<< So having a cat in my house for about a week (he's gone now) has created a catastrophic flea infestation in my shag carpeting. >> ouch! sorry to hear that. i had fleas this summer too -- even though my cats do not go outside!!!! anyway, here is what i have done to kill fleas. killing fleas is a hard task, so bear with me. STEP 1. Eat 1 clove of raw garlic with every meal. You know that myth that vampires are scared of garlic? Well real blood-sucking creatures don't like the taste.... Seriously -- my vet told me to do this! It helped me out, and i even had to put minced garlic in wet food for my cats! now, they like italian food (and no i am not making this up!) STEP 2: Get all living things out of the house for at least 6 hours. You have to bomb. There is no other way. STEP 3: Go to the laundry aisle at the grocery store and buy Borax. I got "Single Mule Team" brand. Borax is some sort of chemical that was used as a laundry detergent back before the invention of perfumed enzymes. it will cause the flea eggs to dehydrate, thus killing them. and you will NEVER get all of the eggs out of the carpet. Napalm might do it. might. btu Borax does a pretty good job, and is not a proscribed weapon under the Geneva Convention. STEP 4: Cover every surface that eggs could be hidden in with a fine dusting of Borax. just take it in your hand and sift it over the surfaces. put it on your bed, the carpet, the couch, cloth covered chairs, any piles of clothing on the floor, etc. i even move furniture to make sure i get it every where! STEP 5: Bomb the house. buy some of those "flea bombs" from the store and follow the directions for the ones you buy. STEP 6: After the bomb is done, you need to let the house air out. They usually say "air for 1 hour" on the box, but i have asthma and so i triple that amount. STEP 7: Vacuum up the Borax off the carpet, etc. STEP 8: Run everything that you can through the washing machine. You will also need to wash most of your dishes, after the bomb. Now you are ready to return to your home. Chances are that even through all of that, you will still see a few fleas. (the little bastards really are nigh unto impossible to kill). when you see them, kill them. do it however you can. some of these will be older fleas. some will be newly hatched eggs. whatever -- just kill them. sprays, more borax, whatever. and keep up the garlic for a month or so. that will discourage them as well.... anyway, i ahve defeated fleas 3 times now, and that's how i did it. good luck! PJK please don't hate me because i can't type..... --- All the cool kids are doing it: HTTP://www.EvilSponge.org