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[johnny_cat]

I just saw a flea in my bed. I'm assuming that my cat brought it in. The infestation seems to be at an early stage. I'm planning on using the vacuum with a methaphrene spray to treat the inside of my house, but I'm not sure what I can do for the outside portion of the house. I want to make my blood and the blood of my pets poisonous to those little shits. As long as they stay off me and the animals that my family keeps putting in my bed, I'm cool with it. So what kind of stuff can I use for me, my cat, and my 20 pound dog?

[Zasir]

There are species specific oral anti-flea and tick medicines.  The main brand name is Frontline.  Nothing is available for humans, however, but cat fleas can't reproduce feeding on only humans.

[Lord Shonus]

Before intituting massive chemical warfare, which could have deletrious effects on the health of you and your pets, consider some simpler alternatives. Immersing the cat in water for fifteen to twenty minutes (except the head, obviously, put a flea collar on it to act as a barrier) will go a long way toward eliminating body fleas. Simple vacuuming will eliminate most in the house.

[Zasir]

Frontline properly applied won't cause any health issues with your pets and will ultimately eliminate all adult fleas.  Washing and drying your pets' bedding and cleaning around it with bleach will help get rid of larvae, too.  Fleas can survive several hours of immersion in water without ill effect though I suppose some might mechanically wash off with the bath water.

Frontline functions as a juvenile hormone analogue disrupting the parasites' development, so shouldn't have any negative effect on your vertebrate pets.  Just be sure not to use the same formulation for different species of animals.  You'd need to buy seperate products for dogs and for cats.

Zasir (entomologist)

[Sowelu]

Another vote for Frontline.  I used to buy it for my roommates' cats and believe me, if there was something cheaper that worked, I would have gone with that instead.

[Lord Shonus]

I've had little to no sucess with it or the drops. It really depends on the environment.

[Duke 2.0]

 Go to a vet to buy them. The stuff that stores give you that isn't some cheap 10$ thing can cost like 80$. Vets apparently get a discount or something, because it cost us like 20$ at the vet. Just check around for prices.

[Grakelin]

Make sure it's a flea and not a bed bug, too. Bed bugs have been a growing epidemic lately. I had them in my house, but they fortunately did not make it to my room, and we snuffed them out relatively quickly (they came home with somebody after a trip to Atlanta).

Thoroughly check your bed. Bed bugs won't just be crawling around up top. They hide in between the mattress, coming out every 3-6 weeks to feed on your blood. The marks will come in clusters of three (breakfast, lunch, and dinner).