Fleas in the house!

lilmissmup

I have been pet sitting for a friends cat and she was riddled with fleas (she should have been pts to be honest as shes incontinent, pretty much blind etc too).

Anyway I have managed to bring fleas back with me . I have two cats and we have treated them with frontline and I am brushing them a few times a day and hoovering like mad but me and my Dad are getting bitten loads still, my Dad worse than me.

I have now finished pet sitting so shouldn't be getting any more from her but is there anything else we can do apart from keep washing and hoovering and maybe buy some flea powder for the house? I cant see any fleas on my cats though they are scratching a bit so they can't be too infested but the house seems to be!

The beds seem to have them most but we have washed the bedding already, thing is cats either sleep on beds or sofas and I feel cruel punishing them for this!

vl2588

Best thing to do is spray the house with Indorex, Staykill or similar (available from the vets). Remove all plants and pets for a good few hours and allow the house to breathe, spray inside hoover bag too and any nooks and crannies. Wash all bedding too, and that should clear them.

The fleas live in the carpets etc. rather than on the pet (they are just meals on wheels) hence the house being infested rather than the pet. Little !!!!!!s!

Good luck!

Kimberley

This is not an attack on you Lilmissmup ok?

I have never had a problem with animal fleas in the house because before I bought my Bengals or before I foster a dog I always ensure/ensured that they were Frontlined before they entered my home so I can't understand how anyone would not want to de-flea their pet and have a flea infested home.

lilmissmup

I wasn't pet sitting the other cat here just fleas must have got on my clothes and come into the house. I should have had my cats treated all ready your right, i have been more vigilant in the past but lapsed.

TBH my cats seem fine, I can't see any fleas on them its just the biting of me and my Dad!

I have just hoovered the living room again dragging out all the furnitue and doing yet another load of washing! Thanks for the tips on the sprays.

I feel really bad for the other cat too, shes not even allowed in the owners house anymore due to her incontinence so not sure why they have kept her alive

Kimberley

lilmissmup wrote: »

I feel really bad for the other cat too, shes not even allowed in the owners house anymore due to her incontinence so not sure why they have kept her alive

Aww poor thing. Once a cat/dog gets to old age then there will be some incontinence. We have to expect that. Would they turf a relative on the streets if they got in that state?

vl2588

Yes that is bloody awful. Have you considered reporting them? The RSPCA can only do anything if the animal looks abused/emaciated though

Owain_Moneysaver

lilmissmup wrote: »

TBH my cats seem fine, I can't see any fleas on them its just the biting of me and my Dad!

Maybe they aren't, erm, cat fleas.

POSSETTE

We thought we had fleas in our house,so we bought a flea catcher from ebay for about £7,(as seen on How clean is your house!)...its a little electric machine that has a light on it and sticky pads...fleas are attracted to the warmth and get stuck..we had it all over our house and only got 2..so we didnt have as many as we thought..no symptoms/bites either afterwards.:j
If you want it i will post it to you.No charge.I am not going to need it anymore now.
PM me if interested.:dance:

~Chameleon~

Kimberley wrote: »

This is not an attack on you Lilmissmup ok?

I have never had a problem with animal fleas in the house because before I bought my Bengals or before I foster a dog I always ensure/ensured that they were Frontlined before they entered my home so I can't understand how anyone would not want to de-flea their pet and have a flea infested home.

It doesn't make any difference whether you're animals are treated or not, fleas will still hitch a ride into your home on either you or your pets. They will only be killed if they feed on your pets, depending on which flea protection products you use of course.

The only way to protect against a household infestation is to treat your house annually with a proper household flea spray such as Acclaim or Indorex. Don't bother with pet shop products, they're useless.

BitterAndTwisted

~Chameleon~ wrote: »

It doesn't make any difference whether you're animals are treated or not, fleas will still hitch a ride into your home on either you or your pets. They will only be killed if they feed on your pets, depending on which flea protection products you use of course.

The only way to protect against a household infestation is to treat your house annually with a proper household flea spray such as Acclaim or Indorex. Don't bother with pet shop products, they're useless.

Quite agree about the fleas hitching a ride home but don't agree that the only reliable household sprays are available solely from the vets. The ingredient to look out for is METHOPRENE which is an Insect Growth Regulator which renders the fleas unable to breed. Many household sprays contain this and one I can think of right away is Johnson's 4 Fleas but none of them will work effectively if they're not used in conjunction with an appropriate treatment on the animal/s at the same time. Do not even think about buying any treatment for the cat from any retailer except ones you buy with a vet's prescription, so any of those Hartz or Bob Martin ones are definitely out because they really are useless and in some cases deadly.

Even after using a household spray you will continue to see adult fleas for a time as there is no effective product available which will kill the fleas in their pupal state and they can lay dormant for up to six months.. It's only once they've emerged that the products will kill them, so it's important to continue to protect the animals long-term.

~Chameleon~

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

Quite agree about the fleas hitching a ride home but don't agree that the only reliable household sprays are available solely from the vets.

The products I mentioned are not solely available from vets. They can be purchased from both online and high street pharmacies.

Acclaim is actually on special offer at the moment for just £8.67 a can from vetuk.co.uk

Even after using a household spray you will continue to see adult fleas for a time as there is no effective product available which will kill the fleas in their pupal state and they can lay dormant for up to six months.. It's only once they've emerged that the products will kill them, so it's important to continue to protect the animals long-term.

This is not true! Vetkem Acclaim will kill fleas in both adult and larval stages and provide protection in the home against any eggs hatching for 12 months. It also kills house dust mites, ants, cockroaches and spiders!!