Fleas.

finney.indy.radiology.uiowa.edu (Dawn Finney)
Make a flea trap. This worked extremely well for my husband and I when we were ankle deep in flea bites. Take a large, wide shallow bowl and fill it about half-way with soapy water. Put this on the floor. Suspend a small light bulb about 6-8 inches above the bowl of water. We used a goose-neck lamp and bent it over the bowl of water. Leave for a time (and remove any pets from the room) or do this overnight. In the morning, the water will have drowned fleas in it.

The lightbulb tricks them into thinking (?) it is a warm-blooded body and they jump for it--and consequently drown in the soapy water.

Cunegonde.aol.com
A good way to kill a lot of fleas is to plug a blue nightlight into low wall socket and place a dish of water directly beneath it with a squirt of dishwashing detergent in it. Attracted to the light, they'll hop in and drown.

Also, if you smoke or chew tobacco, fleas won't bite you, but I wouldn't recommend that solution. It's kind of like drinking a litre of vodka every day to combat stress.

barrick.ahcbsd1.ovnet.com
In the house we have found that using a small device you can buy at the local hardware store or make if you are incline. The store bought version is two plastic trays. the first pan or tray is on the bottom and has a yellow sticky contact paper in it. The other tray has a night lite mounted on it and is is suppended 3-4 in. above the first tray with heavy wire (like a coat hanger).

The fleas are attracted to the light and fall on the stick paper and are trapped. We have put one in each of our rooms and have no problems with fleas in the house sence. My brother has made several using pie pans and had good results. We have only used the yellow sticky paper which is two sided.

Herbfred.aol.com (Frederick A. Weber)
Dara, if you can get a hold of the book entitled "The Complete Book of Herbs" (by Lesley Bremness) look at page 195 under STREWING and it lists several herbs you could place sprigs of under carpets or doormats or hang on the porch or patio to help repel fleas. If you prefer, or anyone else, I will list them here on the list for you to view. It is a long one.
Bulb, basil, camomile, costmary, cowslip, daisies, fennel, germander, hops, marjoram, meadowsweet, mint, pennyroyal, pine, rose, rosemary, sage, southernwood, sweet flag, sweet woodruff, tansy, thuja, thyme, sweet violet, winter savory.

Also, the book does say about burning leaves of fleasbane (Pulicharia dysenterica), ploughsman's spikenard (Inulia conyza), mugwort or wormwood on an open fire over low embers to destroy fleas and lice. Encourage the fumes to fill the room, but try to avoid breathing them. I do remember you saying that you are allergic to perfumes and such, so this may not be a very good idea for you, but I thought I would include it for others on the list that may wish to try it.

Hoping for the best with your problem. Please let us know how things work out, and what you did.

samdur.primenet.com
I had a flea problem for awhile with two dogs, infesting the carpeting, bedding, etc. One dog was allergic to everything I tried except Sargent's flea powder. I put it on everything and had great results.

Mary8100.aol.com (Mary Regit)
BIG problem! You are infested with starving fleas. I'm a former cat breeder, so let me offer some advice.

First, get yourself and the cats out of the apartment. It is a health hazard. Not forever, just for a day, until you have the problem under control. Bring the cats to your veterinarian. They must be de-flead. If they are longhaired cats, have them shaved down. Have them checked and treated for tapeworm and ringworm, both are carried by fleas.

When the cats are at the vet's, Bomb. I don't like it, but you need drastic measures. You can purchase bombs that are based on citrus products that are odorless and dissipate quickly. Remember the bomb only kills fleas where it can reach - remove cushions from chairs, take linens off the bed. Then vaccuum your house, Thoroughly, and steam clean all carpets, drapes and upholstery. Dispose of the vaccuum bags. Clean all fabric - bed linens, cat trees, even towels. Do all your laundry. Flea eggs are about this size . so they get in everywhere, and they keep hatching and hatching anc hatching. Sprinkle borax or a commercial dessicant in the carpets, and into cracks at baseboards and tiles to dry up remaining eggs.

When you bring your cats home, crate them in a room without carpeting, and change their litter and bedding twice a day. Immediately wash the bedding and the cats environment in very hot water with a 5% bleach solution. Vacuum daily, steam clean weekly, and keep your cats isolated for at least three months. You can buy a cat "condo" for about $115. Groom the cats daily, bathe in Novalsan weekly, and keep up with an anti-internal and external parasite regimine.

When your apartment is de-flead, and most importantly rid of all the flea eggs, then adding yeast and garlic to the diet is an excellent preventative.

Daniel.Wong.PING.BE (Daniel Wong)
You could bomb every day and it wouldn't help. Following someones suggestion, I put some mothballs in the upright vacuum cleaner bag and vacuumed everyday. It solved the problem immediately. Being afraid of camphor fumes, I think if I had the problem now, I would put diatomacious earth in the bag and let their little exoskeletens dry out. Of course, the pet needs to be flea-combed daily till the problem is under control. I found it helpful to do this sitting near the toilet so when you throw the fleas in there they stick to the water surface and can't jump back out.