Flea control is a challenge with cats for many reasons, not the least of which is ingestion concerns. From what we've seen on the list these last eleven or so years, cat livers are ill-equipped to handle the chemicals in flea products such as bombs, foggers, sprays, collars, shampoos, and powders containing insecticides, oils, and other noxious substances.

While I'd love to say raw-fed cats are impervious to fleas, sadly I have not seen any evidence that this is the case. So much of it depends on where one lives as both temperature and humidity come into play. While climate can't be controlled, by taking a multi-pronged approach - exterior and interior of the house as well as topical applications - one can keep house and cats flea-free.

One has to attack fleas on all fronts and through at least 2 entire life cycles (each lasts 3-4 weeks).

Exterior of the house:

Treat outdoor areas with beneficial nematodes. They're little bugs that chow down on Japanese bettles, and grubs, but also work on fleas. I get mine from Gardens Alive (online or catalog only, no B&M stores). Depending on the size of your yard, nematodes can be a bit expensive. In such cases, one can use them in a vegetable garden area and elsewhere apply diatomaceous earth (DE) garden-grade, not pool-grade, as well as Boric Acid (BA). Typically DE and BA both need to be repeated after rain.

Cats:

Shampoo:

Bathe cats with a gentle castile soap (liquid) such as Dr. Bronner's, or Black Soap (Fair Trade) from Togo or Ghana.

Topical applications:

• Brew a strong concentrated tea using herbs like rosemary, neem, and lavender. Can also cook a lemon half in water for 20 mins, strain and add to the tea mix. Apply on kitty and leave on. If your cat gets too enthusiastic grooming him/herself following application, help things along by wiping with a microfiber cloth or hand towel (dipped in warm water then wrung) to remove some of the herbal liquid.
• 1/4-1/3 cup comprised of a mix of:
  • 1 part lavender or rose geranium (also works on ticks) hydrolat
  • 1 part lemon verbena hydrolat (can substitute with rosemary or citronella hydrosol/hydrolat)
  • 2 parts water

Dab on and do as with the tea application above.

House:

This is where it gets even trickier. All these are only somewhat effective if done in isolation but together, they are gentle yet effective.

• Get a commercial flea trap, or make your own by adding a few drops of dishwashing liquid to water in a pie plate or very shallow bowl. Place under a small lamp or light source. In the morning, you'll see dead fleas in there. Dump the contents and start over. Kitties don't usually bother with these traps but as always if yours are different, you'll have to be creative as to where to place these traps.
• Make sachets at home containing dried eucalyptus leaf, cedar pieces (not shavings), pennyroyal, and lavender. Or place 1 teaspoon of this mix in any cloth square and tie using a rubber band or ribbon. Place these in corners, tucked into furniture, and other areas around the house in places where your cats won't be messing with them. Mine don't, and they're quite mischievous as a general thing but YMMV. You can always add some dried citrus rind/peel in the sachet/handkerchief to ensure kitties don't go near it.
• Place salt in small plates/saucers in as many rooms as possible. Remove and replace periodically.
• Place cedar blocks in various area. If you use small cedar balls used to repel moths, they can become cat toys so blocks are safer. As long as the cedar isn't in shavings form the aromatic oils won't bother cats, so placing a cedar block under their bedding or in areas they hang out shouldn't harm them.
• Put some of these dried herbs in the vacuum bag to kill fleas that get sucked up during the vacuuming process. Later, remember to dispose of the bag promptly, or if you have a filter-less vacuum, empty the contents outside and wipe down the vacuum prior to bringing it back into the house.
• * Vacuuming kills fleas. Researchers at Ohio State University found that vacuuming kills not just adult fleas, but also pupae and larvae:
  http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/12/071217111010.htm
  The main takeaway for me was that while vacuuming 2-3x a week might work as prevention, it is daily vacuuming through the entire flea life cycle that is critical.