Ants, Spiders and Fleas... Oh My!

I feel that in comparison to cats, dogs are able to be rid of fleas twice as easy. Dogs now have this pill called Comfortis that does wonders while cats are still treated with Advantage and Frontline. All in which, doesn't really do much justice.

I live in a house with five cats. One of them is mine while the other four are the roommates. Unfortunately, ALL of them have fleas and I can't seem to kill the pests out of this house. The worst part is that with fleas come ants and with ants come spiders. It's a never-ending pest fest within this house and it's because one cat got out for half a day.

My question is this: How do you get rid of fleas quickly without paying too much? Unfortunately I am unable to pay for a pest control and taking the cats to the groomers (which I would feel terrible for!) is too costly. $30 per cat is way too much -- even if I'm only paying $30 and the roommate is paying $120.

I've tried natural remedies such as Baking Soda all over the carpet. It's died them down a little, but they still appear out of nowhere. Any natural remedies that you can suggestion that you've done and it's worked?

One important thing to do to get rid of fleas, is to vacuum every single day. It will get the fleas and the flea eggs out of the carpet. If your cats will eat brewers yeast tablets, then give them several of those every day. My dogs love them and think they are a treat. If your cat is picky, then dip the brewers yeast tablet into a little bit of leftover bacon grease, or hamburger grease to just lightly coat it; it will smell good to the cat, and once he starts to actually at it, he will probably realize that it tastes good. Fleas and ticks don't like the taste of it, so they are more apt to lave your cats alone.
You can also use borax (in laundry dept. at store), and sprinkle it on the floor and leave it a day or two, then vacuum it. It will kill the fleas, but won't hurt the cats. I also use a borax solution as a flea dip for the dogs; but your cats might not like that so much. It is way safer to bathe them with than the chemicals that are in flea powders or sprays. Also, Dawn dish soap will kill fleas if you use that to bathe the cats.
Lastly, put a shiny pie pan with some water and a dab of dish soap on the floor, and put a small (desk) lamp beside it, so it shines into the pie plate. When it is dark, the fleas will be drawn to the light, hop into the pie plate, and drown.

Happyflowerlady, Thank you so much for your suggestions. I've heard of some of your suggestions and have used them before. At least once a month I give my cat a bath using the blue Dawn Soap. Granted, it does nothing when the other cats don't get cleaned, but I at least take care of mine and allow his fur to not be filled with so much crap. Plus, he LOVES water. So I don't have to struggle with him. Unless he feels like he's done playing and he still has soap on his fur.

As for the pie plate idea, I've never done that. Does it truly rid of fleas if done many nights in a row, or is that typically used as a 'flea check' to see if you have fleas within a room?

Bloomsie, I doubt that using the pie plate at nite will get all the fleas, since you have several cats who are providing a warm place for them to sleep. One the other hand; it can't hurt to do it, and it will help show you if you are getting them out of the carpet.
One other product that will help a lot is diatomaceous earth. DE is fossilized microscopic diatoms, and it looks just like white flour. However, it ha sharp edges which will cut tiny bugs like fleas, spiders, ticks, and bedbugs as they crawl over it.
It is harmless to people and animals, and in fact is actually a healthful additive to food. It will also kill worms and other parasites that are inside your dog or cat.
Since fleas will give the host animal (your kitty cat, in this case) tape worms; it is good to get some DE, add a bit into canned food, and also spread some lightly on the bedding where the cats sleep.
Be sure to get food grade DE, and there are several places online to order it, as well as many health stores carry it.

Happyflowerlady, Diatomaceous Earth (DE) sounds like a really good product. Actually, a product that is too good to be true. I'll research more about it. Although it's white flour that doesn't harm humans and animals, I want to make sure that my cat isn't allergic to it. He has asthma, and already the Baking Soda makes him wheeze from time to time because of the powder substance. We had to vacuum that up quickly before he had another attack. The Baking Soda was working pretty well, too, which I'm bummed about. But it's what's best for Wolfy, too. Not just us.

Thank you so very much for all of your suggestions! It's definitely a great big help. I think my family and I will try and do the pan check for each room to ensure that we're going about the rooms efficiently and research more about the DE so that we can use that to make sure that our lives, and Wolfy, get's better!

Bloomsie, if your cat has asthma, and has trouble breathing already, then using any kind of a powder to get rid of fleas is not a good idea probably. At least not on her bedding or where she is apt to inhale a lot of it.
I think that you could use it on the floor, and sweep it into the carpet with no problems, but I would start with one room first, and see how it goes. As long as you can put the DE somewhere that she is not lying right in it; it should get any bugs that come crawling through, and not bother the cat.
You might want to research DE and asthama before trying it, as well. There are some good websites with a lot of information online. Wolf Creek Farms carries DE, and also has a lot of information regarding its use for both humans and animals.
I also posted another article about using DE on the forum.

Great thread, and these are all great suggestions. The carpet does need to be vacuumed that often for sure. I use diatom also. I especially love it for ant hills. It works pretty well on some garden bugs also.

For the dogs, I also make up a *dog* flea powder with arrowroot, corn starch and baking soda as the base. I just wing it, so I don't have proportions for ya, but I can say I use mostly arrowroot in that base, and I go heavy on the dried herbs part.

Arrowroot is cheap NOT in the small bottle in the spice section, but it IS cheap in the bulk isle if you have a health food section. Plus it goes a LONG way. I mix dried lemongrass, catnip, and lemon balm or another kind of mint I may have on hand, and cedar wood leaves. It works great for most bugs. I do vary it up. There are other repellent herbs of course, such as rosemary, lemongrass, and on and on. Any combo of this is good for a carpet too. I just whir it altogether in my new Ninja blender.

Catnip is stronger than deet! And it's safe of course for animals and humans as one of the strongest deterrents there are. It is a especially good deterrent for mosquitoes. Of course mints, including lemon balm are. The cedarwood, now, that is interesting. Cedar chips in my house deter rodents big time. They also deter bugs but for me, only to a point. Honestly, the essential oil cedarwood does that better for in the house. As in the flea powder, those cedarwood 'leaves' are actually cedarwood tips, and especially good for ticks.

I get most of my dried herbs in bulk from https://www.mountainroseherbs.com/

They are a great company. No, it's not my essential oil company, no add here.