When I first brought my kids home we did not have any fleas as I
did not have any animals in the house for several years. I was very
careful to give them a flea bath before they were allowed into the
house. When I began to relocate ferrets out of California ( 58 so
far ) there were several times when I had to bring them home for a
day or so until the weather or my schedule permitted a more
convenient time for the flight to Arizona or Nevada. Eventually we
got fleas and I have fought them every summer since. I don't like
flea spray and flea powder. I don't believe that any of these
poisons have been tested for long range effects on animals,
and those that are tested on humans have been proven to cause
cancer, respiratory and all sorts of problems. I would take my
sleeping bag and Snooker & Snoozer out on the back porch, close
up the house and set off several flea bombs in the house, the next
morning I would leave the kids outside, air out the house, vacuum
the whole house, mop all the floors dust and vacuum all the
furniture, wash all of their bedding, give them a good bath and let
them back in the house. What a PITA. Try sleeping in a sleeping
bag with two ferrets loose on an 8 x 15 foot porch! I use a flea
comb on them several times a day, always giving them a treat
after the combing and within three days we were back to combing
fleas out every time I used the comb. The reason for the long story
is to share with the readers a success story. The Vet
recommended a product called Terminator, the label says it is
inorganic salt and is safer than table salt. The theory is that it
will eventually dehydrate the fleas and they will stop reproducing.
The product carries a 100 percent guarantee and if it does not
work you get a full refund. The condition is that you must wait 5
weeks before applying for the refund because it takes that long for
it to work. It is a real job to apply, you must move ALL of the
furniture in the house and apply the stuff under everything,
otherwise any area left untreated can be a home for breeding fleas.
I bought a 5 gallon bucket full for $70.00, enough to treat a 1,500
square foot area. You apply 1/2 cup for every 3'x3' section of your
carpet. It does not work on hardwood floors or linoleum. They have
another product for those floors. Then you massage the salt down
into the carpet with a broom or a small brush. To make a long
story even longer, it took me 14 hours to apply the stuff. There is a
company that will apply a similar product in this area and the
quote was $ 250.00 for my house. It seemed like a lot but after
applying it myself, that may be a bargain. I doubt they would be as
thorough for that price, but they also guarantee their work for a
year. I continued to comb and at about 4 weeks I began to get
only a few fleas per day per critter and since the 6th week I have
not got even one. It has been 8 weeks now and we are having
those dreaded Santa Ana winds that we get in October and
November when the temperatures soar and the fleas normally
hatch again and still not one flea. I started checking the pads on
the critters feet as soon as I let them back on the carpet to see if
their feet might be affected by the stuff, but the critters don't seem
to suspect anything has changed. The salt falls through the
carpet and remains on the floor. If you spot clean the carpets you
have to re-apply the stuff. The product I used is:
Terminator
P.O. Box 11436
Costa Mesa, CA 92627
1-800-242-9966
There is not one mention of fleas on the directions, they refer to
" pet related problems " when I asked I was told that it had
something to do with the EPA and special permits and also
product patents. It certainly does work and it is guaranteed to be
environmentally safe ( I like that ).
 
Phil Gentry
Snooker ( the whippet ) Snoozer ( the bulldog )
 
[Posted in FML issue 0628]