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AIBU?

Unreasonably obsessed by flea problem?

189 replies

Fleabee · 28/07/2012 12:36

Am I losing the plot?

I have 3 kids, 5yrs, 2yrs and 10 months. As you can imagine they need a lot of attention.

I have 2 cats who are regularly front lined but every single year they infest the house with fleas. This year is worse than ever. The 2 year old's legs are in a really dreadful state. The 5 year old is marginally better, and the baby has bites on her back and a big one on her face this morning. Sob. The fleas are in every room.

I am hoovering the entire house daily if I can, and not just a quick hoover. Pulling out all the bloody furniture and going in every nook and cranny. This is killing me, and of course the kids are very bored in the time I am doing it. I am also spraying flea spray when I can but limit this to when house will be empty etc as hate the thought of the chemicals and the kids playing on the floor where the spray is.

I also have mastitis and yesterday spent the day feeling shit and hoovering in tropical temperatures.

And then at bedtime I saw about 5 fleas.

WWYD?

Am I blowing this out of proportion? Should I just calm it down as it doesn't seem to be working anyway. Is it as big a deal as I feel it is?

Or any tips on getting rid of them?

Any advice appreciated.

OP posts:
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DozyDuck · 28/07/2012 12:38

If its a proper infestation take the cats to the vets and get a different flee treatment and get your house properly treated by professionals. If its got that bad its the only way

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gordyslovesheep · 28/07/2012 12:39

you need to treat the HOUSE not the cats - talk to your vet

Fleas can live in carpets and beds

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fortyeighthourdancemarathon · 28/07/2012 12:40

Frontline doesn't work anymore ime. You need advocate on prescription from the vet, and staykill to spray in the house. Miraculous!

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DozyDuck · 28/07/2012 12:43

And try a good insect repellent on socks and ankles for the time being

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DozyDuck · 28/07/2012 12:45

Mop and Hoover regularly to disturb them and spray after you have mopped and hoovered. Throw away any pet bedding and cover the areas where the cats sleep.

But it sounds like it is your house that's infected so in that case you need to either go to pets at home or your vets and ask them. But it's probably better to get someone to do it professionally.

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GingerWrath · 28/07/2012 12:49

Rentokill and Advocate.

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Fleabee · 28/07/2012 12:58

Thanks very much everyone! Does insect repellant really work to stop legs being bitten in the meantime DozyDuck?

Any idea how much Rentokill charge to get rid of fleas, and if you have to vacate house overnight or anything GingerWrath?

I was wondering if Frontline has just become ineffective fortyeighthourdancemarathon and I'll order some staykill next!

Gordy I'm trying so hard to treat the house but the buggers wont die! I'm just wondering if it's futile doing all this bloody hoovering every day as it seems to make no difference. I'll never get them all and they lay their eggs everywhere etc. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

OP posts:
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DozyDuck · 28/07/2012 13:00

It says so I've never tried it though

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GingerWrath · 28/07/2012 13:01

I think we paid £150 when all of the sudden the fleas became interested in us after our dog died, you just have to go out for the day and they do a second treatment 2 weeks later to make sure they get all the little blighters!

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DozyDuck · 28/07/2012 13:01
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Fleabee · 28/07/2012 13:04

Thanks very much!

OP posts:
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OhDoAdmitMrsDeVere · 28/07/2012 13:09

Advocate works.
I don't know how Bob Martin can hold his head up, selling so-called flea treatment.
You poor thing.
I don't react to flea bites but oh and ds4 do.
Get some advocate and rentokill. Then make sure you treat the cats on.the.dot.
Don't be a moment late.
For years we only ever had a problem with fleas if we had cats bringing them in. A quick spray and they would be gone.
Now it's a full scale military operation.
My dog goes insane if he gets a flea and sets up a wailing and a howling like you have never heard.
So I can't forget to treat the animals. He is like a furry, yappy, alarm Grin

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mammadothebump · 28/07/2012 13:10

Have been there OP and I sympathise hugely and know how upsetting and exhausting it is trying to keep on top of the problem. If there are fleas in your house frontlining the cat will not work. You can hoover till you fall over but the eggs will hatch again and your back to square one.

Straw that broke the camels back for me was returning from a lovely holiday having hoovered and de-flead the house before we left (the cat was out the house too) and within 5 minutes of return there were 5 fleas on my baby dd's head. We called rentokil then and there. Its not convenient as you have to leave the house for the day and its 2 separate treatments but to no longer live with that stress its priceless. 2 years on, still flea free thank god!

