evening ladies, fleas have landed

[SarfEasticated]

I think we have fleas. 2 months into her residency, the lovely modom has given us fleas. DD is covered in bites in the morning :(. I have been religiously applying the stronghold given to me by the cat sanctuary but it doesn't seem to be working. What do I need to do next? spray? If so which ones work - am in London.
Thanks all.

[Fluffycloudland77]

Ask the vets to prescribe advocate, it's a different active ingredient.

[cat234]

Have you treated your house at all? the fleas on the cat are the tip of the iceberg. about 95% of the problem is in the house, the fleas lay eggs, so you end up with eggs and larvae falling off in the house. they hatch, jump back on the cats, lay more eggs before they die...and the circle continues.

Best thing is to treat the cat/s and house at the same time. Comfortis is really good for killing fleas verrry quickly (its a tablet though, rather than a spot on), advantage, advocate, stronghold are all all spot ons. Something like indorex is good for spraying the house (dont bother with flea bombs and foggers etc from the pet shop, they are pretty much useless).

[BikeRunSki]

Get a pest control man in to zap the house. It'll be cheaper in the long run than all the stuff from the vets, pet shop etc none of which I've found to be completely effective.

[KleineDracheKokosnuss]

After much experimentation I can recommend the following to break the cycle:

Advocate for the cat, Wilkinson's flea powder on every carpet in the house, all bedding to be washed and spray everywhere with Indorex. Then hoover all carpets and flooring at least once every two days, getting in all the cracks/along the edges of furniture and walls. Repeat the flea powder/indorex treatment at 2 and a half weeks (they apparently have a 3 week egg to egg-laying adult cycle).

[fixyourgardengate]

Joining this thread as both dc woke yesterday with bites down their backs. Blinking cat has the run of the house so our vacuum cleaner will be on overtime for the next few weeks.

[SarfEasticated]

I feel awful because DD is the only member of the family to get bitten! poor love. Have some Indorex coming from amazon tomorrow so will spray the entire flat - does cat have to be outside while I do that? Am definitely thinking of getting Rentokil out as Bikerunski has a point amount the money involved. How long will the spray take to work?

[CattyCatCat]

I called the manufacturer of Indorex who confirmed animals have to be out of the room when you use it. You have to leave the room for 30 mins, then ventilate it for a further hour. After that you and animals can go back in.

[SarfEasticated]

So Idorex has been sprayed and place hoovered but still the bites! I am concerned that maybe when I put the Stronghold on I didn't do it properly. As a rescue cat she she is not completely happy with being handled, so I put the drops on her when she was eating. I think I got the skin but can't be 100%. She isn't scratching herself much but DD is still covered in bites :(
What would you do next?

[Fluffycloudland77]

Have you tried the flea injection that stops them breeding? Tbh they don't all die quickly

[SarfEasticated]

Flea injections sounds fabulous... do I get them at the vets?

[Fluffycloudland77]

Yes, it's £35 twice a year but any she pick up can't breed and infestate the house.

Did the vet give you advocate?.

[SarfEasticated]

The cat rescue gave us Stronghold - I bought a year's worth!