Modern Cat Flea Control
Unfortunately, the promising agrochemical corporations' most effective toxins for insect control, over the last seventy years of production has proven to be too toxic to be used indoor in dwellings, on pets and where humans or their food are.
Currently, the most effective of these old-style insecticides are banned and outlawed for consumer use (most of which came out of World War II nerve gas technology). The few, of the currently and generally available agrochemical insecticides for consumer use are variants of a few similar but different formulations of synthetic pyrethrin -- insecticides that have currently proven ineffective for rapid reproducing insect pests.
Most synthetic pyrethrins are patentable replacements for the less effective tincture from the natural pyrethrin plant. These insecticides are used as an ineffective contact poison rather than the more effective use on crops for killing chewing insects that eat the poison on plants.
Basically, insects like fleas out-breed poisons by becoming immune to them through rapid reproduction by the low dose survivors. It is to the point now that synthetic pyrethrins and other older insecticides are having no effect or only weakening some of the insect populations for a few days, at most.
Luckily, a new group of insecticides that do not approach insect control the way older poisons did from the agrochemical crop pesticide age of insecticides are becoming available. These new pesticides are products that offer metabolic insect control rather than act, as direct poisons.
Insect Growth Regulator is basically birth-control for insects or more precisely, an insect hormone that prevents larval insects from transforming into adult insects. And, since only adult insects like fleas bite and feed off blood, larva [very small, nearly impossible to see with the human eye, transparent micro slug-like animals] never cause any notable harm. IGR’s have no effect on non-insect animals and to these, it is as if it was not even there.
Or, the new metabolic wunderkind insecticide on the block is “Spinosad, ” which is a corn fungus derived insect control that kills any animal with an exoskeleton, such as insects, spiders and scorpions along with others, including fleas. The fungus feeds off corn and to protect itself from the corn and fungus feeding insects, it evolved this chemical strategy that prevents animals with exoskeletons from replacing their exoskeleton as they grow and consequently prevents breathing. It is so safe for non-exoskeleton animals that they can safely eat the substance -- and in rather absurdly high amounts -- with no effects whatsoever. It's one drawback is after exposure to light, the chemical is destroyed, so if it is used as a surface applied contact insect control or as an ingested insect control. it can lose its kill power. The good part is an unbelievably small amount kills most insects within its photo-sensitive twenty-four hour effective window.
“Spinosad” comes in two forms: an oral drug and a contact spray or spray concentrate. The oral form is for pets also, and generally comes with a month-long oral repellent/insecticide and in one formulation comes combined with an added heart-worm medication , as well.
The oral pet capsules are in a tuna or beef flavored powder base that you sprinkle into a cat or dog’s feed. It is recommended that it is a fatty wet pet food feed, since this helps it get into the cat's system quickly) which contains both “Spinoside” and the other active ingredient “Lufenuron” which is also used in flea collars and other oral or squeeze-on flea drops. The oral version of “Spinosad” is called “Nitenpyram” and lasts a day, but kills all the active fleas that live off or on your cat during that twenty-four hours. The second ingredient lasts a month and helps to prevent re-infestation.
The spray Spinosad comes, as a concentrate or pre-mix application spray. This is a great product for quick knock-downs of flea populations, as it takes a few life cycles for the “IGR” to completely keep all hatching flea eggs from becoming adult fleas. The spray, like the oral version, is completely harmless to mammals and other animals without exoskeletons, but deadly to animals with exoskeletons. Extremely low doses of the nearly odorless spray kills all insects.
Together, this combination of modern insect control is the most effective and least toxic to humans and pets system available. And, if the idea of flea larva living in your carpets, baseboards and furniture bothers you, a good kill for these is to spray your house with straight rubbing alcohol. It's a smelly and possibly flammable process. If you cut 70 percent rubbing alcohol with an equal amount of water and apply with a pump garden sprayer indoors you can cut risks without cutting the kill power. You will only need to do the alcohol twice, about a week apart to break the cycle. It helps to combine the IGR with the alcohol to save a step. Do not spray wood finishes though, as some wood furniture is sensitive to alcohol. It is best to lock the pets in a room not sprayed, if you go the alcohol route, and spray at night or when you are going to be out, as a rubbing alcohol mixture, will smell for twelve to twenty hours.
The “Spinoside” and water sprays have little to no smell and will not harm your pets even if they walk on the wet spray. You can add perfume, fragrance oil or other sent to any spray, if you want. We add Lysol concentrate, flagrance oils and such with the IGR spray mix. The one ounce to two gallons of water IGR concentrate is in in a kerosene like oil base and even that little bit does have an insecticide odor, for a few days.
