Fleas, again, and again, and again.....

[sausageandorangepickle]

Can anyone recommend any effective and cheapish flea treatment for the cat and the house, please? We have treated the cat with Johnsons tablets, and shaken flea killing powder over all the downstairs floors, but the problem seems to just lessen for a few days and come back again. The house stinks of flea treatment, even after the stuff is hoovered up, and the poor cat is itching again - I do comb her almost every day, and crush any fleas I get out then. Please help!

[thecatneuterer]

Nothing you can buy off the shelf will work. Not only does it not kill fleas - it can kill your cats!

Unfortunately 'cheap' means 'pointless' when it comes to flea products.

So, for the cat, you need Advantage, Advocate or Stronghold. Advantage can be bought without a prescription.

And for the house you need Acclaim or Indorex.

Do not waste your money on anything else.

[Ingles2]

We had terrible problems with fleas this year as well.. I'd always used Frontline, which is not cheap, but this time did absolutely nothing. Eventually tried Advantage and it worked immediately..amazon link here about £12

[cadidog]

Indorex is eye wateringly expensive but it killed everything. 1 can did my 3 bed house. Use Advantage (Frontline stopped working for mine) the wash their bedding and yours, then spray everything - remember under the sofas and skirting boards.

My old vet recommended spraying the inside of your cars too in case there were any eggs in the upholstery. Frankly I was too exhausted from all the bed changing to bother but you might have more energy. Good luck.

[moonbells]

I'd whisk her off to the vet and get a jab or some spot-on. We've always had Program, which can be fed to them monthly or recently given as a 6 month jab but it doesn't kill adult fleas, just stops them breeding so any house infestations become self-limiting if you can keep the cat in for a while. It's expensive though.

I had a long chat yesterday with our vet about Program vs Frontline vs Broadline vs Advocate. Never really noticed any infestations either with old lady cat or the current pair (and goodness knows I get bitten by everything given half the chance). But she was pushing for us to do a spot-on as well. Seemed a bit like overkill (and another £20 on top of an already need-to-sit-down bill for boosters and Program for two cats) so we said we'd play it by ear. But she said a lot of people are complaining that Frontline doesn't now work, and Broadline is the same active ingredient (though a bit higher dose). Yet apparently the research on flea populations doesn't conclude that Frontline has stopped working.

She admitted this was baffling!

[Cailleach]

There is no point buying pet shop flea products, they just don't work.

Use Indorex on the house and by that I mean spraying everywhere including the undersides of all furniture / beds / bottoms of curtains / skirting boards, inside wardrobes and basically over every surface you can see where flea eggs might lurk. This stuff is nasty though so get all pets and kids out of each room you do during spraying (it made me dizzy to breathe it in so I used a mask.)

I used 7 cans bought off Amazon at £10 a pop, but had one left over, and the stuff stays active for 12 months anyway.

Then treat the pet with Advantage on the back of the neck.

There are no cheap options when it comes to fleas - sorry.

[NotDavidTennant]

When we had a major flea infestation they only thing that worked for us was getting someone from the council to come out and spray the house. It cost about £50, but when there were still a few left after the first treatment they came back out and sprayed again for free, so it was worth the money.

[lbab1702]

After a couple of months using frontline with absolutely no affect on our two cats, I got stronghold from the vet and the fleas were gone in about 24 hours and have not returned. It was a little expensive but worth every penny.

[StillStayingClassySanDiego]

We've been invaded despite my two being regularly frontlined. I've learnt from here that Frontline is no longer regarded as a good preventative, anyway that's another matter.

I've Indorexed the house, hoovering like a demon and nit combing them twice a day.

I've also purchased one of those heat lamp things , I put it in our garage which is currently impossible to clean due to the amount of crap in there and this morning there are 9 pesky buggers in there! get in there

I'm re-spotting them in two weeks, Advocate when I take them to the Vets.

[sausageandorangepickle]

Thanks for all the advice - I have ordered some Indorex and Advantage online, should be here tomorrow. Have kept hoovering and emptying the bag daily, and combing the cat while I am waiting for it. Now only finding tiny fleas, so maybe we have got the adult ones, and just need to get rid of the eggs - hopefully!

[Fruityb]

Spray the inside of the hoover with indorex as well. I found two on my cat a couple of weeks ago. Took him to the vet who said he didn't seem to be hopping and couldn't see any fleas or flecks in his fur, so guessing the frontline was working somewhat.
Bought indorex at vets, which was £20 so not exactly eye watering but not cheap! I also was given broadline. Sprayed the house and treated the cat. As far as I can tell he doesn't have any on him and I've never seen one in the house. Thankfully I am yet to.
Indorex from amazon cost me £8 and I'm going to do the house again in a couple of weeks as per vet's instructions. Nothing gets eggs and they have to hatch. They'll be killed on contact with the cat or the treated areas.
The sheer amount of positive reviews on amazon tells me this stuff is clearly death in a can. I'm always going to the vets from now. It's not the cheapest option but I know it works.

[DogCalledRudis]

Frontline is shit

[DrankSangriaInThePark]

I have just had a lengthy chat in the petstore as my Mum has fleas in the house(and she doesn't even have a cat- just the neighbour's that visits when they're at work) Got Johnson's for now until the indorex arrives. She also said to use insect repellent containing deet on us. I have no bites but dd must have 30!

[thatwouldbeanecumenicalmatter]

Steam cleaning? I mean a real good blast not just a quick once over.

Combing - I combed DH's cat twice a day when his fleas were bad (he was old and couldn't groom himself properly as it was) - I actually enjoyed it in a monkey-grooming-bonding-sort-of-way

And so did he

[Umblubblub]

Frontline combo worked for us, it's only available from the vet and us different to the frontline you can buy. Indorex stinks and costs a fortune, but it worked for us. Good luck!