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2kidsintow · 28/07/2012 14:39

You are not over-reacting. I lost sleep last night because I just was imagining I was crawling with them. Our lovely cat has brought fleas in before, but we've never had the problem to the same extent as we have now. My eldest DD isn't bothered in the slightest. My youngest DD is COVERED in bites. I've sprayed and sprayed. I've hoovered and cleaned. I've vacuumed soft toys. I've washed laundry til it is coming out of my ears.
Then last night I lifted my DDs duvet and there were 3 under there. And while I was sat when my DD was having a bath, I was just squashing and drowning flea after flea as the emerged from wherever they were coming from.

One thing that is quite satisfying is to put a tub of water out next to the beds. The fleas hop in and drown and you can keep an eye on how bad the provlem is. It isn't a solution though.

On here the other day someone recommended a spray called Indorex that had really good reviews on amazon along the lines of 'we've tried everything else, then tried this AND IT WORKS' and I think I believe them.

I've sprayed the whole house with the noxious stuff and left it. Just up in the bathroom and there are further fleas that have since hatched BUT they aren't all hoppy and lively like normal. They are floundering and seriously in trouble. So I'm hoping that by tomorrow we will be a flea free zone.

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MelodyPondering · 28/07/2012 15:09

Oh I feel your pain! We too have fleas for the first time and I am obsessed with it.

I've lost count of the amount of times I have broken down and sobbed my heart out in the last two weeks Sad

We have sprayed 3 can of indorex and one of acclaim. Cat has had one lot of stronghold and then advocate a week later (on vets advice....) and still we have some.

Indorex is supposed to kill them for 2 months and protect from infestation for a year, but I'm at the end of my tether.

Final straw? I have one can left and tried it this morning, its fucking broken. Bought it from amazon so god know if u will get my money back. I needed that spare can just to stay sane....

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MelodyPondering · 28/07/2012 15:11

What spray have you been using op?

Also agree with homemade flea traps, I filled a plastic box lid with warm soapy water, one under each bed. Die you little Bastards!

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controlpantsandgladrags · 28/07/2012 15:22

We've got them at the moment too, despite frontlineing the cat religiously. 4yo dd is covered in bites.

We've treated absolutely everything this morning and washed everything that's not nailed down. If it doesnt work we'll have to call rentokil...although won't be able to afford that for at least another month :-(

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melonandpapayaandmango · 28/07/2012 15:28

Oh thank goodness it isn't just me. We're absolutely infested with them and I've tried so hard. I have broken down in tears many times because of it, my ankles are in a terrible state and I'm meant to be having a friend to stay soon but I think I'll have to put her off and I don't know what to do, I feel too ashamed to tell her the real reason.

I feel so dirty.

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Shullbit · 28/07/2012 15:45

The cat had us infested at the end of May. Not for long though. We used Frontline, and some spray from Pets at Home that cost £12.99 and is in a pink tub. Can't remember what it is called, but was what they advised and within 24 hours of treating the cat (as with the likes of Frontline, they do die if they jump on the cat after treatment) and the house with the spray, with vacuuming every day for a few days and washing everything possible at 60 degrees, I noticed a HUGE difference. Even the ones I saw, weren't as jumpy and was obviously dying. The spray iirc kills eggs too.

Have read though that for a lot of fleas, they are becoming immune to Frontline so it doesn't always work. The ones mentioned upthread are said to be good. Whatever you do though, stay away from Bob Martin. That stuff is an absolute pile of shit.

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DesperatelySeekingPomBears · 28/07/2012 15:50

My DM has recently been in hospital with infected cat flea bites. According to the doctor that treated her, cat fleas are different to other fleas as the eggs can lie dormant in carpets etc for months, then the vibration of someone walking over them can cause them to hatch etc. Your carpets etc will need to be deep cleaned to rid you of any legs lying dormant in the fabric.

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Lucyellensmum99 · 28/07/2012 15:54

despearatelyseeking - cat fleas no different, they all do that.

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Lucyellensmum99 · 28/07/2012 15:56

we had that when we moved into our house, i knew it would be flea infested as they had a manky old dog, but nothing could have prepared me for what we encountered when we moved in - there was i, proud as punch at my first house, when my mother screams and runs out of the house, i looked down and my shoes were literally covered in fleas - we had to throw out carpets, have the house fumigated - luckily we had a few extra days to get this sorted as i was renting and the lease wasn't up until a week after we moved in. I couldn't have moved my animals into that.

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Krumbum · 28/07/2012 15:58

Use a proper treatment from the vets. Or get rid of the cats.

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MelodyPondering · 28/07/2012 16:01

I've been taking vitamin b tablets and garlic capsules as they don't like that..or so I read during one of my flea googling sessions.

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MelodyPondering · 28/07/2012 16:02

No! Treat the cat with something decent and then they are (supposedly) a walking flea killing machine!

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