Fleas!

Two weeks ago my husband commented on how there was "grit" in one of the cats fur, adding "that's nothing right?"

"Umm, that could be fleas actually,"

"But they're indoor cats,"

"Yeh I didn't think indoor cats got fleas either but Taters has been getting bitten by something..."

That was how it began. We'd been putting his bites down to his bed, which made us speed up our plans to buy him a new bigger bed, thinking it would solve two problems in one. I hadnt even considered the cats might have fleas, being indoor cats it never occurred to me. But that is exactly what it was and without realising it we had a flea infestation on our hands.

In the days that followed I vacuumed so many times, the entire house top to bottom, moving furniture, over skirting boards, I steam cleaned all the floors, washed all the soft furnishings I could and binned things I wasn't overly attached to. I'm now shattered! The cats have been treated and we've sprayed the house with a nasty smelling spray the vet gave us, which I hate using considering we have a 3 month old baby! (I clean with bicarbonate of soda, or eCover products, I hate chemicals, I'm a hippy for gods sake!) Luckily we'd booked a few days away at Centre Parcs so we sprayed the house then didn't set foot in it for another 4 days.

I had hoped that would be the end of it and found myself having a panic attack when we returned home to find the cats still scratching and evidence of flea eggs wherever they'd been laying.

I'm usually a live and let live kind of woman, but my little boy is covered in bites and this morning I found one crawling on my baby's head. This means war! These fleas have to go!

I've since been vacuuming twice a day and we've been advised to spray the house again in another week. I'm taking the baby to stay with a friend that night (I did ask my mum if we could go there but she text me back saying "she didn't know about that" - that just made me cry, but that's another story entirely)... Back to the fleas...Apparently this isn't a problem you get rid of in one go. But it's a nightmare and I'm so stressed! I daren't put the baby down and my little boys legs look so horrific I want to cry when I see them.

Saying that I've discovered Avon's Skin so Soft oil is meant to be great for repelling fleas and by a sheer stroke of luck I actually have some in. It was bought for me as a birthday present and I've even been using it recently, so is this why I haven't been bitten when my son and husband have? Well, either way I'm covering my son in it tomorrow! I've also been told Aloe Vera is good for treating bites and I have a huge Aloe Vera plant in my window which is now being put to good use.

 I'm really hoping that along with the chemical warfare, OCD levels of vacuuming, plus the baking soda and essential oils I'll be trying out tomorrow, I'm hoping I can protect my kids and obliterate these bloody fleas once and for all.