Got fleas? Get the vacuum (no need for poison)

Got fleas? Get the vacuum
1 hour, 18 minutes ago


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Vacuum cleaners kill fleas just as well as any poison, surprised researchers said on Tuesday.

They said a standard vacuum cleaner abuses the fleas so much it kills 96 percent of adult fleas and 100 percent of younger fleas.

So no need to worry that a vacuum cleaner bag may turn into a fleabag breeding ground for the pesky, biting creatures, said Glen Needham, associate professor of entomology at Ohio State University.

Needham studied the cat flea, or Ctenocephalides felis, the most common type of flea found in households.

"No matter what vacuum a flea gets sucked into, it's probably a one-way trip," Needham said in a statement.

more...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071218/us_nm/fleas_vacuum_dc_2

To be honest, most of them are scared of the damn thing.

The vacuum cleaner is my dog's mortal enemy. If I tried to vacuum him, we'd both end up in the hospital.

:rofl:

:D

:D

:toast: :rofl:

.

pests for sure. Also, from someone who is allergic to fleas and has tried everything, sprinkle salt on areas infested with fleas and vacuum up the next day with said mothballs in vacuum. Problem gone and no dangerous chemicals (except for maybe the mothballs.)

...is a pretty rough environment for fleas-- further poisoning inside the bag isn't necessary. Also, just so you know, napthalene (mothballs) vapors are not directly toxic for most insects (if any), at least at normal concentrations. Mothballs repel insects-- they don't kill them.

I can just imagine trying to vacuum my cat. She is an indoor -outdoor kitty and has sharp claws!

2 would disappear. my cousin could vacuum hers, but cinderella was deaf.

:spray:

Not to diminish the importance of vacuuming up flea larvae, but most flea eggs are laid in or near pet bedding or other resting places. For most of us that means in or under furniture or other hard to reach places-- not out in the middle of the living room carpet. That, coupled with high fecundity, makes it highly unlikely that vacuuming will ever be an effective means of flea control. Sure, if you can get them into the vacuum cleaner, it's a death trap. You just can't kill enough of them that way to be of much use, IMO. Juvenile hormone analogs are much more effective (and non-toxic) flea controls.

:shrug:

My daughter has two inside dogs, one outside dog, and a kitty.

They disrupt flea life cycles, preventing the harmless juveniles from becoming adults. No adults, no biting, no eggs, and no second generation. You can buy flea preparations with methoprene. It is completely nontoxic.

We live on sand, the dunes. These are the worst fleas I've ever seen anywhere. We get away with a once a year treatment of Advantage for our dog, but for some reason it is not working with my daughter's dogs. Maybe because she has more or something.

She is so funny. She called in hysterics one morning about some kind of ant "invading" her house. Just hysterics. They're coming out of the bath tub and shower!! aaaaaaahhh!!!! We rushed down there...

There were like 10 tiny bugs in her bathroom. :crazy:

She will really appeciate this flea info. :)

uh oh - my Chi - who currently does not have fleas but has in the past, sleeps in our bed - he sleeps there all the time - not just at night - if he wants a nap he climes up on the bed (only under the covers when we are under them and its cold). I think I might want to hide that fact from my partner LOL...

Flea larvae are very small and inconspicuous, don't bite, etc, so they could be all in the bed clothes and you'd never know it.



:hi:

is Precor. Of course, you should take care of your animals, but for carpet or floors it's Precor. You get a small bottle of it, and you dilute some in a gallon of water. Spray this stuff on your carpet, furniture, under furniture, bedding, etc. It lasts about 6 months and kills the larvae, which the vac doesn't get. And, flea larvae will eat anything, including dust. And, from what I've found out it is harmless to people and animals.

zalinda

That's what I use. I Sprinkle it on the carpet, wait overnight and vacuum it up. Of course, since I started adding vinegar to my kitty's water, the flea problem is pretty non-existent.

That was painful :hi:

It is totally SAFE for animals (I'm told it can't even bother their eyes.... and it KILLS the larva. I used to work for a Vet and I've had MANY cats.Sprinkle the floors once..let it stay overnight, even tho it looks like a powdered carpet, then vaccume. I have NEVER had fleas live after a Borax treatment and the dust of the Borax that may scatter throughout the edges of the floors....takes care of them. Borax is the BEST flea treatment!!!! The fleas had never return even years later.

I take an old dishwashing soap bottle, pour in a mix of half sugar and half borax and squirt the stuff around window sills and doorways to keep the ants out.

But NO WAY am I going to try to use it on Unit 3.

We tore all the carpet out of our house and put in tile floors. We did all of it by ourselves. Every square inch of carpet was replaced with tile. Took us six months and our knees are shot but we are allergy free.

I HATE wall-to-wall carpet, especially the cheap drek put in by the previous owner when she had the house on the market.

My husband has bad allergies and carpet doesn't work for him. So we ripped it all out. I can't say enough about getting rid of carpet.

All the dirt, dust, etc. Carpets are nice in that floor stay cleaner because a lot of the loose stuff goes down under them, like a big filter.

floors are clean. Bare floors are a major PITA too keep clean but it is worth it, allergy wise. Have you ever pulled up carpet? The stains alone will make you :puke: Carpeting is disgusting.

I'm sure you've seen these but I got a great deal on one last year at Big Lots. It's just a robotic vacuum cleaner that you turn on and let go. Mine doesn't do well on the area rugs but it does great on the bare floor.

the story of carpet. I've come to really abhor it. We have terrazzo throughout.

They invented a machine that sorted out all of the various drugs that had been spilled into the carpet, as well as cleaning it.

The green fuzzy pile it spat out was the weed.

The little pile of white powder was the cocaine.

The sticky green mass was all the beer.

:D

Luckily the wall-to-wall carpeting that came with the house was old, pinkish color (!) and dirty as hell, so I didn't have to feel guilty about getting rid of almost-new carpet.

We just have a couple area rugs now. I think I'd be insane by now trying to keep carpet clean, what with kids, rainy and muddy Oregon days, a yard full of leaves and pine needles, kitties shedding and vomiting, the rabbit pooping, us spilling wine and coffee, etc. :crazy: I just sweep or vacuum and wipe clean and the floor looks great. Also, there is nowhere for that dirt and fur to hide.

Plus, I just hate the look of wall-to-wall carpeting.

indoors. :banghead: I sweep and mop every day. :banghead: I can't have area rugs because my "kids" like to pee on them! *argh* Good thing I love them so! :evilgrin: So trust me, I know what you deal with daily, at least somewhat.

I was always worried that they might breed in the vacuum, wondered if it would kill them.