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Oh shit fleas

56 replies

Ohnocats · 01/11/2024 21:48

Adopted two kittens last week but realised they have fleas and I've definitely seen one crawling one of the kittens. DC has what looks like a couple of bites on the ankle.

AIBU to be absolutely sickened by the thoughts of a flea infestation. It's triggering my anxiety so badly and my skin is crawling. Ordered flea spot on and household flea spray. What on earth do I do? 😧

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BobbyBiscuits · 03/11/2024 20:57

@Ohnocats awesome. You'll be fine. You can ask for a prescription for the decent spot on treatment, then you can order it online. My vet charges £25 for a 6 month prescription.
But yeah, it's so common for privately rehomed kittens to have fleas. One of mine had ringworm as well which was horrible for the poor little fella. So you're doing the right thing. The spray is fine, if you open the windows the smell disperses after a few hours.

Ohnocats · 03/11/2024 20:52

BobbyBiscuits · 03/11/2024 20:47

Put frontline on the kittens, the green one. You might need a vet strength one but try that first. Indorex spray as well, order a couple of cans and spray the whole house. Then if they still have them take to vets. Fleas are almost inevitable sometimes, and you say you've only seen a couple. So don't panic. Wash bedding or anything that goes in the machine on a hot wash.

The vet has given the kittens and the mother cat the spot on treatment. I'm hoping any fleas on them have now met their maker.

Yes two cans of Indorex have arrived today. I'll spray the house tomorrow whilst DC at school.

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BobbyBiscuits · 03/11/2024 20:47

Put frontline on the kittens, the green one. You might need a vet strength one but try that first. Indorex spray as well, order a couple of cans and spray the whole house. Then if they still have them take to vets. Fleas are almost inevitable sometimes, and you say you've only seen a couple. So don't panic. Wash bedding or anything that goes in the machine on a hot wash.

Ohnocats · 03/11/2024 20:44

Update: pleased to say all 3 felines have been to the vet. Treated with the vet's drops for fleas, worms and ticks which will last for three months. The vet did a flea check (briefly only I had to ask her twice) and could only see flea dirt on one of the kittens. She said she didn't think it was a full flown infestation.

I'm too squeamish to look myself. Spraying will start tomorrow whilst DC at school and I've been hoovering like mad.

Flea collar in the hoover is giving me some reassurance that any fleas and eggs will meet their untimely end.

I'm trying my best to put my big ladies pants on and deal with it but heck it's exhausting.

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Newstartplease24 · 03/11/2024 16:28

The Pp who manually dealt with fleas saying she should have called the landlord - it would not have done any good. My landlord’s dog shed fleas and flea eggs all over our new flat and they savaged me. He insisted there was no proof and did nothing. He let me a flea ridden flat at great expense - I had no animals - all our stuff had to be washed in the launderette as there was no washing machine - cost a fortune - I was covered in bites head to toe - he just shrugged

in that case it was finite as I had no animals and fleas can’t breed on the wrong animal, ie humans, if they’re dog fleas. But I do wish people would take this seriously. Untreated pets WILL get fleas and they WILL cause other people problems and they need to be dealt with on a regular basis, for ever. If you don’t feel like facing this, do us all a favour and don’t get furry animals.

Hufflemuff · 03/11/2024 16:25

Hufflemuff · 03/11/2024 16:23

This Zero In has never failed me. We have 3 cats and had 2 rounds of fleas. One because we just got a new kitten and didn't know, second was because I was in hospital for 3 weeks, then recovering at home slowly for another 6 - so we missed their flea treatments for 3 months in a row! Oops...

It felt disgusting to me! I felt like Cleatus on the Simpsons.

You need to make sure all their food, water and any glasses and mugs are out the room. Basically anything that you or they will drink or eat out of needs to go outside. Otherwise the spray will settle on it and it's poisonous to injest. The kittens need to be out of the building for at least 2 hours I'd say. Maybe put them in a cat carrier and have them in the car for a this time. Then spray car after BTW!

Close all windows and doors, spray around the room. Exit the room and leave it for 30 mins. Then come back in and open the windows as wide as possible. I have a small house so I did the upstairs, then the downstairs - so I could sit in one place at a time.

If you have a big wardrobe (I converted a large cupboard into one) then spray this too!

You also have to wash all the blankets and change your bedding! Don't worry though, that Zero In will absolutely decimate them! 💀

Sorry and just to add... Its best to repeat this whole thing 2-3 weeks later, so any eggs that hatched in-between the nuclear warfare from the first spray are mopped up too!

Oh and for treating kittens I would ask the vets advice as they're babies!

Hufflemuff · 03/11/2024 16:23

This Zero In has never failed me. We have 3 cats and had 2 rounds of fleas. One because we just got a new kitten and didn't know, second was because I was in hospital for 3 weeks, then recovering at home slowly for another 6 - so we missed their flea treatments for 3 months in a row! Oops...

It felt disgusting to me! I felt like Cleatus on the Simpsons.

