| > We've been having an awful problem with them this summer, and my
> boyfriend keeps hounding me about "lime disease".
A valid concern; you are just as tasty to a tick as your pet. If you have
an infestation in your house, call the pros to get rid of them...they are
hard to kill and can infect you with a cronic condition that can lead to
serious side effects for life. To avoid bringing them into the house,
check your pets daily and carefully remove all ticks, always wear long
pants and socks when walking where the ticks are - and carefull examine
your clothes before entering your home. In the event that you come down
with a flu type of feeling that doesn't go away within three days, get
to the doctor and ask to be tested for lyme disease. If treated as soon
as you are infected, the disease is no problem...if not identified and
treated, you can end up with an arthritis-type of condition for which
there is no treatment. People in the Northeast are most likely to
be exposed, but the ticks have moved to Colorado, California, and some
areas of the southern U.S. so be careful whereever you are...
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| I'm placing this here for want of a more active note:
"THE WAY I GOT RID OF FLEAS THIS SUMMER"
Assuming you have indoor cats, this method will probably not only deal
with the current infestation, but help with controlling them in the
future.
First, make an appointment with a groomer or your vet to get your
kittens de-flead by pros. I recommend the vet - they are likely to
use something that works. If you know a good groomer, use them.
Buy, NOT THE BOMBS, but either the services of a pest control
company to spray all floors, carpets, and stuffed furniture or
the sprays that are sprayed directly ON the floor, etc. Spray all
surfaces well and leave for at least 4 - 6 hours. The newer sprays
kill eggs and fleas so one GOOD dose should work. Now, the final
trick....spray the outside yard around your house with a spray
intended to kill fleas...or have the pest control people take care
of it. If you live in an apartment, spray the area near your door
and your patio area (if you have one). Spray outside around your
home every 3 - 4 weeks until the first hard freeze. I have had
no fleas all summer - no flea collars, no powder, no problem. All
I do is keep the fleas out of the yard. My dobe goes in and out
all the time so I knew she was the major carrier in my house. Now
I have the yard sprayed once every 4 weeks and it really has worked
for me.
Caveat: If you spray or have someone spray for you, keep your babies
off the surfaces sprayed until they are dry. Also, keep in mind that
fleas hide in the cracks between floor and wall and in box springs under
mattresses... in the cracks in couches, chairs, etc. You have to
spray really thoroughly once to get rid of the fleas AND you have
to get the fleas really off the kids. If you have lots of cats, spray
your garage really thoroughly first, dip the kids and move them to
the garage, then spray the house and yard. Once the treatment is
done once, keep spraying the yard and garage (patio, etc) and you
should not have to treat the kids again.
ALSO, I never had success with bombs at all.....maybe there is one
kind that works out there, but I've never found it.
Good luck!
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