Author |
Message |
Escapee
Member
06-15-2004
| Tuesday, May 10, 2005 - 7:46 am
Tea Tree oil will get rid of fleas? DD has had a rash of itchy bites for two weeks. We've dusted the house, sprayed, to no avail. We don't particularly want to bomb it, but we will. If it is flea bites, they are only biting her and no one else in the house. She is itching all over her body, mostly chest, shoulders and nape of neck. Any ideas, tips?
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Julieboo
Member
02-05-2002
| Tuesday, May 10, 2005 - 7:56 am
fleas mainly hit ankles on humans... I would take her to the pediatrician.
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Escapee
Member
06-15-2004
| Tuesday, May 10, 2005 - 8:29 am
I did. He didn't seem to think anything about the itching, but gave her an antibiotic for infantigo (caused from an infection from scratching open a bite) Poor kid is miserable. They have been biting her on the ankles, legs, arms, knees, everywhere, but mostly chest shoulders and arms. At first I thought it was from a switch in laundry detergent, but I switched back and it didn't help at all.
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Julieboo
Member
02-05-2002
| Tuesday, May 10, 2005 - 8:35 am
So he says something is biting her? Did he say it was fleas? The antibiotic is not helping? I never heard of infantigo, is that like impetigo?
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Landi
Member
07-29-2002
| Tuesday, May 10, 2005 - 8:39 am
escapee, sounds like your daughter may have them in her bed, due to the locations on your daughter. you might want to just bomb her room. as a thought. julie, i'm sure it was just a spelling error. impetigo though is nothing to mess with.
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Escapee
Member
06-15-2004
| Tuesday, May 10, 2005 - 8:41 am
I told him I thought it was flea bites, (our cat came down with an icky case of them, and has been an outside cat ever since) He didn't say what he thought about them. Infantigo is a staff infection. Her's was caused by scratching open a bite? and it got infected. Little hands can get dirty sometimes. She had all these funny lumps in her head and neck which he told me were swollen lymphnodes from the infection. I have seen absolutely no infected bites or rash marks on her at all. We keep hydrocortizone cream on her and are keeping her hands very clean, so that doesn't explain the swollen lymphnodes. Maybe there is an infection I don't see. I don't know. I am at a loss, and my poor girl is itching like she has chicken pocks, which she doesn't.
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Escapee
Member
06-15-2004
| Tuesday, May 10, 2005 - 8:44 am
I sprayed her room, powdered the carpet and changed her bedding numerous times.
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Julieboo
Member
02-05-2002
| Tuesday, May 10, 2005 - 8:44 am
Can you use caladryl or calamine lotion on her? Poor kid. Did you "dip" the cat?
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Escapee
Member
06-15-2004
| Tuesday, May 10, 2005 - 8:46 am
Yes. We dipped the cat, much to his disapproval. We also advantixed him. We live way out an we have may feral cats that are just infested. So until we catch them, it is an uphill battle. In fact, we should dip our other cat to. Poor guys. It has been two weeks since the cat has been near DD.
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Secretsmile
Member
08-19-2002
| Tuesday, May 10, 2005 - 8:52 am
Having enlarged lymph nodes is what you are supposed to find when there is an infection in the body. That's their job (the lymph nodes), to "collect" the infection and let the body's own antibodies kill it off. This is a simplistic way of explaining what happens. It happens when ever any one has an infection, it's just much so much easier to see and feel them on small children. Rather than worry about them being enlarged, be glad the body is reacting correctly. P.S. Impetigo is an infection
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Skootz
Member
07-23-2003
| Tuesday, May 10, 2005 - 8:53 am
if the cat is outside, the fleas in the house will cling to people as there is no animal for them to cling to. When we had them in the house (mild case this past time) I bought this room spray from the pet department and sprayed the entire house with it, it was expensive (around 25$ but I haven't seen a flea anymore.
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Julieboo
Member
02-05-2002
| Tuesday, May 10, 2005 - 9:00 am
Seems that Impetigo is the same thing as infantigo.
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Julieboo
Member
02-05-2002
| Tuesday, May 10, 2005 - 9:01 am
http://www.medical-library.org/journals/mddx/impetigo/1_impetigo.htm maybe this site can help...
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Escapee
Member
06-15-2004
| Tuesday, May 10, 2005 - 9:06 am
I will get some caladryl or something equally effective. I have tea tree oil and I was wondering if that would help at all with the itching etc. I have heard it repels mosquitos. Hmmmmm.
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Juju2bigdog
Member
10-27-2000
| Tuesday, May 10, 2005 - 9:53 am
Inexpensive, effective indoor flea treatment. Go to the laundry section of the grocery store and buy 20 Mule Team borax. Sprinkle the borax anywhere you have rugs or carpet in the house. Leave it on a few hours and then vacuum it up. The life cycle of the flea is completed OFF the animal in your carpets. The eggs fall off and hatch there. The borax dries up the eggs so they don't hatch. No more fleas in a pretty short time. AND you are not using a harsh chemical in the house.
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Escapee
Member
06-15-2004
| Tuesday, May 10, 2005 - 10:13 am
Hey thanks Juju! I have some Borax at home.
