Gross! My cats have fleas!!!

So my hubby is in Aruba with my brother-in-law and like 12 other guys for a few days.  My brother-in-law bought a house there with his wife and her brother and sister.  They all chipped in for the place which is awesome!  My husband got to go down there for a bachelor party for 6 days.  So jealous!  Has anyone else noticed that bachelor/bacherlorette parties have turned into weekend-long extravaganzas?  What's with that?  Anyways....

I've noticed that my cats have been scratching a lot lately so I finally checked them today.  Lo and behold, they have fleas.  Great.  Thank goodness my hubby is away because he would probably flip.  I've dealt with them having fleas before and it was not fun.  Before when we lived in the city, I didn't really have to worry about fleas too much.  Now that we are in the 'burbs, my big cat Mickey likes to open the screen door and escape outside to the yard.  This has to be where they got the fleas from!

Here is a picture of the culprit who opened the screen door and the follower who went outside right behind him!

Mickey is the big one and Abby is the little one

This is a picture of my yard that Mickey likes to escape to.  He always runs to that tree all the way in the back for some reason.

That pirate boat was here when we moved in and I have to get rid of it...  it's mosquito city all around it!

So anyway, this morning I went to the pet store and got Advantage to put on the cats.  I realize now that I'm going to have to start doing preventative treatments on them too.    I also ordered these pills on Amazon Flea Killer Capsules and I am giving them a plug because I immediately recieved an email from them when I ordered and it seems like they are a great company.  The Amazon reviews for this product are great too, and I always go by reviews, for everything.  I really do.  It's kindof an obsession...


However, I was also interested in finding out more natural ways to get rid of these buggers.  I read that adding some apple cider vinegar to their water will help get rid of the fleas, so I have done that.  I read that sprinkling salt on the carpet will kill them, so I did that to the little area rug we have.  I read fleas hate peppermint so I bought peppermint oil but didn't use it yet.  I don't think the cats will like me squirting them.  I also sprayed my little area rug with some Basic H because I read somewhere that helps to get rid of the fleas too.

I washed my sheets because they lay in bed with us and closed all the bedroom doors to keep them out.  I vacuumed everything and immediately threw the dirt in a bag and into the outside trash. 

 So now I guess I have to play the waiting game and hopefully these little pests will be murdered sometime soon.  It really freaks me out when they have fleas and I always feel itchy all the time watching them scratch themselves.  

Please contribute any flea remedies you may have.  I would love to hear your ideas!  I want these suckers DEAD AND GONE!  

Have a great day everyone!!!

Nina