Grrr fleas!! please help!

rjc73

Hi all.
Just a quick question...I am having a slight nightmare with fleas! Both my cats have been outside for around 7 months now and have both brought fleas home. I tried frontline 3 months ago and it made no difference so my vet recommended I tried stronghold. I applied this 24 hours ago and have just combed one of my girls to find lots of little live fleas but also several big dead ones.
My question is, how long does the stronghold take to kill all the fleas??
Also, I am about to douse the flat in indorex also...looking for any good or bad experience of this product too.

Ooh, also does anyone know if steam kills fleas or not ? I have been alternating steaming and hoovering!
Thanks in advance

rjc73

Just a bump...now 40 hours later and have just combed one of the girls and LOADS of big live horrors coming out! Is this usual with stronghold. I was so careful to get it on their skin, I shaved a bit of fur off (they are both semi long haired) so I am sure it all went on the actual skin!!
Does anyone have any advice or give an eta of flea death???

mistyscottie

Hi, get a product produced by Westgate Gold Label called 'Get Rid' this is totally organic and not harmful if ingested by the animal. It's in powder form and can be sprinkled around the house. I use a large make-up brush (the sort you would use for foundation) to dab the powder on my dogs coat. The powder penetrates the outer layer of the insets and causes them to wither and die. You should be able to pick this up at any farm or horse suppliers and I am sure you will find it on the internet it costs around £5 for a 350g tin. I use this on my dogs and the fleas are dead within hours

Norman_Castle

Ooh, also does anyone know if steam kills fleas or not ? I have been alternating steaming and hoovering!

As fleas can jump 400 flea miles its unlikely you will catch them with the hoover. Steaming your cats is just cruel. Treat the cats and carpet. They live in the carpet jumping onto you and your cats to feed. They should be gone in a week or so. They may reapear in the next few months, if so treat again.

rjc73

Norman_Castle wrote: »

As fleas can jump 400 flea miles its unlikely you will catch them with the hoover. Steaming your cats is just cruel. Treat the cats and carpet.

Lol! Sorry, I didn't make that very clear did I! I hoover the carpets and then steam clean the carpets!!

I have read conflicting opinions regarding the steaming of carpets and whether this kills fleas or not!

Anyone have any idea about the length of time stronghold should take??? It doesn't say in the instructions.
Thanks.x

HappyMJ

Steam can kill adult fleas but the steam isn't strong enough to kill everything. You will need to treat twice two weeks apart and you will see fleas between treatments. It takes patience but you will win in the end.

Pechow

It says on this site that it should take about 40-48 hours for it to take affect

http://www.fleatreatment.net/stronghold_flea_treatment.html

For external parasites such as fleas, ticks and ear mites, Stronghold works by entering the sebaceous glands in the skin. After 40-48 hours, Selamectin spreads and covers the entire external skin of your cat or dog.

rjc73

Fab. Thanks for the info pechow and Happymj.
Will brush them again tomorrow and if any live ones come up, I think I'll go back to the vet. Really thought the prescription stuff would work well:(

~Chameleon~

rjc73 wrote: »

Fab. Thanks for the info pechow and Happymj.
Will brush them again tomorrow and if any live ones come up, I think I'll go back to the vet. Really thought the prescription stuff would work well:(

The fleas you are finding on your cats are from the environment i.e. your carpets & soft furnishings. They don't actually live on the animal. Once they have bitten your cat they will however die because of the Stronghold treatment.

You mentioned treating your house with Indorex, have you done this yet? This will give you approx 12mth protection against fleas & their larvae living & hatching out in your carpets. If you haven't then this is why you're still seeing fleas on your cats.

[Deleted User]

diatomaceous earth will do it

mouseymousey99

I'm using 'Stronghold' too. I've found it the only thing that works. One of my cats has a flea allergy and it has been v difficult getting rid of all the fleas.
It works in a different way to the standard flea treatments. I did get it explained to me (but I can't remember the details).
I think its 3 weeks before you hit the flea life cycle, then of course you need to keep treating every month.