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Landi
Member
07-29-2002
| Tuesday, May 10, 2005 - 10:15 am
i forgot all about borax juju! it's also good on roaches and ants! i haven't had any bugs in so long i've forgotten. the owner of my house has a pest service come every other month.
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Juju2bigdog
Member
10-27-2000
| Tuesday, May 10, 2005 - 5:22 pm
Hey, Landi? You know what that pest service is using on its $75-$100 visits? Borax! Betcha!
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Graceunderfyre
Member
01-22-2004
| Tuesday, May 10, 2005 - 7:27 pm
wow juju! That's amazing!!!!! Our first apt was completely infected with fleas in several spots and we spent TONS of money trying to get rid of them. I can't remember what worked in the end. . . I wish I had known about TVCH then. Tho it may not have been in existence yet. BTW, I am happy to report that DS & I were given a clean bill of health. We have to go back for a checkup in 5 days, but for now we are lice free.
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Juju2bigdog
Member
10-27-2000
| Tuesday, May 10, 2005 - 11:01 pm
Yay Grace and ds!!
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Graceunderfyre
Member
01-22-2004
| Wednesday, May 11, 2005 - 6:33 am
I have to say I am extremely paranoid now and I keep feeling things crawling on my head, but then it usually spreads to my arms and chest and legs and I realize it's my imagination getting the better of me. . .
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Texannie
Member
07-16-2001
| Wednesday, May 11, 2005 - 6:57 am
Lordy, I just itch hearing the word lice! LOL
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Landi
Member
07-29-2002
| Wednesday, May 11, 2005 - 7:02 am
i know that, and you know that, juju. but the owner just writes the check. and he's one of those that it's just best not to say too much.
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Juju2bigdog
Member
10-27-2000
| Wednesday, May 11, 2005 - 12:41 pm
Oh, exactly, Landi. Let that owner just keep on paying. <scratches belly and head vigorously>

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Escapee
Member
06-15-2004
| Wednesday, May 11, 2005 - 2:26 pm
Ok, so this morning DD was head to toe in bites. They are in her bed, ackk! So I am going tonight to get 4 flea bombs for our house. Do I need to wash every bit of clothes, linens, etc after we bomb? Afterward as a precautionary, i am going to borax my carpets too. We have 200 sq. feet of carpet at our home, so you can imagine how hard this is going to be. Also, we have a raised foundation and we are going to bomb under the house. We have tons of fleas in our grass in the yard, how do I get rid of them?
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Escapee
Member
06-15-2004
| Wednesday, May 11, 2005 - 2:28 pm
I am also infested with Alligator lizards as well as other lizards. It's like the plague at my house. And I know once we deal with this fiasco, its going to be mosquito time. Escapee, the bug lady.
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Juju2bigdog
Member
10-27-2000
| Wednesday, May 11, 2005 - 7:13 pm
Awww, the poor baby. I think somebody already said this, but the fleas are biting her because they don't have any cats in the house to bite. The bombs and the borax should cure your in-house problem. A continuing program of maybe twice a month, then slacking off to once a month, borax on the carpets may even cure the entire problem, and you might be able to let the cats back in. IF you then keep them inside. That worked for us, and we lived in flea-prone areas like you do, South Florida and South Texas. My husband used to spray a Diazanon and water mixture on the trees and lawn in Florida before we discovered borax. I don't think it was very effective, though. After we discovered the borax, even though we had two indoor cats and a dog who went outside, we didn't have any more fleas either in the house or on the animals. When you live in Texas or Florida, you are going to have the little lizards. I always liked to think of them this way: They eat roaches. Sort of like your own little in-house security force.
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Graceunderfyre
Member
01-22-2004
| Wednesday, May 11, 2005 - 7:43 pm
and they are sorta cute. . . except when you wake up in the middle of the night and they are crawling on the ceiling on top of you. . .then they are freaky and well worth screaming at the top of your lungs even if it is the first time you are meeting your boyfriend's family. . . speaking from personal experience.
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Escapee
Member
06-15-2004
| Thursday, May 12, 2005 - 10:50 am
Oh, the lizards don't bother me. We bombed last night, and covered the lawn in ortho Max Bug B-Gone lawn flea tick and and spider killer. HA HA. We don't allow pets in the house (landlord policy)
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Landi
Member
07-29-2002
| Thursday, May 12, 2005 - 11:29 am
omg! i remember geckos on the ceiling! i got a story from when i was in high school. we were living in pearl city, in hawaii. and my dad was the commander of the base there. we were having some huge mucky muck over for dinner. we had combed the house for geckos and stuff before hand, thinking we got them all (they were so prolific). my mom had out the best china and linens. right after we said the meal's grace - a gecko fell from the ceiling right into my mom's mashed potatoes! it wasn't long after that we were headed back to the mainland. i'm sure it was the geckos fault.
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Ddr
Member
08-19-2001
| Thursday, May 12, 2005 - 1:23 pm
Escapee, a pest control guy once told me the best way to get rid of fleas in your house is vacuum, vacuum, vacuum. That with the borax should do the trick.
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Skootz
Member
07-23-2003
| Thursday, May 12, 2005 - 1:47 pm
and when you vacuum, throw out the vacuum bag too 
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