above the bowl. Guaranteed!
Greg

[gamayun]

Originally Posted by Mirar

Sort of like killing the messenger, you will risk the health of your pet with chemicals. Ours used to get so sick after a flea treatment. We found a very effective way to get the nasty critters off the boat (or a house) was to shine a bright light down very close to a small bowl of heavily soaped water . The fleas hop towards the light , into the bowl of soap and drown. The light should be only a few inches above the bowl. Guaranteed!
Greg

+1. This was going to be my suggestion. Living in North Florida allows one to try everything under the sun for fleas, ticks, chiggers, gnats, roaches, mosquitoes, flies, wasps, etc., etc., etc...

[zeehag]

bubba got fleas in mazatlan via my pantlegs..fleas are all over in streets and unless you walk thru salt water, they come home to infest gatos..i used advantage plus monthly and then revolution on bubba--he finally became unflea'd and is good now.
there is also a pyrethrin based powder to mix in water to spray in and under your cat's bed and other lovely hiding places for fleas--keep gato and humans out of boat for 2 hours after use. it works.
but i am not in usa where these treatmnts are restricted.

[SkiprJohn]

Originally Posted by Mirar

Sort of like killing the messenger, you will risk the health of your pet with chemicals. Ours used to get so sick after a flea treatment. We found a very effective way to get the nasty critters off the boat (or a house) was to shine a bright light down very close to a small bowl of heavily soaped water . The fleas hop towards the light , into the bowl of soap and drown. The light should be only a few inches above the bowl. Guaranteed!
Greg

When you treat your pet and give them a bath you're killing the adult fleas. There are the eggs that will hatch and reinfest areas, people, animals and their bedding.

There are little commercial flea traps that use the same idea as above. There is a little night light type bulb above a flat surface with sticky paper. The soapy water instead of the sticky paper works just as well. And as soon as those flea eggs hatch the little nits head for the light and accidently jump into the soapy water. If the water is soapy it clogs up their breathing apparatus and they drown. If the water is not soapy they might be able to get (to shore) and survive.

Good luck in designing your flea trap. It's the heat from the night light bulb that attracks them so I don't believe LED will work.

kindest regards,

[MarkSF]

Originally Posted by Mirar

Sort of like killing the messenger, you will risk the health of your pet with chemicals. Ours used to get so sick after a flea treatment. We found a very effective way to get the nasty critters off the boat (or a house) was to shine a bright light down very close to a small bowl of heavily soaped water . The fleas hop towards the light , into the bowl of soap and drown. The light should be only a few inches above the bowl. Guaranteed!
Greg

Having flees and ticks risks your pet's health. If your cat got sick after a flea treatment, use a different one. Advantage and Frontline have different active ingredients, so if one is not tolerated by your cat or dog, try the other.

BTW, water is a chemical.

[SkiprJohn]

It's a good idea to do a websearch on what the life cycle of a flea entails. It'll help you to understand how better to get rid of the little critters.

[senormechanico]

Years ago, we used one of those light things with a tray and a sticky insert when our cat got infested.
The lamp was 7 watts 120 volts. It worked like a charm.
Within a week or ten days, the house was flea free.
The fleas flee when they see their brethren dead on a sticky pad.
Or, the flees flea...?

[bella]

Originally Posted by SailingTerrapin

How do you get rid of flees on a boat? The only time our 15 year old cat has ever had flees. We've washed everything. Treated him with 2 flee baths and treated him twice with Advantage. We've also sprayed down everything with some flee spray.

Fleas hatch in 7 day cycles..until ALL the eggs hatch and you kill them they will remain around.
All depends on what sort of surface you have IN the boat..but on land I use 20 muleteam borax to get rid of fleas. It is not fast and has to be kept up with.. kinda of a vacumn/sweep deal once a week for roughly 8 weeks or more IF the infestation is bad. IF you have any sort of rugs or carpet. Wash in HOT water, if you can, and then sprinkle the 20 mule team borax on it.. You can find it in any grocers laundry section, usually top shelp... or at Walmart, the cheapest.

I use Advantix Multi for my cats. It besides the usual, it has heartworm meds for cats..yes they can get heartworms.

You can dunk a cat in salt water... IF it will let you.. lol... and that will get rid of most of the live fleas. shrug... personally I prefer living. My two girls would wait till I fell asleep and drown me themselves.

I use the borax stuff IN my laundry.. it will take care of any human smells. My son had me send it to him by the case when he was in Iraq/Afghanistan due to wearing his uniform for two weeks at a time in 100+ temps.
Great for smelly moldy boat linens, etc... good luck.. fleas are such a PIA.

