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AAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH! Fleas!  :(

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Magic Mood Jeep - 10 Sep 2007 14:12 GMT
We've had an on/off problem  with one of the circuit breakers - specifically
the one to the hot water heater - it comes loose and, Surprise!  No hot
water for the shower (or anything else)!  DH went to the basement (we rarely
go into the basement) to jiggle it back into place, and no sooner had he hit
the bottom of the stairs than he's hollering for me to bring bug spray.

Literally hundreds of fleas on his legs. Fortunately, he had on his slip-on
Birkenstocks, a pair of boxers & a T-shirt. I threw him the only bug spray I
could find, one more for wasps & hornets, and he sprays the area around him,
and his legs & arms.

Runs up the stairs, strips of his clothes & tosses them in the washer, and
grabs a can of "bug bomb" (insect spray that you set to 'fog' a room, and
leave the room) and threw it down the stairs.

It was our only can - I have to buy more on my way home from class this
afternoon, then we have to pull the circuit breaker out & get a replacement
for it.

Spent the next 5 minutes picking fleas off his back side (where he couldn't
see - and yes, I was praying he wouldn't rip one the entire 5 minutes), most
were dead - but there were a few barely-alive ones on his arms.

Unfortunately, he did not have time after this fiasco to take a second
shower (did I mention that he was in the shower when he realized that the
water heater had been shut off?), although he did wash his hands & legs
thoroughly, I bet he still smells like bug spray when he comes home tonight.

I can only hope the foggers kills the fleas, and doesn't chase them upstairs
into the living areas!  I guess I'll buy extra foggers just in case, and get
some frontline for the furkids (we have some for the dog, but only get for
the cats 2 or 3 times a year, since they don't go outside)

I was never even in the basement, and I feel things crawling over me.... and
I've taken a shower since then!

<shudder>
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http://www.firstgiving.com/nalee1131964
About my charity:
Monroe County Humane Association
Established in 1956, the MCHA is the longest standing animal welfare
organization in Monroe County. The MCHA is dedicated to "Leading, Advocating
and Educating for Animal Welfare."
Find out more at www.monroehumane.org.

NeeCee - 10 Sep 2007 14:23 GMT
iky,yuk,phooy (skin crawling)
> We've had an on/off problem  with one of the circuit breakers -
> specifically the one to the hot water heater - it comes loose and,
[quoted text clipped - 37 lines]
>
> <shudder>
jmcquown - 10 Sep 2007 16:05 GMT
> We've had an on/off problem  with one of the circuit breakers -
> specifically the one to the hot water heater - it comes loose and,
[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]
> only bug spray I could find, one more for wasps & hornets, and he
> sprays the area around him, and his legs & arms.

I wonder why there are fleas in the basement??  Did the previous tenant keep
dogs down there or something?  Granted, I know next to nothing about fleas
but I thought they required a warm body to infest.

Jill
EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque) - 10 Sep 2007 19:17 GMT
>>We've had an on/off problem  with one of the circuit breakers -
>>specifically the one to the hot water heater - it comes loose and,
[quoted text clipped - 11 lines]
> dogs down there or something?  Granted, I know next to nothing about fleas
> but I thought they required a warm body to infest.

They can happily live (and breed) in carpets in vacant
houses for indefinite lengths of time.  (Just another
delightful surprise for new tenants, whom they tend to greet
with enthusiasm, even if the tenants themselves are pet-free.)
Magic Mood Jeep - 10 Sep 2007 23:32 GMT
>> We've had an on/off problem  with one of the circuit breakers -
>> specifically the one to the hot water heater - it comes loose and,
[quoted text clipped - 14 lines]
>
> Jill

We've been in the house since 1993 - and while the previous owners didn't
keep their dogs (one Rotty and one Mastif) in the basement, they did have
access to the basement.

This is an older house, built in 1925.  We do have mice (we will
occasionally find an exterminated one, thoroughly played with by the cats,
in the middle of the floor).

There is also an opening to the crawl space under the utility room - for
water & electricity, etc.  Said crawl space has a tiny opening to the
outside - large enough for a rabbit to squeeeeeeeeeeeze through.  I'm
beginning to believe that's where said fleas came in (aside from the mice -
which should be dead from all those fleas).

Basement is dark, cool, and damp!  Fleas probably like it there better -
plus we've been keeping all the furkids Frontlined this year - due to the
fact that it's been so dry in our area, we haven't mown the grass since late
July... and the fleas are a bit of a problem for us when we go outside (DH
more than me - they seem to like him better).

Signature

http://www.firstgiving.com/nalee1131964
About my charity:
Monroe County Humane Association
Established in 1956, the MCHA is the longest standing animal welfare
organization in Monroe County. The MCHA is dedicated to "Leading, Advocating
and Educating for Animal Welfare."
Find out more at www.monroehumane.org.

