Fleas?

[TheGirlOnTheLanding]

DD1 and I have been bitten. DH, DD2 haven't. BiteyCat hasn't shown any sign of scratching and I haven't seen any evidence on him (he's not keen on combing so I have to do small bits at a time before he runs off) but he did get his prescription flea treatment two weeks late this month. DD was first to have bites and I got mine yesterday after changing her bedding, which is why I think it's probably fleas. (First time in all my years of cat ownership, don't know how we've avoided it til now.)

Has the flea treatment not worked? It's a combined flea and wormer from the vet. Or do fleas decamp when their host is treated? Presumably I can't treat him again for a month even if it's not worked. Other than trying not to scratch what do we do to get rid? I've changed all bedding now, hoovered and ordered Indorex.

[Fluffycloudland77]

Even though you've flea treated they can still get fleas, it's just that the treatment will kill them.

Indorex will deal with fleas, larvae and eggs. Read the pack carefully, you don't want to gas the cat.

[WunWegWunDarWun]

Apparently 90% of fleas live in the environment rather than on the cat, so it's best to spray the house.

I'm just going through the same. DD is being bitten like anything but DH and I aren't.

[TheGirlOnTheLanding]

Eek! Wun. 90%! I always thought the cat was the host (certainly never had fleas when we had no cat!) Big sympathy to yr DD, the bites are unbelievably itchy. We think DD1 got them because BiteyCat sleeps on her bed a lot and they fell onto me when I took the duvet off to strip it, but maybe like midges fleas are attracted to some folk not others? Haven't seen a single insect yet but I'm covered in bites.

[PosiePootlePerkins]

Yep we had the same. DH and eldest DS being bitten like mad, myself and youngest DS not even touched. You will need to hoover like mad, spray everywhere concentrating on gaps between carpets and walls, edges of sofas etc, wash all bedding on high temp and preferably tumble on high too, spray along edges of mattresses. Oh and repeat two weeks later as the spray does not kill the chrysalis stage. It is a nightmare. Apparently a bad year for fleas.
What is the flea treatment? Frontline/broadline no longer effective in some areas. We are now succesfully using advocate monthly, also she had a program injection to stop any biting fleas breeding.
Good luck!

[thecatneuterer]

Are you sure you're not being bitten by bed bugs?

[TheGirlOnTheLanding]

Definitely not bed bugs - whopping great lumps have come up around the bites and DH has none (despite sharing bed with me) - cat sleeps on Dd1's bed and got bitten, and I had no bites till yesterday when I hauled her duvet off to launder it. It's Broadline we were using, maybe time to change. Odd that the cat hasn't seemed fussed though - only the humans.

[PosiePootlePerkins]

The vet wanted our cat to have broadline initially, but after lots of research, and advice on this forum, I asked them to change to advocate. Have a look at the other flea threads, there seem to be several including my own! Pleased to say we seem to be on top of it now, but it did take some effort.