Conventional wisdom and older studies that studied rat fleas suggest
that fleas spend only part of their time on your pet; this is not
true. There are different varieties of fleas, and the primary flea
infesting dogs and cats in North America and large areas of Europeis
the cat flea (yes on dogs, too). This flee, not as well studied as the
rat flea actually spends all of its adult life on the host under
normal conditions. Eggs are laid on the host and drop off into the
environment. Thus you can often find eggs wherever your pets spend
time: on their bedding, through the house, in the backyard.
A good preventive method is to put down towels everywhere your pet
normally lies and then wash those towels once a week. Deposited flea
eggs are therefore cleaned out regularly. Regular vacuuming and
emptying of the vacuum bag also helps, independently of any method or
methods you choose to do, since that eliminates or reduces food
sources for the larvae.
...
Borax and salt
Also known as sodium polyborate, sodium tetraborate, sodium borate.
The chemical is related to boric acid. This is present in a variety of
household products. Sprinkling 20 Mule Team Borax, the kind you use in
laundry (*not* the hand soap Boraxo; the soap added to can be toxic to
your pet) on the carpet and upholstery will dry out the deposited flea
larvae. The procedure is to vacuum the house, sprinkle borax or salt
using a sieve on carpet and upholstery (and under the pillows, under
the furniture); sweep with a broom to settle the borax into the carpet
and then vacuum again. Some people leave it on for a few days before
vacuuming, but this runs the risk of abrading the surface of the
carpet. Don't let your animals eat the stuff. If you use borax, you
may need to adjust for this when cleaning your carpets by using less
soap. The effects of a borax treatment seem to last about a year or
so.
Drawbacks: The chemical borax is abrasive, and 20 Mule Team Borax may
abrade your carpets. In addition, there are documented cases of
long-term low-level exposure to sodium polyborate resulting in
conjunctivitus, weight loss, vomiting, mild diarrhea, skin rash,
convulsions and anemia and other similar allergic reactions in humans.
If you're using borax as flea control, and your pets (or family) are
showing loss of appetite, eye or skin problems, anemia or kidney
problems, you may want to switch to another flea control method and
see if their health improves. Do not apply it to damp carpets as it
can take the color out.
Borax is NOT advisable where you have pets which groom themselves,
e.g., cats and ferrets. They can ingest enough to harm them if the
borax is not settled deeply enough into the carpet (October 1992 of
Dog Fancy). Symptoms of acute poisoning include diarrhea, rapid
prostration and perhaps convulsions [these occurred when borax was
scattered openly for cockroach control].[/b]
