CAT FLEAS - merged

In my humble opinion, there is nothing that will get rid of fleas except an insecticide sprayed in your house. I have tried many old style remedies and none of them really worked, so I feel it is a waste of time and money, not to mention being bitten to bits. The vet's sprays are the best but I think you can buy them online. I used one called Virbec or summat like that.

This is the first summer we have not had fleas in the house, probably cos we no longer have a cat. Lord I hate them critters.

There's no point buying off the shelf stuff, it doesn't work, and the old style remedies are only helpful for prevention, if he already has fleas you need to get him proper treatment quickly before you get an infestation.

The good news is that frontline, etc are no longer prescription only, you should be able to walk into a vet and buy it without an appointment. Phone around your local vets first and get prices, as they can vary a lot.

Normally the spot on is easier to use, but the sprays are faster acting. Some sprays can be used on bedding etc as well, so you might get double use out of it.

IMHO, I recommend frontline, it works.
Who did the garlic taste test on fleas?:rotfl:

Lisa, you really have my deepest empathy.

I'm really allergic to fleabites and when our almost-always-indoors cat got fleas, I spent the best part of the week like a paranoid wreck- sleep deprived because I could feel myself being bitten at night!!

(In fact, I felt like a lepper too- it's a social horror revealing you live in a flea infested house- I took a week off work, as I was so sleep deprived and embarassed about bites being on my arms -I'm a nurse, so what with the uniform, they're on show- and used the time off to take frequent trips to the Laundrette to wash EVERYTHING...)

You need to get hold of a household flea spray to use along side hoovering each day, until the problem clears. Use one with an incect grown inhibitor, which will stop dormant flea eggs from developing into the adult flea. I've googled to find an image of the one I used: http://www.hyperdrug.com/products.asp?dept=195
which I bought from the vets originally at £15, but then found cheaper in our local boots (which is a large store- it was near the sensitive washing up liquids etc.) and got myself advantage card points!

It's more expensive than the pet shop stuff, but I'd definitely recommend veterinary strength/recommended brands for the peace of mind.

All the best in your mission of eradication!x

piptiddlepip wrote:

Apparently you can also get Frontline cheaper on the internet. Don't put a flea collar on him - they are VERY bad for cats and can apparently cause some forms of cancer.

Once the critters are out of your flat, one good way of making sure he doesn't pick them up again, in true MSE style, is to put a little bit of minced garlic in his food. An ex of mine used to buy Schwartz dried garlic but it's cheaper to put a bit throught the garlic crushers and mix it in well. Not a huge amount or he won't eat it.

Fleas loathe the taste of garlic in the blood and won't hang around your cat for very long!

Garlic is lethal to cats, so I wouldn't advise this at all.

Stick with Frontline or Drontal not from the shops, get a prescription from your vet, they are obliged to give you one from free, and then get the stronger stuff online from a place like vetuk.co.uk, and also get a can of something like Acclaim house spray.

Comb out the cat with a flea comb and then apply the spot on. Vacuum your entire house and then apply the house spray as per the instructions. The spot on will take care of the cat and the spray will kill any fleas (not to mention spiders) and inhibit any eggs they may have laid for an entire year.