Katzen is on the right track and its true the bomb won't work. But what works better than diatomaceous earth and is way cheaper is Twenty Mule Team Borax. Its also easier to get.
Borax is made of mined boron which is a naturally occurring desiccant. It works by breaking down the exoskeleton of insects. If you have ticks, spiders, cockroaches, ants, etc, it will also kill them. Best of all, and this is the reason why bombs and poisons do not work, it kills all phases of the insect's life. If you dip for fleas/ticks, it will kill the pests that are on the animal at that moment but more will hatch. Not only that, you have put your pet and your family at risk because of the poison.
Buy a box of Twenty Mule Team Borax in the laundry aisle. When you get home, vacuum really well. Put maybe a half cup of the borax into the vac bag and remove the bag from the house completely.
Run a narrow but solid line of borax along all of your walls. In addition, scatter it freely on CARPETED closet floors, on the animals' bedding, on carpeted areas where the animals lay. You can also scatter it in between couch cushions and similar places.
Important: DO NOT put it directly on any of the animals and DO NOT scatter it on bare floors. If you do put it on the animals, its possible it could cause the skin to break down. On bare floors, its very slippery.
In the future, you can clean as usual and replace the thin and solid line of borax along your baseboards -OR - you can be a bit lazy and not disturb the borax, cleaning more completely in the center areas of each room.
When you vacuum, remove the bag from from the house and put a fresh bag in every time you vacuum.
Continue to use Frontline but your fleas will be gone in a few weeks.
The borax is non-toxic and cheap. And, it really does work.
This is essentially what diatomaceous earth (DE) does and what I've been doing. The Borax may not be safe if ingested and since we've got two cats and the dogs licking/biting where the fleas get them, we're using the DE. I use Borax in the wash ... hard water and no phosphates means the detergent needs a booster. Thanks for the info, Luddly.
Boron is non-toxic and much safer to ingest than the silicon dioxide in diatomaceous earth. If you want to know more about any possible toxicity of boron, there's an 800 number on the side of the box. Call and ask to talk to the toxicologist. They will tell you the absolute truth, including the LD-50 and Draize results. Ask them.
(When I was doing non-animal testing of boron, I happened on my 2-3yo grand daughter with a small container of it in her hand and the white powder on her lips. The toxicologist told me she would have to eat several cups of it to have any effect and that the only thing I would likely notice would be that her stool would have a greenish cast to it.)
Some people would actually put either or both on their animal but that will cause extreme skin irritation that will be very hard to get rid of. The poor animals will be biting and chewing at themselves and you would be setting the up for long term and very expensive problems. The original irritation very quickly becomes a bacterial/fungal infection of the skin which you'll have to treat. (Does the dog have an odor to his skin? Its especially noticeable when he first comes in from outside. Skin on back is flaky? Skin on belly red and inflamed?) If you don't get rid of the fleas, that skin irritation will just get worse and the cycle becomes very difficult to treat.
If you put a strong desiccant like either boron or DE directly on the skin, it will begin to break down the skin. That's how it works on the pests.
Note that both DE and boron remain effective unless and until they become wet. Don't put either outside - its just a waste. Don't use spray poisons outside - they don't work.
Nothing I have described is particularly "complicated" but you do have to make a commitment to deal with the problem and it sounds like you have done that.
By all means, if you wish, go ahead and use the DE as I have described though. Its a lot more expensive and it will take longer to work but it works the same way - eg - its a desiccant. The biggest difference is that silicon dioxide is toxic.
http://www.epa.gov/oppsrrd1/REDs/factsheets/4081fact.pdf
Diatomaceous Earth General Fact Sheet
A human health risk assessment of bo... [Regul Toxicol Pharmacol. 1995] - PubMed - NCBI
The Borax Conspiracy: Big Pharma's Latest Ploy to Outlaw a Natural Cure for Arthritis, Osteoporosis and Tooth Decay (July 6, 2012)
I've used boron for more than 30 years with 100% success and never one problem. But, please don't take my word for this. Do your own research.
Frontlined both dogs Tues, both cats Thurs, DE them daily, as well as the carpeting, sofas, dog bed. Vacuuming daily (yeah, yeah I should do that anyway huh?). Poor Penny, she has a super thick undercoat and was just gnawing away ... her skin in places is nearly bruised from chewing so much. Put cortizone on those spots yesterday .... relief! Got two fleas off of Dio (one yesterday), two fleas off of Shadow (old cat) yesterday. How long before Frontline kills them all? DE takes a few days as it dehydrates them. I am concerned about any eggs that may be lurking. This is all a first for us. Cripes, like this is what we needed.
