cat fleas :-(

Charlie23

hi i'm looking for some advice please!
we have a cat and normally we frontline her regulary but she stopped going out so we got a bit lax (completely our fault) she now has fleas and has had them for a couple of weeks (we weren't sure, couldn't see any) but we serm to have an investation at the moment. (i feel very disgusting writing this)
i was hoping you'd be able to advise me on what treatment is best for the cat and our house. we've never had fleas since we've had her (7years) so i'm a bit lost.
my other worry is that we have 2 young children with lits of cuddly toys, will the fleas move onto these? do fleas live on clothes?
sorry if this sounds stupid but i'm very bitten and feeling like a bad mummy and bad cat owner.
thanks for your help

stir_crazy

You can buy sprays for the house and toys, etc (I would spray the toys and then wash them so that they are sterile again), but bear in mind that when you spray a room you need to keep your cat and children out of it. You do get frontline spray as a treatment for cats, but I'm not too sure whether you would need to get it from a vet or if it would be sold in a pet store.
This looks quite helpful.

Wantahouse_2

When my cat and house got infested I popped into the Vet and they gave me frontline spot on for the cat and a can of spray for the house - I sprayed the entire house, all nooks and crannys, and hoovered every day for the next week or two, and we haven't seen a single flea since (and that was 2+ years ago) - just keep up the frontline every month.

hethmar

About 10 years back in a very hot summer Idecided to take up all our loose persian carpets and paint a couple of rooms downstairs. Well, infestation or what? They must have been snuggled into the cracks in the floor boards and the heat and removing the carpets sent them into overdrive.

Luckily my OH was away with our kids on hols at the time, but it was awful, they were everywhere - in my bed! in the bathroom! I nearly killed myself spraying flea spray in the beds and on every bit of carpet and curtain.

The vet gave me frontline for my dogs (although they were cat fleas) and I washed all their bedding on a high temp and cleaned all their baskets and rugs.

I got this spray thing (several cans of it) that as I said, virtually killed me, and also some cans of powder that I had to put on all the carpets and floors and then hoover up after it did its job.

I know what you mean though, I felt disgusted in myself and the house and thank goodness they had all gone by time OH and kids returned.
Contact your vet for advice.
PS, Im guessing you have had your heating on the last couple of weeks which has caused them to multiply.

Roz_V

Our cat brought some friends home earlier this year

We washed all fabrics that we could wash (bed linen, towels, dressing gowns, cushion covers...), sent the duvet to the dry cleaners and hoovered and sprayed Indorex everywhere (pulled all furniture out etc.... Repeated the hoovering and Indorex after a week or two and all has been well since (touch wood)

Fire_Fox

It's worth running an advanced search, there have been many threads on fleas in the last couple of months, many from Frontline users. Don't forget to worm the cat, fleas carry some types of worm egg.

Far more fleas live in your home than on the pet so you will need to treat the entire house with a product like Acclaim or Indorex - that means under, behind and round all furniture, all types of flooring, inside the sofa and your car. There may be eggs on clothing, bedding, cushions and soft toys, hot wash what you can and vacuum then freeze the remainder for a few days. Even if you miss a few eggs if they hatch they will just be killed by whatever you treat your home or cat with.

Another option is to have a professional in to exterminate - some councils offer this service cheaper than the private companies. Most will give you a guarantee so will retreat for free if unsuccessful the first time. This can be represent value for money: I once moved into a badly infested house and had it treated three times before we were clear! :eek:

Charlie23

thanks everyone for your advice. got some b*b martins powder so going to pull everything out and get the powdercdone. cat has got frontline on again so hopefully we can clear it. a washing weekend for us! just feel really dirty!

Fire_Fox

Charlie23 wrote: »

thanks everyone for your advice. got some b*b martins powder so going to pull everything out and get the powdercdone. cat has got frontline on again so hopefully we can clear it. a washing weekend for us! just feel really dirty!

Use a decent veterinary spray like Acclaim or Indorex, BM is generally considered to be rubbish.

cavework

Don't vacume for at least a day, preferably 2 after treating your home. Also you are not dirty it's something all pet owners have to deal with at one time or another.
Years ago my OH decided to remove a flea collar from our cat the day we left for a 2 week holiday as he 'looked' uncomfortable ...:mad:
cat minder who popped in to feed him didn't notice fleas but we flippin did when we returned! :eek:

HappyTorty

Frontline spray (or equivalent from your vet) is definitely the best! BM is only allowed to be a certain strength as it is sold in pet stores. (A bit like only being able to get strong ibuprofen from chemist or doctor). The Frontline goes a long way too. I recommend doing it again after a week or so, just to make sure.

scaredy_cat

frontline is less effective on fleas, and Bob Martin stuff it worse, i'm afraid.

you need to get something like Stronghold or Advocet from your vet for the cats.