MaryL - 11 Sep 2007 01:41 GMT
>>> We've had an on/off problem  with one of the circuit breakers -
>>> specifically the one to the hot water heater - it comes loose and,
[quoted text clipped - 35 lines]
> late July... and the fleas are a bit of a problem for us when we go
> outside (DH more than me - they seem to like him better).

Do you have gas (such as a gas hot water heater)?  If so, be *very* cautious
about using bug bombs.  They could *literally* become bombs!

My vet once referred to flea eggs as "timed release eggs."  He said eggs may
hatch anywhere from a few hours to a *couple of years* after they have been
produced.

You mentioned an older house and mice.  I grew up in a very old frame house
in rural Ohio.  Field mice used to get in the house.  Our solution was go
over *every inch* of the house (especially the basement) and stuff steel
wool into every crack or break we could find.  Most especially, check around
water lines and anything that could serve as an opening to the exterior of
the house.

Mice would make a fine host for fleas, but I don't think they would be the
same species that inhabit cats' fur.  If there is a possibility that these
are cat fleas, then you probably should have your cats checked for tapeworm.
Fleas serve as intermediate hosts for tapeworm.  You might want to describe
your situation to your vet.

MaryL
Kreisleriana - 10 Sep 2007 17:08 GMT
> We've had an on/off problem  with one of the circuit breakers -
> specifically the one to the hot water heater - it comes loose and,
[quoted text clipped - 37 lines]
>
> <shudder>

My two fleabags are sending you and your gang mega-purrs and their bigtime
sympathies.
Matthew - 10 Sep 2007 17:17 GMT
Hey magic be warned check those breakers  before you flea bomb or you can
cause a spark and boom

Also once it is safe to flea bomb and you do .  A old trick  take a night
light and a bowl of water  but it in a corner and turn the light on over
night  you will come in and see  what ever fleas survived will be floating
in the water

> We've had an on/off problem  with one of the circuit breakers -
> specifically the one to the hot water heater - it comes loose and,
[quoted text clipped - 37 lines]
>
> <shudder>
jXwXeXrXmXoXnXt@sonic.net - 10 Sep 2007 19:11 GMT
> We've had an on/off problem  with one of the circuit breakers - specifically
> the one to the hot water heater - it comes loose and, Surprise!  No hot
> water for the shower (or anything else)!  DH went to the basement (we rarely
> go into the basement) to jiggle it back into place, and no sooner had he hit
> the bottom of the stairs than he's hollering for me to bring bug spray.

[snip]

Yikes! Sounds like you might need to bring in a professional exterminator.
I hope the bug bomb makes that unnecessary, though.

Also, hope DH doesn't get a rash or anything from having wasp spray on him!
Yuck!! That makes my skin crawl almost as much as fleas.

Joyce
EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque) - 10 Sep 2007 19:13 GMT
> Unfortunately, he did not have time after this fiasco to take a second
> shower (did I mention that he was in the shower when he realized that
> the water heater had been shut off?), although he did wash his hands &
> legs thoroughly, I bet he still smells like bug spray when he comes home
> tonight.

You remind me of the time I had a problem with an even more
annoying biting insect!  I kept getting agonizingly itchy
flea-like bites around my wastline.  One day I was sitting
quietly reading, when I FELT something bite me in that area.
 I removed my jeans to examine the waist band, but at first
could see nothing, so used a pencil point to turn over what
looked like flakes of skin.  When approached by the pencil,
a couple of those flakes jumped!  My landlord called the
exterminator, who determined the problem was "oriental rat
mites". (There had been California fruit rats in the attic -
apparently when we got rid of them, their parasites stayed
and migrated downward into the clothes-closets.)

I immediately put foggers in all the closets, and was
mite-free for almost twenty-four hours (they breed much
faster than fleas).  I finally got rid of them, but it
involved setting foggers in all the closets before I left
for work, every day for a couple of months, after liberally
flea-spraying whatever clothes I intended to wear that day.
No one said anything, but I'm sure my fellow-workers thought
I had suddenly started using some very odd-smelling new cologne!
GaDragonfly - 10 Sep 2007 19:22 GMT
> We've had an on/off problem  with one of the circuit breakers - specifically
> the one to the hot water heater - it comes loose and, Surprise!  No hot
[quoted text clipped - 31 lines]
> I was never even in the basement, and I feel things crawling over me.... and
> I've taken a shower since then!

We are sending kitty growls and hiss-spits to the fleas that have
taken up residence in your basement.  Hopefully the bug fogger will
take care of them right away. How do they know to stay in the
basement? I would think they've migrated up by now, although if you're
like us the basement might be the most comfortable place in the house
temperature wise. Maybe that's why they're in the basement, they found
a cooler place to live than outside right now.  Whatever the reason,
we send purrs to you and DH and the furry members of your household
that the fleas are gone now.

Julie, Hobbes, Lacey, Sam and Barnabus

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