Well I guess my title is not very fair because I know what's happening. It's not attracting fleas but actually repelling them.
And that becomes a huge problem for our house rather than the cat.
I think I know how this collar works. It does NOT kill fleas. It just tells them politely to stay away from the cat's body. The collar has a fragrant scent. It actually smells nice like soap. And that is direct contrast to any other collar we've used.
Collars that actually kill fleas
have a certain smell. It's not necessarily a bad smell, but it's not pleasant either. That scent I am talking about is the actual poison that kills fleas. It isn't on this collar.
Why is this a problem if it keeps fleas away from his body?
For one thing it doesn't even do that completely. My cat is itching less than before, but still dealing with bites and flea dirt.
Even if it did completely repell them, your house will still become infested. Probably much worse than if you just
left the cat untreated.
When it repells them they jump into carpet and blankets. This encourages them to lay eggs in the carpet and blankets. All they have to do is wait for the next meal to vibrate the floor, cat or human. And when a house has humans the fleas will happily feed on them and multiply like crazy.
Fleas can live a shockingly long time without a meal. Especially when they have never fed before. If you shut off an infested room and walk in there 6 months later you will walk in and your legs will be speckled with fleas. I am speaking from experience. Hundreds of starving fleas on my legs at once. Horrifying.
If you walk into a room and see two or more fleas jump on you at once your house is heavily infested. For every single flea you see there are 30-50 more in that area of carpet. About half of those are laying hundreds of eggs each. It can get out of hand before you even realize there is a problem.
And because of THIS D*** FLEA COLLAR I am now in that situation. And the crazy thing is ITS WINTER RIGHT NOW. I have only ever had bad infestations in the summer because that's when it's warm out and the fleas can survive in the grass. The fleas cannot survive outside in this weather right now which is one of the reasons I am POSITIVE this flea collar is to blame. We have a single cat. No dogs, no other pets. When I walk into any room in my house right now I have at least five fleas on my ankles. Another reason I know it's this collar is because the collar I usually get ACTUALLY WORKS as intended.
The only situation I can see this collar being remotely helpful is if the cat is strictly outside. Even then it's not going to get rid of itching and it could cause problems for your neighbors pets.
This is the cheapest flea collar I have seen. I think I know why it has so many positive reviews. Some people are immune to fleas even when they are starving. We have 5 people living in our house and 2 of them have never seen a flea. The rest of us are getting bit like crazy. I think maybe these positive reviews are from people who don't get bothered by fleas, or maybe just don't understand how fleas work.
If you are in a similar situation I will give you the best practices to get rid of them. We've had extreme infestations like this before quite a few times so we have tried virtually every treatment and tactic there is.
The best tactic is practically free!
• VACUUM VACUUM VACUUM. Vacuum 2 times a day if
possible. (Especially the places your cat tends to lay.) The fleas will actually jump towards the vacuum thinking it's a meal. It will get rid of them completely by the end of the week I promise you. The bare minimum is once a day.
Remember you have to get ahead of their multiplying because they multiply at such large volumes so quickly. If you have a vacuum with a window you can actually look into the dust container and see them crawling around. To ensure they don't get out of the container
you can dump it in a plastic bag and then spray inside the bag with bug spray like Raid. Or keep them trapped inside until you need to empty. Simply doing this one thing can wipe out the infestation of your house although it doesn't treat your cat.
• If you want to buy a product to help speed up the process diatomaceous is the best product. It is a absorbent fine powder that is non toxic and will not harm any animals. It's fine fossil seashell dust that is sharp to insects. It works by
cutting into the insect's exoskeleton while the shards steal all the moisture from inside the insect... Essentially dehydrating it until it dies.
The only issue with diatomaceous powder is that it is so fine, if you vacuum too much of it it will clog your vacuum's engine filter. Which can and will break your vacuum by making it overheat. Speaking from experience again. Diatomaceous powder is best for treating outside. Grass and gardens on a dry day. If it gets wet it will not kill them.
• Do not bother with flea bombs. They are more hassle than helpful. The fleas can go deep into carpet to avoid the fumes.
• If fleas are jumping on you frequently and you want an easy way to kill them instead of having to squish them with your fingernail... Get a cup of water, and then pour a little oil on top of the water. If you only use water the fleas can swim out eventually. Oil drowns them very quickly, less than 20 seconds. Put the cup next to where you spend most of your time so
it's available. I know this tactic doesn't affect the infestation very much but it's one less flea. If it's a female flea it's hundreds less (large body with lighter colored rear, sometimes looks deflated when it has just laid their eggs.)
The photo I included is my cup. I've only had it next to me for the past hour specifically for proof in this review. It already has 14 in it.
DO NOT BUY THIS COLLAR. It's not even about the fact that it's not worth the money. It's only 4 dollars who cares? In reality this collar can end up costing you much more than the top quality flea collars which are crazy expensive in my opinion. You're gonna have a much bigger problem if you use this collar. Be smart. Get one that actually kills the fleas so when they drop from your cat they are not mating and laying thousands of eggs in your carpet.
Good luck on your flea battle. I know it's disgusting and maddening. But at least it's cheap and easy to take care of with persistence. At least it's not bed bugs! 🤞