UNHAPPY Mama...

[InsaneCdn]

Sigh.

K2 is closer to a easy child than a difficult child, but... this takes the cake.
Been trying to get her to REALLY clean her room. For months. Got close a couple of times, but never quite.

Then, she develops bad psoriasis, or related skin problem - mostly scalp, some on her hands. She's had that before, so OK. Deal with it.

Then... wham. Insect bites: arms, legs, ears, back of neck... Insects IN her hair. Insects in dog hair.

Hmmm..........

Fleas. Yuck. Her room is totally infested. Its probably through the whole house.
Spent all of yesterday bagging up stuff to put outside and freeze. Vacuuming. Washing every piece of clothing. Spray bombs. Flea combs.

This was supposed to be a girls-only long weekend. I guess it is, but we're sure not doing anything fun...

Sigh.

How do you get fleas out of human hair???

 

[klmno]

Oh wow- I'd probably try the shampooing with blue Dawn dish washing liquid, which is a recommendation for dogs and cats but wouldn't hurt a person. It's supposed to kill them right away - it can also leave a weird residue though so I'd recommend washing the hair with regular shampoo after that. Make sure you wash all pillows in hot water and bleach, too. I assume you are aware that you need to get out of the house for a while after bombing. As part of my last lease agreement, I had to pay for a professional exterminator to do a 'flea treatment' on the house when I moved out- even though it had no fleas in it at the time. Anyway, it costs about $75 so that might be worth it to you if your cleaning doesn't solve the problem. Those eggs are pretty hard to get out of carpet and fabric.

 

[buddy]

you are sure they are fleas? I didn't know that about fleas, I knew they can bite humans, didn't know they would get into hair like lice. wow, so sorry.....

I think even youtube has videos for getting rid of bed bugs, flourbeetles, etc.... I saw the on the side of something online and clicked. Was horrified, then found flour beetles in some food. Luckily got rid of them all very easily so must have been new.

many years ago my niece got lice and spread it to me, my sister and a few of kids (my difficult child was still a month from coming home to me). That was a long drawn out experience, we did the treatments, and put things in the hot dryer for long times (heat kills) and bagged things up for the prescribed amount of time. Truth was, we never saw any infestation and it didn't spread... I owned a daycare and not one kid got it. I was traumatized for years,lol.

 

[HaoZi]

Flea shampoo, hair dryer on hot, and a lice comb. No joke, we use the cat shampoo to prevent lice (closely related and flea shampoo is way cheaper than that lice shield stuff).

 

[InsaneCdn]

Yes. we have to get out after we spray... but with 2+ inches of snow and 2 large dogs... there's nowhere to GO for a day! Still trying to figure out logistics.

Don't even OWN a hair-dryer.

Have a flea-comb - got it because we thought it was the dogs... went over both carefully, and I think we found ONE flea between two dogs.

Anyone heard of adding vinegar to shampoo, and letting the suds sit for 10 min? (its an idea that came up on a search)

 

[HaoZi]

Never heard the vinegar thing, but dog & cat flea shampoo hasn't failed us yet. You don't have any for the dogs?

 

[InsaneCdn]

We've had dogs for 10 years and NEVER needed it.
There's really no way to bath them this time of year - we use a kiddie swimming pool outside in the summer.
Trying to figure out the logistics for that, too.

 

[Malika]

Well, not that this is any comfort to you, IC, but here fleas seem completely run of the mill - all dogs are expected to have them and are treated monthly with a product called Frontline. You just break a vial between the dog's shoulderblades and that's it until you do it again the following month... I am very knowledgeable about these things, you see, being a dog owner of one week! I appreciate that you are not able to buy anything like this in your snowed-in state but might be handy to know for future? As for the human fleas... I have never actually heard of this! Lice, yes...
Commiserations!

 

[klmno]

I am very knowledgeable about these things, you see, being a dog owner of one week!

That's cute!!

 

[InsaneCdn]

I think this is my own fault.
Remember that curse that I shared? the one that I wanted an alternative to?

Well, looks like the fleas are taking it out on me.

Thanks for the Commiserations, Malika.

Not likely to be lice... they don't live off-body, and the kind that bothers man doesn't want beast. Unless she has BOTH. We've never had either before. Not in 10 years of dog-owner-life and 10+ years of kids in school...

 

[HaoZi]

Well, you could shave her head.

 

[Malika]

If you are in the mood for tasteless jokes (which you may well not be), if you round up enough of them, you could start a flea circus... I know you cannot have any entertainment up in those Canadian wilds

 

[InsaneCdn]

Oh, Malika.
I don't need a flea circus... I live in a 3-ring circus every single day!
Honestly, if we didn't value our privacy so much, I'd video it and make a killing.
You'd die laughing.

But I'd sure love to show you how much fun it really is "up in those Canadian wilds"! There's way more going on than "our" little 3-ring circus...

 

[InsaneCdn]

Well, you could shave her head.

LOL - thought of it, but not gonna happen either... its taken 10+ years to GET it to a decent length.

For starters, *I* will be washing her hair - I don't think she's been doing it well.
She'll brush it out over a tub with water first, then I'll comb it all, THEN drain and clean, fresh water, and THEN hair wash...

Its not just her room. K1's room needs a cleaning too. (not quite as bad, but)

 

[Malika]

Oh, Malika.
But I'd sure love to show you how much fun it really is "up in those Canadian wilds"! There's way more going on than "our" little 3-ring circus...

You mean you are not living in a vast snowy expanse inhabited only by wolves and lumberjacks? I am disappointed...

 

[InsaneCdn]

You mean you are not living in a vast snowy expanse inhabited only by wolves and lumberjacks? I am disappointed...

If we did... I'd be home-schooling the kids and we wouldn't have had HALF the problems...!
Na. We're perceived as "in the sticks", but really we're in a reasonably-sized city with a world-class university...
But we do get SNOW. To the point that it pays to have a good snowblower. Skating. Dog-sledding (gotta go a few miles to get THAT but its out there). X-country skiing. Snowball fights. Ice carving competitions. That's just the start of winter stuff...

 

[HaoZi]

Dangit, guess that means she can't ship us some eye candy lumberjacks.

 

[DammitJanet]

Are u completely sure its fleas and not scabies? That went around the elementary school one year down here and it can also transfer to the dogs because it is the same thing as one form of mange.

You need to figure out how the fleas came in. Since you dont think you can bathe the dogs, take them to somewhere like Petco or Petsmart and have them bathed there. You have to be out anyway. You can also go get a flea collar to put in your vacuum cleaner bag because you need to keep one in there while you keep this up for a couple of weeks. The eggs will hatch inside the vacuum and re-infest.

 

[InsaneCdn]

Are u completely sure its fleas and not scabies?

Ok. I know it isn't lice, because they only go where there is hair, and her arms are really bad.
Its not ticks, either.
Also researched bed-bugs... bite patterns don't add up.
Fleas are not unheard of around here, so it was the "next logical".

What on earth is scabies?

 

[InsaneCdn]

Dangit, guess that means she can't ship us some eye candy lumberjacks.

If yer looking for good-looking rednecks... there's LOTS up here... just not lumberjacks.
Righands, custom combiners, cowboys... just to name a few!