…I see my house– empty, all of us long dead, except for my cat Lucy who sits contentedly on my bed scratching at her fleas.

Long ago I heard this quote:

I Ecclesiastes 3
King James Bible

“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.”

Sorry King James and all those who wrote down the word of God. I just do not see the purpose of fleas. Personally, I think they boarded Noah’s Ark on the back of some unknowing elephant. They suck the blood of their host and give nothing back but the urge to scratch.

I have had pets for my entire married life (almost 28 years) and never before have I had to battle fleas. Even before the invention of all these great topical products I was able to avoid the flea issue. So what is the deal with fleas and my cat Lucy?

Let me first say that if you walked into my house you would not know of the “invasion.” I know because I check the cat constantly. I am obsessed. I was the one who noticed the flea dirt and insisted that flea dirt equals fleas, even if you don’t see them. I was right. Upon a visit to the veterinarian the evidence was unmistakable. The vet laughed and said it has been a bad year for fleas. What? Was that supposed to comfort me?

Lucy is an indoor cat. My other two animals have never, and still do not have, fleas. They have always been treated with Frontline. As soon as the fleas became apparent I put Frontline on Lucy, had her groomed, and flea bombed the house. I then vacuumed as if the President and Michelle were coming to dinner. I moved couches, cushions, and dressers. I found a remote for the TV that had been missing for months. I dusted, changed bedding, and emptied the vacuum bag in case those nasty bugs liked it in there. I was certain I had succeeded in beating the fleas.

Surprise! A few days later Lucy is scratching again and I can actually see the flea on her! The vet gives me a spray called Knockout which kills the flea eggs for up to 120 days, plus he puts on more Frontline. He tells me to vacuum like crazy and not to worry, after all, this is no reflection on me. Amazingly, I do not kill the vet.

I go through the spraying of the already flea bombed house, I vacuum furiously, I go on the Internet looking for a “Death to all fleas” pill. I find Capstar. This will kill the fleas on your pet within 30 minutes and lasts for 24 hours. I get some the next day along with another container of Knockout. I am truly on a mission.

Capstar does the trick and just to be safe I give a pill to the other two animals. While all of the people in this house are being poisoned by insecticides the fleas manage to survive. All is good for a day or so, but the Frontline on Lucy is ineffective. The vet says wait three weeks, they have a different topical to use. I go back to the Internet and learn of a product that sterilizes the fleas. The best plan is to use the Capstar along with the sterilizing stuff and in a few weeks the flea cycle will be broken. I also hear about the use of Borax, the laundry soap, as a natural flea deterrent. I sprinkle it all over my basement and everywhere else that fleas might be plotting the overthrow of my home.

So, here I sit spraying, sprinkling and sterilizing all over the place. Lucy still has flea dirt on her and I am exhausted. However, my house has never been so clean.