Fleas

Updated July 28, 2007

Honesty, the only way I ever got rid of fleas is by putting drops (Revolution drops are our favorite) from the vet on my cats, washing every blanket and fabric I could throw in the washing machine and dry on high heat, steam clean the carpets and furniture (every inch of them), and sprinkle flea powder all over the house, leave for the day (and take the pets with me), come back and vacuum everything up two or three times until I was sure that the powder was out, and set up traps to find out if I still had fleas (and if I still had fleas, I did it all over again). It's not fun, but we got rid of them, and whenever we take our pets to the vet (where they always seem to pick up fleas), we make sure they have their drops beforehand.

Here are some other ideas that I've heard work.

• Put 1 teaspoon of vinegar in 1 quart of your pet's water to avoid keep fleas from wanting to live on your pet. (I honestly didn't get to see if it worked because my pets wouldn't drink water with vinegar, but some people swear by it.)
• Sprinkle red cedar chips, eucalyptus, or rosemary on your pets fur, on their fabric covered toys (like climbing posts and houses), and all over their bedding to help repel fleas.