CAT FLEAS - merged

Gingham_Ribbon

I'll move this to the pets board for you as you should get more suggestions there.

But I should add that I sprayed my house once because I had several dozen bites and couldn't understand it (before I had cats.) Turned out the office I worked in was flea infested. (It was only when the boss started being bitten that anything was done. Awful place!)

Are you sure it's definitely coming from the cat (if she's on frontline regularly that'd be unlikely.)

redcherry_girl

We think it must be the cat because he's been scratching like crazy. I'm not in contact with any animals (or people who have animals for that matter) so I know it's not me. It could be one of my other housemates tho... It's so frustrating at the moment. It's the last in a long line of things which have gone wrong whilst living in this house. I've had problems with vicious mould growing in my room (hence me sleeping at my bfs), dodgy electrics, leaking bathroom, etc and now fleas! I'm just rather glad I'm moving house.

Do you think there is a high chance of me taking the fleas with me?

Like I said before, I'm not taking any furniture with me... just my personal items. The only thing I'm worried about is my clothes but I'll be washing ALL of my clothes before I move. Should I spray the few soft toys that I own?

LuciferTDark

Ah but you can't say you've not been in contact with people who own animals cause we're EVERYWHERE bwahahahahaha

What's so vicious about mould? did it sprout legs & chase you round the room? or run off with your socks during the night?

Back to being serious for a moment, yes treat your toys as well they could easily carry the fleas to your new place.

redcherry_girl

The mould pretty much did everything but. It's horrid. It's really furry green mould which sticks out from the wall. It was nearly all over one wall at one point. It appeared behind my wardrobe... under my window... behind my bedside table. And it ruined a lot of my stuff. White fluffy stuff everywhere. Spread very quickly and is black and green. Yuck.

HopeElizzy

Not sure whether anyone has mentioned it yet but there are 2 types of frontline - Ordinary frontline just does the animal but the new stuff, Frontline Combo, does the environment as well. Also the frontline won't kill the fleas until they bite the animal so it won't stop the cat bringing fleas into the house in the first place...... I'm starting to itch just thinking about it :rolleyes:.......The fleas can live for months and months in a dormant state in the house and things like central heating can wake them up. Lets face it our summer wasn't as warm as our central heating!!

Spray the house, all of it! The carpets, the curtains, the mattresses, wash the bedding on a really hot wash and that should do it.

Some people are just more prone to being bitten than others - sorry, but it sounds like you must be really tasty!!:D

foghorn

We've been in our current house 7 months and we have a funny infestation that I can't quite get to the bottom of. We have 1 cat who was flea-free before we moved. The previous owner had three cats, and, if the cat-pee stains on the landing carpet are indicative of her attitude towards her pets, was likely to have had a massive flea infestation too (it took some time and lots of dettol to convince our cat that she did not have free reign to pee on the smelly stains).

Anyway, the Mrs and the mother in law when she visits are getting bitten quite frequently around the ankles. However my two little sons and I don't seem to get touched, although on occasion I feel a tingle around the ankles and elsewhere that I wonder if it is a flea or my imagination stimulated by a moaning wife.

We've done two rounds of smoke-bombs in the rooms, cleaned all the carpets twice with our Vax, and sprayed hard to reach sections with the canned stuff. We've vacuumed until we've got RSI (with our little boys we have to anyway!) Our cat is Frontlined routinely and wears a fresh flea collar. I comb her periodically and don't get any fleas or faeces off her (had an infestation before at another house so I know what the signs are). She doesn't seem to scratch much to me although the missus who is less of a cat person than me keeps telling me that she's scratching, is complaining again about bites around the ankles and the poor seemingly flea-free cat is getting it in the neck from her.

To me the pieces just don't quite all fit together correctly. I'm wondering if we've got fleas at all, or if we've got some other kind of infestation not related to the cat.

Are there any? Anyone got any ideas? Or am I miaowing up the wrong tree?

sandy2_2

try antihistamine tablets to relieve the itching, or citronella around your ankles
And get the council in, they're very discreet

flipjasck

try making a flea trap
you used to find them in the shops before health and safety banned them
simply take a small box 12 inch square ,cut out the sides so it is open on four sides but leave enough cardboard to keep the box structure intact,you need to attach a bulb(low energy) to the inside of the box at the top (wilko have the wire and bulb holder for a couple of quid) definitely make it secure .place a high sided bowl with water and washing up liquid under the bulb, the liquid should be a couple of inches away from the bulb (very dangerous be careful) .
placed in a dark room this trap will clear a room of adult fleas in a couple of days ,if used occasionally thereafter no more fleas
For added enjoyment place a white sheet of paper under the bowl and you can see the fleas deciding when to jump at the bulb and to there death and feel some payback

roses

Is your ex housemate the same as my ex housemate? It's so selfish when people cause a problem but don't bother to tell others!

I never allowed the cats in my room. They transferred to my room from my furry slippers I think and as the cats where not in my room, they fed off me.

Absolutely nothing got rid of the fleas (my housemate wasted so much money on those RIP Flea spray cans at £15 each). Finally after 6 weeks she called the council in and the day after, all my bites stopped.

patgc

Sorry this is such a long post, but please do read it.
I have three cats and one of them has developed a flea allergy.. I treat all 3 everymonth with Frontline, the house is done with RIP, their bedding washed regularly.So I know we are a flea free zone., But this cat spends a lot of time wandering and spends a long time down at the local primary school where he is well known to the children and teachers. They have rabbits, guinee pigs and chickens and he spends hours sitting watching them. He also meets up with a couple of 'mates' down there. We can see all this as its a direct line from our house, down the garden and through and across the school field. He has been to the vets 3 times now and and the only treatment they can offer is anti-inflamatory/steroid jabs. There must be fleas down there that jump on him and bite him then die, but its the bite that causes the reaction. As we have no control over the environment down at the school field, we are at a loss as to how to help him. He has had another jab today in the hope of stopping the itch/scratch cycle, but this month his fur loss was worse than ever. Is there anything at all that I could safely use that would repel the fleas so that they dont jump on him ?. I have been told garlic capsules but others say that garlic is poisonous to cats. What about Tea Tree oil, that repels nits on children, would it be safe and would it work on cats.
Any help would be really appreciated both by me ( the vet bills are extortionate) and by my poor half bald cat.