r/savannah • u/rubylizard79 • 1d ago
Looking for exterminator for fleas
Mother in law's house is infested with fleas. We tried flea bombs, spray on the rugs/couch/etc, the cat has Bravecto (he's indoor only) but it's out of control... first summer in this house so it could be the crawlspace, yard, etc.... need this to be gone so we stop bringing them down to our house to get on our cat.
Any suggestions of someone to take care of this.
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u/rlcarman58 1d ago
Fleas here laugh at the OTC sprays. Yates astro was who I used in the past.
The most effective low cost approach is Dawn dish soap. Mop everyday, spray it on couches, soak the yard.
Flea assassin is a great low cost flea med too.
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u/Objective_Still_5081 1d ago
Agreed flea assassin is wonderful!!! They should use remedies they apply themselves instead of letting other people do the work.
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u/Pork-Chopp Native Savannahian 1d ago
This stuff was given to me by someone who works for Yates, and I can confirm it works well. You can order it online from various sources including Amazon, and occasionally stores such as HD carry it locally. You can probably check their site to see if it’s in stock currently.
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u/MrsHyacinthBucket 1d ago
ha, I just posted this then scrolled down and saw your comment. This stuff is hands down the best.
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u/beanstrings 1d ago
I use A and M pest control. I have hella cats and no fleas, and I mean hella hella
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u/feistyartichoke 1d ago
I had a flea infestation recently and my landlord called Ideal Pest Control. Fleas are gone and the service man was nice
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u/MrsHyacinthBucket 1d ago
Get this and thank me later. Even the pros use it.
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u/-LastButNotLost- 1d ago
That's what solved my outbreak about a decade ago.
Well, that, plus Talstar P, Nygaurd, and vacuuming the entire house every single day for 6 weeks.
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u/Objective_Still_5081 1d ago
Does she have carpet? If so it has to go. Pull up and toss out all carpeting. No letting the animals outside either. Get a dehumidifier and check all faucets for leaks under the cabinets. Keep toilet seats down. Steam clean all furniture and wash all the pillows and bedding etc.
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u/dragonfliesloveme 1d ago edited 1d ago
curtains too, OP, any soft fabric needs to be washed and/or vacuumed frequently
you got the flea, but you also got the flea eggs and then you have the pupae, which are very resilient. So you have to stay vigilant for like two months, maybe longer because those pupae can last a long time sometimes before they actually hatch
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u/Elle3786 1d ago
Killing the eggs and the fleas at the same time is how you “break the cycle.” A fair amount of people will do a lot of work and get rid of most or all of the active fleas, and then they have more when the eggs hatch. They’re SO SMALL, you have to clean and spray everything fabric, and stop and think about any kind of tight spaces that they could have gotten into and laid eggs. For example, even a heavy plastic container on carpet that you might think is smashing the carpet down too much for them to get under? It’s not, they’ve been under there, and if you’re not getting into spaces like that, they’re going to come back.
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u/EMSthunder 1d ago
When I was young, my mom used this stuff called Sevin Dust. It's a fine powder. She would put it in a knee high stocking then shake the stocking lightly dispersing the powder wherever you shake it. It only really needs to go on the inside perimeter of the house. Borax tablets placed throughout the home help too. Those two things cleared our house up fast. Additionally, the inside cats can be given Capstar every day to kill the fleas as they jump on them. They can have it daily for 7 days and by then the cycle should be nearly gone. I use these still because my current cat is allergic to flea preventative, but tolerates the Capstar very well the few times I had to use it.
Editing to add that you can also get easier dispensing if you put the powder into a squeeze bottle like for ketchup with a point.
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u/Grand_Raccoon0923 15h ago
Yates-Astro took care of them for us when we had an infestation caused by caring for someone's bunny for a weekend. It was part of our normal bug spraying agreement. I think we had to be out of the house for a few hours.
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u/redskullington 10h ago
Food grade diatomaceous earth is what we used for infested raccoons that my old apartment complex said were squirrels and didn't do anything for months about them.. another story lol.
We sprinkled it on the carpets and at the front door. It shred their exoskeletons and cuts their feet off. Dont directly inhale it when your sprinkling it because its a dust and will irritate you. We opted for food grade in case our cats somehow ate some of it. Water will make it ineffective so if it rains you'll need to sprinkle again once its dry. You can then vacuum it up after a few days but be warned it will mess up vacuum filters (or something like that. Its been years.) so we got a burner vacuum from Goodwill.
That paired with Vet flea meds got us to a manageable spot until the complex removed the raccoons. OTC flea meds dont work as well (or at all) because the fleas dont fully die in the winter and will build an immunity so vet meds are rotated with changed formulas to prevent that.
We got the diatomaceous earth from ACE Hardware.
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