Fleas

[riverfox]

I hate the fuckers. They *love* me.

I don't let Sam outside, so I'm the guilty party, picking them up crossing the yard or something, which mystifies me since we've had a few below freezing nights that should have killed them.

So, about $60 from my food money has been spent on flea killers. One, a generic capsule for cats, I got in the mail first. I tried to give it to Sam like I had all my previous cats: I'd shove it down his throat. Bad idea. First, the pill was a capsule. They don't take capsules well. Second, the medicine caused a bad reaction in Sam, making him vomit and endure gas pain. :( The poor baby was hurting. The silver lining was that the medicine worked within half an hour, as the product said it would. Fleas started dying off him. *sigh* But he was in pain for a few hours and that's not good. :( Can't give it to him again.

So Sam's free of fleas, but they're still all over my ankles and feet. I've about 15-20 bites and I can't sleep b/c of the itching. Flea bites, on me, last for several weeks and scar. I have a slight allergy, obviously.

Today, my Flea Spray (called Cedarcide insect spray) arrived today. So I sprayed that stuff everywhere. It smells nice. It's a base of cedar oil, which bugs hate. It's a bit oily though so I had to be careful on my wood floors. Seems to be working. I'm not getting attacked as I sit here at the compy.

Tomorrow or Friday, I'll be getting flea powder, which I'm gonna douse my dirty laundry with. God knows when I'll get to do the laundry since I have to walk 1/2 a mile to get there and I'm not ready to test if I can walk that distance anymore. I handwash small stuff. Anyway, I could have used the flea spray on the clothes, and it's supposed to be stain-proof, but I'd rather not test that on sitting dirty laundry. Powder's a familiar form. Fortunately, I don't have carpet. I don't have a vacuum to get up the old powder.

Anyhows. I'm getting rid of the fleas, yay! Bug bites, otoh, will be with me for a while. Boo.

But at least Sam's not being tortured anymore, which was my main concern. Poor baby.

Comments

[ivorygates]

Have you tried pennyroyal? In herb and oil form, it's an anti-flea agent, and it has a gentle smell. You could get/make sachets of it (you might see if rainbow does that sort of thing) and have them in bed with you, frex, which would help overall. It's also non-toxic to cats, though I don't know if you would want to apply it directly to their fur.

[riverfox]

Thanks hun! I didn't know Pennyroyal did that. I used to make my own sachets a billion years ago (along with incense, candles, etc.), so I can make some cheap ones and stuff 'em in my couch, chair, and clothes drawers. :)

[ivorygates]

Hope it works for you! A flea infestation is awful! You might want to sprinkle flea powder on the floor and sweep it so it gets into all the cracks between the planks, too [if you have a wood floor; otherwise, just make sure it gets into any seams and edges you have]. That will kill any shed eggs.

[Why yes, I have dealt with The Flea Infestation From Hell. Why do you ask...?]

[riverfox]

LOL Yes, so have I, but I never had the money to take care of it correctly. I also collected the buggers in yard grass and brought them into the house... and I didn't have a pet. *grr*

Will certainly get under the couch and corners with the broom. :)