[UNCIVILIZED]

That's odd about the fleas in your house & borax taking so long to get rid of them. I sprinkled some on my carpet until it looked like a light dusting of snow. Went out & ran errands for an hour or two, & vacuumed it all up when I got home. After that, the fleas were GONE, period. Never saw a one after that.


On a boat, I'd be careful if you're thinking about using it, as I'm guessing that it's toxic to humans & 4-leggeds. Though a quick search would tell you. And an online search might turn up a few other, safe, tricks for getting rid of them pests too come to think of it.

[groundtackle]

Administer a good veterinary flea product on a monthly basis as directed by your vet
These products (Advantage, Revolution and some others) have been used safely for years on millions of pets. I have personally prescribed one or other of them so many times I could not even begin to count. Adverse reactions are very very rare and chronic toxicity at recommended doses has not even been reported.
If you follow this protocol for 6 months you will rapidly eliminate all adult fleas then gradually rid your boat of larval and pupal stages such that your fleas will be gone until your cat gets some new ones somewhere!
You can take my word for it after 40 years of veterinary practice I know a bit about this subject!
Happy de- fleaing!
Nick Shaw DVM


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[groundtackle]

Oops that was a typo I meant "after 30 years of practice" not 40
Heck I'm not old enough to have practiced for 40 years!


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[bella]

Originally Posted by nshawdvm

Administer a good veterinary flea product on a monthly basis as directed by your vet
These products (Advantage, Revolution and some others) have been used safely for years on millions of pets. I have personally prescribed one or other of them so many times I could not even begin to count. Adverse reactions are very very rare and chronic toxicity at recommended doses has not even been reported.
If you follow this protocol for 6 months you will rapidly eliminate all adult fleas then gradually rid your boat of larval and pupal stages such that your fleas will be gone until your cat gets some new ones somewhere!
You can take my word for it after 40 years of veterinary practice I know a bit about this subject!
Happy de- fleaing!
Nick Shaw DVM

Thanks doc... let me add... when entering foriegn countries.. like say Mexico with a pet. Mexico requires that a Vet administer Advantage I think it is.. within the 24 hrs of the animal leaving previous country. sigh.... don't ask me. It is what the rules are. Friends just had to do this and were mystified as to WHY a vet had to certify that this was done.

[bella]

Originally Posted by UNCIVILIZED

That's odd about the fleas in your house & borax taking so long to get rid of them. I sprinkled some on my carpet until it looked like a light dusting of snow. Went out & ran errands for an hour or two, & vacuumed it all up when I got home. After that, the fleas were GONE, period. Never saw a one after that.

Not odd at all. You apparently did not have much of an infestation.|
I bought a house where one bedroom was carpeted and the PO had a dog.
Realtor claimed they tried to treat for fleas.. yeah sure.. I put out the borax and let it sit for 24 hrs. Vacumned and put it out again.. did this for several weeks until ALL the eggs hatched. As I said, flea eggs hatch in a 7 day cycle. borax dehydrates the adults and juvenile fleas. it does not affect the eggs.

On a boat, I'd be careful if you're thinking about using it, as I'm guessing that it's toxic to humans & 4-leggeds. Though a quick search would tell you. And an online search might turn up a few other, safe, tricks for getting rid of them pests too come to think of it.

Guessing is exactly what you are doing. Borax as an all natural product. Cats absorb stuff thru their skin, dogs don't. That is why so many cats get sick when their owners use commercial flea treatments, like bombs.
20 mule team borax. is NOT toxic to cats in any way. My cats actually love to roll in it when I sprinkle it on the two orientals in the house for some odd reason. Vet said it would not hurt them.

I suspect you may be mixing up borax with boric acid. I am talking the stuff that comes in a big box that you buy in the laundry section of the grocers. I was very very clear about that in my initial post. It is not toxic to humans, including babies.. you use it as a laundry additive, to dry plants or kill fleas. IF it were toxic it could not be used in the wash water now could it?

'bella

[Lepke]

I have a Black Lab. Most of her off boat time is in the forest populated with animals hosting a large flea and tick population. Frontline+ is the only product that seems to be 100%. But I do switch with Advantage a few times a year. She doesn't scratch and I don't get bit. I've had more ticks than she has. Maybe there's a lesson in this.

In the 60's the hippies wore flea collars. That way you don't expose your pet to dangerous chemicals.