Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Minor setback

Well this afternoon was rather interesting, to say the least.

We decided that it would be a good idea to take some boxes out to the mobile home, since we already have a lot of things packed. When we got there I started unloading my packed car, Melissa started vacuuming, and the kids started running and rolling around like crazy people. Honestly, I was kind of irritated that Melissa decided to vacuum while I was trying to move in boxes through the small hallway, but it's a good thing she did.

After the kids were rolling around on the ground in their room for a little while, Kaela started freaking out. Apparently, the previous tenant didn't take care of their dog too well, resulting in a flea infestation. The vacuum canister was crawling with them. Ugh. The bedrooms are the only areas in the house with carpet, and they are being bombed as I write this. I just hope the bug bombs take care of the problem, or we may have to spend some money replacing the carpet.

I am glad that we found this problem while we still have another house to sleep in. If anyone has any positive experience with getting rid of this problem, please let us know. If you have any horror stories, please refrain. :)


7 comments:

  1. Hey it could be worse right?!

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  2. ps. i like your label 'gross' haha

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  3. Haha, thanks. If Melissa had written the post, she would probably have used a stronger adjective, it's pretty bad. Looks like the fogger didn't work, so we're going to have to figure something else out...

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  4. What about calling the landlord lol

    1-Treat your dog or cat (kids too) at the same time that you treat your carpet. Many pet owners have rid pets from fleas by bathing them in Dawn dish detergent.

    2-Vacuum thoroughly and often as fleas in various stages of development probably live in your carpet. Either dispose of your vacuum bag in a secured plastic trash bag or add borax or diatomaceous earth (DE) to your vacuum bag to kill fleas.

    3-Sprinkle your carpet with salt, which should kill fleas and eggs. Wait 24 hours and then vacuum up.

    4-Rid your carpet of fleas in every inch of your carpet, including under and behind furniture.

    5-Dust DE directly on carpet for stubborn pests. While DE is generally safe for humans, you still might want to wear eye protection and a dust mask so that you don't breathe in the dust.

    6-Steam clean your carpet with a borax and water mixture in a carpet cleaner. The water drowns adult fleas and the borax attaches to the carpet to stop new fleas from maturing. This can be an effective treatment for up to a year.

    Don't forget to treat the yard too

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  5. You really might need to rip the carpet out and then have the house bombed by a professional. I had a flea problem when I moved into my old place (which meant my cat had a flea problem too). I kept treating the cat but they kept coming back. I was confused because I didn't have any carpeting. The vet told me that the problem is that the eggs can live in between the slats of wood in hardwood floors or floor boards. Once they hatch, you've got a whole new infestation. Even though I'm anti-poison it's probably not a bad idea to call Terminex or someone like that. You can usually find deals on a few rooms of carpet! Sorry for the setback, that sucks. Love you guys.

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  6. Hey BTW I am so stinking proud of you both!!! We read your blog and talked about it as part of our devotion last night.

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  7. Bummer you guys! Looks like Les had some great tips, I hope it works and you don't have to get new carpet! Maybe you should get some Revolution or Frontline for Kona so he doesn't bring in any new fleas after this situation is resolved - I believe Revolution kills eggs too, and if there are any eggs or fleas on the carpet and Kona sits on the carpet, it'll kill those too.

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