cat flea removal

misfire

...hate to say i broke all my principles yesterday and used chemicals as for the first time since he was a kitten my cat has fleas (he had a herbal collar on and regularly combed so dont know what went wrong!)

I dont want to use the chemicals again (says you have to do it again in a few days)

Are there any green alternatives i can use?

I have already washed all soft furnishings - and hoovered everything. I did use spray on the cat too (i am NEVER doing that again he hated it) and have been brushing him out reglualry and have given him a blanket in the 3rd bedroom which i have been washing daily (only noticed he had them sat night).

Any help appreciated - caus not only was it crap for the environment it was for my wallet too £18 spent so far!

BargainHunterCat

This is a tough one...I didn't find herbal cat collars had much effect.
Apparently fleas don't like horses so you could try putting an old horse blanket in the cat's bed - I don't know if that works.
What I did with my moggy was [STRIKE]pin him down[/STRIKE] er, sit him on my lap and look through his fur for fleas every day. When you find one grab it quick between your nails and stick it ina bowl of soapy water which will kill it. Also remove any flea eggs from carpets by hoovering regularly.
You could also bathe the cat if he will put up with it, if not you willl need to find some very thick leather gauntlets, a full set of bike leathers and have a team of royal marines handy to help you...:D

BargainHunterCat

Just found these bits of info for you too:

Aromatherapy - Take an old steel brush and cover it with a piece of flannel, ensuring you pull it down over the brushes teeth. Prepare a bowl of warm water and mix in 4 drops of Cedarwood or Pine oil and soak the prepared brush in it before hand. This treatment will disenfect the Cat,condition the coat and collect the parasites and eggs in the brush. Brush the mixture through your cats coat several times rinsing the brush out in the soloution regularly. Another way of dispersing the oil is to put 4 drops of either oil neat on a brush and brush through your cats coat thourghly.

Flea collars: Buy a soft material collar and soak it in the following mixture; half a teasppon of alcohol, 1 drop of Cedarwood, 1 drop of Thyme, 1 drop of Citronella, 1 drop of Lavender, Mix with 4 garlic capsules(break them open and add contents of capsules to the mixture. Soak the flea collar in the mixture and leave to dry befoore putting it around your cats neck. This collar should be effective for up to one month. Blood is the fleas only form of food, but when garlic is detected in it they will leave well alone. Add one or two garlic capsules to your pets food in spring and summer, depending on it's size.

I hope this helps

black-saturn

Theres an injection you can get from a vet which costs about £30. Not cheap but gets rid of them straight away and it lasts for a year and you might spend that on other treatments in the long run.

FrugalFairy

Hi

The vet gives my 2 cats the Program injection every 6 months. I started doing this when one of my cats became allergic to flea bites and her fur started falling out.

Program is very effective, and it means that I no longer had to use any powders or sprays etc. Also, I didn't like using the sprays that you can get for the home as they are organophosphates. Not nice with a small child crawling round.

The drawback is that it costs £35 per cat - not particularly cheap!

bigpaws23

You need to treat cat fleas like headlice on children - comb them through daily, killing fleas as you find them (I dunk the comb in a bowl of boiling water) and I use cedarwood essential oil - a drop in a small bowl of blood-heat water, wet cotton wool balls in it and rub through your cat paying attention to the neck and where the tail meets their back. I use the cedarwood about every 3 days until the infection has cleared.

Then get some garlic into their food - the easiest way is with a roast chicken or something like tinned salmon. Expensive, but at least they'll eat it!

I haven't had a problem with fleas now for years, but you do have to adopt a 'prevention is better than cure' idea with most alternative remedies. Say, garlic once a week, combing through a couple of times a week and a cedar rinse once a week once the infestation has gone to prevent it happening again.

HTH
Bigpaws x

bigpaws23

You need to treat cat fleas like headlice on children - comb them through daily, killing fleas as you find them (I dunk the comb in a bowl of boiling water) and I use cedarwood essential oil - a drop in a small bowl of blood-heat water, wet cotton wool balls in it and rub through your cat paying attention to the neck and where the tail meets their back. I use the cedarwood about every 3 days until the infection has cleared.

Then get some garlic into their food - the easiest way is with a roast chicken or something like tinned salmon. Expensive, but at least they'll eat it!

I haven't had a problem with fleas now for years, but you do have to adopt a 'prevention is better than cure' idea with most alternative remedies. Say, garlic once a week, combing through a couple of times a week and a cedar rinse once a week once the infestation has gone to prevent it happening again.

PLEASE don't use essential oils neat on your cat - they can be toxic to such a tiny body / liver and can burn the skin. As cats clean themselves with their tongues they will get really distressed if you have neat oil on them - put a neat drop of pine on your tongue and test it

HTH
Bigpaws x

gromituk

Thanks bigpaws (if you're still around!) - I've been combing fleas out of my cat for a few days now and have just given him a cedar rinse as per your instructions, which he actually seemed to enjoy!

bigpaws23

glad it's working out for you and your feline friend enjoyed it
Did it turn out to be effective?

gromituk

Will have to try him with another - we're still combing the little monsters out of him.

arkonite_babe

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