http://www.telegraph.co.uk:80/et?ac=000154642417163&rtmo=Vwfrgk6K&atmo=FFFFFFtX&pg=/et/99/9/12/nflea12.html

ISSUE 1570 Sunday 12 September 1999

Fleas' victims pay price of cosier homes By Lynne Wallis

[The following are hotlinks at the site] Ridding your home of fleas - University of Kentucky College of Agriculture Fleas - University of Minnesota Flea news - Iowa State Entomology Fleas: fact sheet - Ohio State University British Veterinary Association [under construction] The Environmental Health Officers Page Rentokil THIS is fast becoming the "Year of the Flea". The number of people infested by fleas more than doubled last year, and figures for 1999 are not encouraging, according to environmental health workers.

The Institute of Environmental Health Officers said 839 people reported suffering from flea bites in 1998, against 367 the year before, and more than 71,500 premises were treated over the same period, compared with 52,000 the previous year.

Freda Scot-Park, of the British Veterinary Association's Small Animals Division, said: "Fleas really are taking over. We are trying to control them and we see lots of people whose animals are rife with fleas, but they cannot afford the sprays." More comfortable homes, more pets and climate change are all thought to contribute to the problem.

The number of cat owners in Britain has doubled from four million 30 years ago and dog ownership has risen by more than two million during the same period. Carpets provide the ideal environment in which fleas can lay their eggs, and there is a marked increase around the end of October when central heating systems are switched on.

Jeffrey Roberts, a spokesman for Rentokil, the pest control company, said: "The last five years have seen an unprecedented increase in infestations of the cat flea, ctenocephalides felis, which lives on cats and dogs.

"The succession of mild winters means they have a longer breeding period, and fleas that would die of cold on dogs taken out for winter walkies are now surviving. The trouble is, when an animal is treated the fleas just hop on to another host, often a human."

Richard Strand, of the British Pest Control Association said: "The problem gets marginally worse every year, partly because animals are building a tolerance to the treatment. There is no solution to it really, but thankfully the human flea is now almost extinct in Britain.

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), September 11, 1999

Answers

Yep, it has been a year for fleas. And the are harder to get rid of. I took the unprecedented step of spreading diazanon (sp?) on the lawn to try to stop them. Maybe it slowed them down a bit.

We use a flea comb to get them off the pets, and use some sprays, but nothing lasts for long. At least we don't have ticks. I read that sprinkling borax around will kill the fleas. I think maybe we will try that before shampooing the carpet. Sure don't want to fight 'em all winter.

gene

-- gene (ekbaker@essex1.com), September 12, 1999.

I live in the south and fleas are a real problem. Even with no inside pets, I was getting fleas in my carpet and could not get them under control except for chemicals and constant shampooing. We even had a professional come in and do the house and the yard. We use flea and tick granuals on the yard, plus spraying the yard and getting rid of the carpet was the only thing that has kept the fleas out of the house for good.

-- Carol (glear@usa.net), September 12, 1999.

Old Git, I can actually remember going to see a flea circus !!One of the attractions was the roman chariot race with the fleas pulling all these little chariots.There were adverts saying they would pay a penny a flea but they had to be human fleas as only they were strong enough to pull the chariots !Next door was the woman who was half snake & her friend the bearded lady.

those were the days .

-- Chris (griffen@globalnet.co.uk), September 12, 1999.

We have had a real flea problem in Iowa. Did the yard with Malathion. Our old dog is alergic to almost every chemical so chopped up some garlic cloves and boiled them in water to make a spray. Fleas really HATE GARLIC... Dog has no more fleas right now and no alergic reactions. Have been afraid to use chemicals in the house, and did not want to ruin the carpet. A neighbor suggested using a highly scented baby powder and that has done wonders for getting the fleas out of the carpets. (Also found out it will take out small stains in off white carpet.) Unknown how long we will have to keep this up. Any other ideas anyone? Thanks.

-- Nancy (HAYSandCO@aol.com), September 12, 1999.

Got Advantage?

-- mommacarestx (harringtondesignX@earthlink.net), September 13, 1999.

I have had amazing luck feeding all three cats brewer's yeast/garlic tablets (and ripping up all of the carpeting).

-- yerfdog (yerfdog@qwestinternet.net), September 13, 1999.

Mommacares, my dad, in England, was telling me about the English equivalent of Advantage. He said, of course, the problem is the label says you can't let the cats groom each other because they'll ingest the stuff. Don't know about the Advantage label, but the lookalike stuff I used didn't carry such a warning and our cats groom each other frequently--impossible to catch them all the time.

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), September 13, 1999.

A woman who keeps several collies in her house told me to mix lemon juice and water, half and half. She sprays against the hair on the dogs to get it on their skin. She sprays all over her house, particularly along the walls and under upholstered furniture. She says fleas hate citric acid.

-- helen (sstaten@fullnet.net), September 13, 1999.

Diatomaceous earth is a natural substance that is suppose to kill the fleas but,not hurt your pet.I bought some from a garden center for my cats.This has reminded me to put some on them.I believe it is also good to keep bugs off your veggies in the garden.

-- maggie (aaa@aaa.com), September 15, 1999.

Ok here's one for you: Horse hair is a flea repellent. Ever notice horses don't get flea's? Just brush the horse, save the hair and use it for bedding for your animals (inside a pillowcase or some kind of cover works best).

Got this from a horse magazine as it was common practice in Europe during WWII (people rubbed the hair on themselves as a repellent also)

-- Stacia (ClassyCwgl@aol.com), September 15, 1999.