Mariposa_3676's Profile

I'm not sure about your dog. I just know that I keep my cats in the bathroom for a couple of hours and keep all windows open so the fumes get out. As for the dust, I just try like hell to keep the cats out of those spots.

I have had bedbugs. I first got them at some point in 2006. At first, I noticed the black spots. I actually thought they were ink spots, until someone else in my building got infested with the bugs and I started googling. I then realized the black spots are the bugs' dookie, and I had them. I took the complaint to my management company, and they advised me to wash and immediately pack up all my clothing, sheets, blankets, etc. Also pack up my books. Throw away anything that I couldn't salvage. The management company sent over exterminators, and they turned my apartment upside down looking for bugs even though I had told them they were there and to just go ahead and spray. They told me twice that they would return, and I boarded my two cats both times. They never returned, and the management company took the attitude that they fulfilled their obligation. So I bought extermination stuff online and a friend and I took a Saturday and did the whole apartment. I followed up. I kept the cats in the bathroom until all the fumes were gone. The bugs were gone for more than a year.

Thanks to some of my low-budget neighbors and their penchant for street furniture, and my downstairs neighbor who never thought to get rid of his bugs, I have them again, so I have to repeat my earlier procedures. It is a bother. A HUGE one. But it is not the end of the world. Disgusting, yes. But will it make or break me? No. Are there worse things in life? Yes, by far. Could I move? Yes, but that most likely wouldn't solve anything. The very first thing you need to do is GET A GRIP, get all the information on these pests that you can, and fight them off. It is doable.

I recently got a dry steamer. The bedbug sites say that this might just help, because bed bugs cannot survive the high temperature. Get dry steam so that the upholstery on your furniture won't get wet and grow mold. Theoretically, you can steam the bugs to death even in your floorboards (because they do get in there). Wash whatever you can wash frequently. Put down Drione dust or one of the green alternatives. Use the sprays. And it's very important to encase your pillows and mattress. You can buy these pillow and mattress covers online, usually from the same sites where you can buy the chemicals.