Basil has fleas. They're biting us. Are we completely screwed?

You can have an exterminator come in and spray for fleas, while having Basil dipped elsewhere. Barring such extreme measures, I’m pretty sure that Frontline will take care of the problem over time, but you might have to suffer for longer that way. Poor kitty. Poor humans.

Sprinkle Food Grade (not pool grade) Diatomaceous Earth all over your house. That’ll get em’. It’s non toxic much safer than poisons. Put it in your OJ and keep your colon clean too!

Set a dinner plate filled with soapy water under a lamp and let it sit out all night. In the morning, count the flees that died. Rinse repeat the next day. The number of dead fleas should be less and less each day. Rinse repeat the next day until they are all gone.

We just went through this with someone’s dog. But I can’t find the link at the moment. The easiest and most cost effective way is to go the route of a pro exterminator who guarantees his work. There is a product available called “Comfortis.” It is like a miracle. A pill given once a month although I only give when needed and it is so effective that I have only used it about 3 times in the last year. It is a poison but it is effective. You can mess around with the natural cures but this is the real deal and will get the job over and done with quickly.

PS. when they have fleas, they always have tape worms as well. When the fleas are gone, have him wormed for tapes. Most generic wormers do not work for tapes, must be specific.

Get rid of the fleas and no need to worry about a bath, just a bit of a brush to get rid of the dead ones and you will be right.

I have found that Frontline (which is also a poison) is not particularly effective.

The old days of bathing, dipping, spraying and bombing are long gone (thank God). Talk to your vet about the flea product that works best in your area (in some areas, the fleas have developed a resistance to Frontline, although Merial will deny that to their last breath). I use Advantage, it still works quite well in my area. Don’t dare use any over the counter Hartz crap!

Unless you have a heavy flea load, you shouldn’t need to do much more than use a high quality product. (And tapeworms are not always a result, but fairly common. Again, no over the counter crap!) Use the product year round, regardless of whether you think you have fleas – that will prevent your situation from reoccurring.

(Just out of curiosity, you mention “flea-biting dreams”; are you sure you have fleas? Any chance of bedbugs?)

Professional exterminator for home.

Trip to vet for wash/ fluff and dip for Basil.

Repeat exterminator, if necessary.

Give bowser the Frontline and buy a bomb that will kill the fleas.

Leave your house overnight and let the bomb do its work. Take bowser with you.

Like @syz, we use Advantage. It works almost instantaneously. When you go to the vet, he/she should have a flea spray. The can costs quite a bit, but the fleas die immediately. Use the spray in your home, at the door thresholds and your problems should all be dead within hours.

Next, remove all of your bedding and wash your linens in hot water. Vacuum your mattress and boxspring after vacuuming your room. Then, take out the vacuum bag (if yours has one), spray it with the flea spray & throw it away.

If fleas are common in your area, you may want to buy cheapo flea collars. Put one inside each fresh vacuum bag.

Since you have no carpet, I’d suggest a good “hands and knees” washing by all of the baseboards to keep up with the jumpy little buggers.

The best flea remedy in history came with the invention of the vacuum cleaner. Given a choice between washing and vacuuming, I’d choose sucking them up over trying to wash them away. http://news.softpedia.com/news/The-Best-Flea-Slayer-the-Vacuum-Cleaner-74212.shtml.

@syz So I should get the flea remedy from my vet, right?

Are there signs for tapeworm?

And positive on the fleas—C has fast fingers and caught one biting her. I also have been ignoring the flea dirt on Basil, preferring to think that the frontline I had worked.

@andrew Your vet should sell Advantage. Otherwise, you can get it on Amazon.

Signs of tapeworms include: vomiting, bits of tape worm (looks like rice) in feces, loss of weight, sometimes loose stools or change in stools (hard then soft-etc)