fleas, fleas and more fleas....

purplegirluk1

Thank you, I just wanted to say that I am intending on visiting the vets shortly for her vaccinations but I felt that worming her with this product would be fine for now before she has has a full health check. I simply did not want her to be feeling poorly so I purchased a worming product, as many other cat owners do I am sure, to worm her.

make_life_easier

I want to just make a few comments here, and this is in no way aimed at anybody in particular on either this thread or the site, but is a general observation based on 20+ years experience in veterinary nursing.

All too often people grumble about the cost of a visit to the vets when their pets are sick, and yes, sometimes treatment can be very expensive, but this is all part and parcel of owning an animal and should be considered and budgeted for before even thinking of getting a pet. There are plenty of insurance schemes available these days to cover the cost accidents/illness that can often run into several thousand pounds. If you can't afford to pay for a vet then you really can't afford to have pets in the first place

I get very frustrated when I see people willing to risk their pet's health by delaying proper veterinary treatment and going for the "cheaper" option of supermarket/pet shop remedies (most of which don't work anyway) as it's just a false economy and will cost you more in the long run, whilst the animal suffers in the meantime

I fully agree with you here Curry Queen, if your pet ain't well he should be cared for by the proffesionals no matter what the cost. Although my vet once advised me to use evening primrose capsule to keep his coat in nice condition (he had a skin complaint) and just buy them from the supermarket as they are cheaper there. Since then his skin complaint has dissappeard and my lab enjoys his daily capsule.

I alway's take my dog to the vet if i notice something is wrong with him, it's practically a stone throw away from us so I don't have the excuse not to, the only one protesting is him, anyway I had a look in his ear's (thinkin of becomming a vet myself - he lets me have a look no problem ,he he) and they looked clear to me, but I will have him checked out properly.

wish me luck

Curry_Queen

make_life_easier wrote:

Although my vet once advised me to use evening primrose capsule to keep his coat in nice condition (he had a skin complaint) and just buy them from the supermarket as they are cheaper there. Since then his skin complaint has dissappeard and my lab enjoys his daily capsule.

Yes, there are "alternative" options available in some cases, including human variants of some medications, which often work out much cheaper to buy! For non-prescription, ongoing meds it's always worth asking your vet about alternatives, and also to work out the dosages required for your particular animal, which will obviously differ greatly depending on breed

Contains_Mild_Peril

Cheap flea collars can help prevent infestation, but are fairly useless against existing infestation. When I got Frontline from the vet for my cat, he also sold us a spray can of Indorex for killings fleas, eggs and larvae in carpets etc., which seems to be bettter than the supermarket/pet shop equivalents, and it works out about the same price (it's expensive but it's a bigger can). It doesn't say anything on the can about suitability for asthmatics.
I've never heard of the notion that pet bedding should be destroyed (as mentioned in a previous post) before, and I don't think that's necessary. Machine washing (as hot as the fabric allows) followed by a thorough spraying with environmental flea spray from the vet should be just as effective.
If combing a kitten to get rid of fleas/eggs, remember to put whatever you lie them on (old towel or whatever) in the washing machine immediately. If you put it in the laundry basket, the little blighters will escape. Also remember that thorough vacuuming should pick up quite a few flea eggs, so you should empty your vacuum cleaner/change the bag immediately, and put the debris in an outside bin, ideally sprayed with insecticide.

BWZN93

Hi Guys.

Im hoping someone will read this quite soon as I need help quickly!

My cat has never had fleas and is an indoor cat, she's 1 yr old next week. Some friends of mine came to visit Last Friday for a week, and they are cat owners, but I think they have transmitted the fleas into my house.

Last night, I took a look at the girl because boyf mentioned she had been scratching a lot over the last 2 or 3 days, lo and behold - fleas crawling around her head and she has scratched so much last night she cut her head. Needless to say I am exceptionally annoyed as I get bitten badly by fleas and it was a major reason for keeping her indoors - and i cant stand the thought of having a lovely flat infested with fleas.

I havent been bitten yet, and Ive caught one of the fleas, but have seen 3 on her head so I dont think (?) we have a massive problem yet - but as I am fortunately off on Holiday today i need to get this sorted today.

My questions are:

Whats the best way of attack?

How much (approx) does a vet charge for the defleaing service?

And the best way to kill the blighters that might be in the carpet is?

HELP???

Jo xx

Fran

Jo,

If they're crawling round on her head they will almost certainly be headlice rather than cat fleas. Cat fleas jump and headlice don't, they walk from one head to another on close contact. There is a thread on here somewhere about headlice I'll try to find it.

Headlice

Free headlice advice booklet

argh! headlice!

BWZN93

Thanks for that, but me and boyf havent been scratching so maybe its still our friends bringing something in. To be hinest - ive had a quick look on her body but she isnt really a sit on lap cat and its hard pinning her down, we saw them in the thinner hair by her ears and eyes crawling around. Poor little baby.

Im calling the vet I think!

Jo xx

Fran

Perhaps I'm misunderstanding your first post, when you said "girl" & "boyfried" I was thinking humans but it looks like you meant "girl cat"?!

Glad

you can buy the lotion or spray to deflea her from tesco, no need to go to the vet

Edinburghlass_2

Anyone could of brought flees into the house via their feet so I wouldn't go blaming someone just because they have cats themselves.