Fed up with Fleas.......

mummy962

Hi guys

Im new to this website but could really use some advise please.

Over the last few months my 2 cats have been suffering with fleas, I finally thought had sorted it, A couple of weeks ago I gave them flea tablets ( Johnsons 4 fleas) got new flea collars and put on the same day, shut them out of the house for the day and sprayed the whole house with indorex spray , I used nearly 2 bottles as wanted to be sure had sprayed everywhere.

Have not seen any fleas for 2 weeks Great :-) until this evening have just had a brown flea jump on me - big !!!!!! too!

So fed up with this , feel the house is dirty and worried as I have 2 children including a 4 month old so very worried about bites etc

I thought Indorex was fantastic so why are they back?

Any advise on how to get rid would be great, Thanks everyone

juliethemuse

Indorex is very good. its the best one i've found. but i too still get the occasional one. i think whatever you do you wont eradicate them completely. i just try and keep on top of the situation as best i can.
have you washed all bedding. cat bedding. cushon covers and settee covers on 90 , hottest wash possible.?
i have tried flea bombs, tablets, collars spray, drops everything!! and they will always return, i hate fleas so much. i keep trying different products too.

BECKIN1507

I think your problem may be the flea tablets and flea collar. I was told by a vet that flea collars are useless, they'll only kill fleas on the front half of the animal and the flea tablets only kill fleas that are already on the animal and offer no long term protection. I use indorex once a year and frontline on the cats and dogs every 6weeks. Not had a problem with fleas for years. I have a very allergic rottie, and one flea on him and I know about it. I have 4cats and 3dogs by the way, the dogs mix with other dogs and they have had fleas but mine remained clear.

katiefinger

I used Indorex once last summer and haven't really had an issue with fleas since. I haven't even had to use Frontline on the cat/s. However, since spraying the Indorex I have seen a few fleas; but only three. Nothing like the hundreds we had before Indorex, and I was at the end of my tether when I bought it!



(I feel like an advert, but I'm not! I just think that it will be impossible to eradicate them all without professional help so as long as you don't have a sudden plague of the little beasts the Indorex must be doing its job!)

paddypaws101

There is one stage of the flea...pupae or larvae, can't remember which, that the Indorex cant kill. So, you will still get a small number of fleas developing into adults which should then be killed when they bite the cat as long as it has been dosed with a spot on treatment ( Advantage or Advocate are best )
Interestingly Skoosh is non-insecticidal being silicone based, and is the only spray to kill ALL stages of the flea.

penny_pincha

Most of the flees (95%) in your house will be in the house (mainly the soft furnishings, carpets, rugs, cushions, upholstery, dust under cupboards and kitchen appliances etc) a small percentage will be on your cat/s.

Flees feed on the cat (biting and sucking blood) but breed elsewhere. (see above) You are doing the right thing in trying top get rid of them in both places. (on your cat and in the house)

For the cat/s I have been using Frontline for years (16 years) and have never seen a flee since but once upon a time we had a flee problem as we moved into a house where an old lady had kept a cat and not de-fleed it. It was so bad that we had to get the environmental health people in (from the council) who sprayed the whole house and then treating the cats we had kept them at bay. I seem to remember it was free at the time but I don't know about that now.

There are products you can buy yourself which treat the house eg Acclaim but if the flees are extensive you may prefer to call in the professionals.

~Chameleon~

Ditch the flea collars and pet shop/supermarket tablets and use a proper flea product such as Frontline, Advantage or Advocate.

The Indorex is excellent and will be doing it's job perfectly but as paddypaws101 said, almost all products are ineffective against the pupal stage of the flea's life cycle. It's this stage which lies dormant for many months and can suddenly create a "flea infestation" when temperatures rise in Spring & Autumn (central heating) hence why you should minimally treat your pets in April/October.

dawnie1972

I agree that its the flea tablets/collar which arent giving your cats any protection - all flea collars do is take the fleas away from the neck area they dont actually kill them, and any shop brought flea product isnt going to work. Frontline, Advantage, Advocate are the ones you need - two of which can be bought online very cheaply - i've just had to get some advantage for my cat as she's getting rabbit fleas (from the wild rabbits around our farm) and it was £9.49 for 4 pipettes (this was for large cats). Also try combing your cat with a flea comb - if you have a bowl of water nearby and if you see any fleas on the comb just remove them into the bowl of water and they will drown

Mallotum_X

We use Advocate and it really works well. Havent tried Advantage or Frontline before.

dawnie1972

My vet gave me advocate for my dog (part of the pet paws plan i pay for) but am using advantage as its the only one that kills rabbit fleas which is what my cat appears to be bringing in

Nancy_P

I can definitely vouch for Advantage, Frontline, and Indorex like most of the posters here.

Another thing to watch out for if you find fleas on your cat is worms, fleas carry the tapeworm virus so your cat could be at risk if you haven't treated the cat with something like Drontal.