Tripod member Marina asks:
Good Day! Out of nowhere I am having a serious flea problem at home. I have tried the powder, the green light and paper to draw them in, and I'm not saying they don't work, as it is obvious that the paper is catching them near the light. But the problem does not cease. It has been two weeks now and I am really beside myself.... HELP!!!

Handy Girl Candi suggests:
I've had years of practice in getting rid of the flea infestations my cats bring into the house. The secret is understanding the flea life cycle. Even if you kill every adult flea, you also have to deal with the tiny eggs they've dropped into the cracks between floor boards or deposited down among the fibers of your carpet and furniture upholstery. Those eggs may wait as long as 20 months until conditions are right for them to move from larva to pupa to adult. So it's not enough to kill the existing generation of fleas — you have to wipe out the next generation, too.

Presumably a pet brought those fleas into your home, so your first step is to de-flea your pet. The new once-a-month product called Advantage is a miracle, as far as I'm concerned. Next, give your house a super-obsessive vacuuming to get rid of as many eggs and larvae as you can, paying special attention to the upholstery and carpets wherever your pet hangs out the most. (The black, pepper-like "flea poop" serves as food for larval fleas, so suck up as much of that as you can, too.) Empty out your vacuum cleaner bag immediately after. Now it's time to "flea bomb" with a household insecticide that kills adult fleas AND keeps eggs and larva from maturing (look for a product containing "insect growth regulators"). If possible, skip the general purpose insecticides sold at supermarkets and hardware stores, and buy a flea-targeted product from your veterinarian or pet store.

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