Argh! Fleas! Now I am terrified I did the wrong thing!

[littleberlin]

We have a cat who has never had a problem with fleas - and this week I discovered that the bites I thought were from mosquitoes on my legs and my little baby's face were actually FLEA BITES! I was so upset. I wouldn't call it an infestation, but there are definitely enough that it is a problem. Not having dealt with this before, we decided to set off some flea bombs in the house, airing the rooms out before re-entering with out eight month old daughter, and cleaning down surfaces as much as we could. However, I've just been reading all about the potential carcinogenic effects of such products, links to childhood leukemia, etc, etc and I am now absolutely terrified that we've exposed our baby to these terribly harmful chemicals without really thinking through the repercussions of tackling the flea problem so aggressively. I feel so AWFUL! We decided not to set off any in our bedroom (where she sleeps), so sprayed a little bug spray around the place, then eucalyptus spray, and allowed the place to air out. But I just realised: the bug spray most likely permeated her cot mattress! Why didn't this occur to me before?!

To top it all off, I'm breastfeeding and now I am petrified that the ambient exposure I have had to the chemical will pass through my milk to her. What can I do? I know this is utterly rambling, but I won't be able to forgive myself if it turns out that she has been exposed. Which she might have been. For an infant, what sort of exposure might result in irreversible damage? Does anyone know? How long does it take for the chemical residue to dissipate once you have began the airing out process? Does it happen once the smell vanishes, or does it hang around afterwards? Should we have left our house for days? Help!! I feel like the world's most stupid mother.

[christy]

please don't feel stupid. You are supposed to let the house sit for a few hours and then air it out, which is what you have done. As for the chemicals in the cot mattress, can you take it out in the sun for an hour or two of good airing?

I'm not sure how long it takes the chemicals to dissapate, and to be honest, I've always done it when we are on our way off on holidays in the past.

I think what you done is reasonably safe though, of course you don't want to expose your child to harmful chemicals, but you have let the house air out before bringing her in, and the bug spray you sprayed in your room is probably less dangerous than the bombs.

The most important thing is to treat your cat with something like revolution or advantage, something that one on your cat will help continue to treat the environment as well. Those products have bits that drop off with the animals dander and will treat areas that the cat sleeps etc. Often they don't get all the fleas at once if there is a huge infestation, so if you are really sensitive you can buy something like Capstar which is a tablet but will kill all adult fleas within a few hours.

Goodluck!

[tenar]

While the less exposure we all have to such chemicals the better, I really wouldn't worry about a single exposure like this. Anyone living in a city is probably exposed to more nasties per month (per week? per day?) than is in one of those flea bombs.

That said, I also recommend using a product like Advantage or Frontline (I think you'll need to see the vet to get this the first time) to control the fleas on your cat. There are heaps of fleas around at the moment (in Melbourne, anyway - its a seasonal thing), so your situation is not at all unusual. These products control fleas for up to a month, with one application, and once applied it soaks into the animals skin, so the humans in the family aren't exposed to the toxins at all.