You need to make sure all their food, water and any glasses and mugs are out the room. Basically anything that you or they will drink or eat out of needs to go outside. Otherwise the spray will settle on it and it's poisonous to injest. The kittens need to be out of the building for at least 2 hours I'd say. Maybe put them in a cat carrier and have them in the car for a this time. Then spray car after BTW!

Close all windows and doors, spray around the room. Exit the room and leave it for 30 mins. Then come back in and open the windows as wide as possible. I have a small house so I did the upstairs, then the downstairs - so I could sit in one place at a time.

If you have a big wardrobe (I converted a large cupboard into one) then spray this too!

You also have to wash all the blankets and change your bedding! Don't worry though, that Zero In will absolutely decimate them! 💀

Oh shit fleas
oakleaffy · 03/11/2024 16:20

Fleasies · 01/11/2024 23:02

I don’t know how effective it really is but I’d be bathing the kittens too in the hope that it would drown a number of fleas.

My cats have have brought fleas into the house for the first time since 1996 this autumn. I’ve barely used flea treatment on them for years so I wonder if this year has been particularly bad. Treating, washing and hoovering has been exhausting and expensive!

Just use a damp flea comb ( a bowl of soapy water to frown the fleas in from the comb)
Bathing cats is pretty unpleasant for them.

Cat fleas also carry worms.

@Ohnocats Worm the kittens as well
a friend had a rescued kitten that was extremely wormy. ( Roundworms)
She’s now regularly wormed.

oakleaffy · 03/11/2024 16:13

dementedpixie · 01/11/2024 21:51

What flea treatment?
Have they seen a vet yet?
I've only ever used flea treatment from the vet. Over the counter stuff isn't always safe/doesn't always work

Definitely get vet advice for kittens
My puppy has never had fleas because she takes an oral tablet against fleas ticks and worms every month. ( from vets) she’s 3 yrs now .

Over the counter stuff is generally useless.

You definitely don’t want fleas in your house as they are very hard to get rid of .
The larvae lie dormant for months .

NoisyDenimShaker · 03/11/2024 16:10

Ohnocats · 01/11/2024 22:12

Sorry but my punctuation has gone out of the window since my making this stomach churning discovery.

Fleas have not made it to Pedants Corner yet.

😂 Honestly, I'm not being pedantic - I really did have to read the post to understand! I was expecting to learn the difference between ordinary fleas and shit fleas!

On another thread, people were talking about turkey teeth. I thought they meant some kind of cosmetic dental work that made their mouths look like turkeys'. No, they meant teeth done in Turkey. For the sake of a capital letter...

I wish more people would realise that these basic errors DO impede understanding! And waste people's time!

SatinHeart · 01/11/2024 23:23

Bravecto flea treatment from the vet is fab - no idea if it is suitable for kittens but fingers crossed.

We got away without having to indorex the house (had crawling DC so not keen) with an adult cat with fleas by using bravecto and furious hoovering - daily for 2 weeks. No combing of cat either.

Cat fleas would MUCH rather bite a cat than a human so better to treat the cat effectively the let it wander through the affected areas of the house poisoning the fleas.

manysausages · 01/11/2024 23:08

My kitten had fleas when she arrived. Tried everything, indorex, advantage, shampoo, flea comb. The fleas were invincible. Bravecto finally sorted it out. It did take months but only because I had to wait a set amount of time between types of treatments.

My recommendation would be to do nothing until you get to the vets for this reason.

dementedpixie · 01/11/2024 23:04

I wouldn't wash the cats if they have been flea treated as you will wash the treatment off again

Fleasies · 01/11/2024 23:02

I don’t know how effective it really is but I’d be bathing the kittens too in the hope that it would drown a number of fleas.

My cats have have brought fleas into the house for the first time since 1996 this autumn. I’ve barely used flea treatment on them for years so I wonder if this year has been particularly bad. Treating, washing and hoovering has been exhausting and expensive!

Onlyhereforthebatshitneighbours · 01/11/2024 22:54

I posted a near identical thread a few days ago!

Spent the time since vacuuming, spraying, washing, combing...Cats need to be treated at the vets with prescription stuff, apparently fleas are getting immune to otc treatments!

Thankfully, within a few hours of vet treatment, everything seems to have calmed down and haven't found any since.

Make sure to spray close to skirting boards & nooks & crannies & empty the vacuum into a bag each time- take straight to outside bin.

Vet also advised giving next months dose of treatment a week early (so in 3 weeks instead of 4) to be safe. Indorex last 2 -3 months and I'll be spraying early next time as well for the same reason.

I am starting to climb down after the stress of it!

Ohnocats · 01/11/2024 22:53

Thanks for all the helpful comments.

I've ordered Indorex, kitten flea shampoo, flea powder and spot on. Vet visit tomorrow was booked anyway.

First load of washing gone in at 90 degrees with a good splash of zoflora. Good job my washing machine is very quiet as I may be up for a while this evening.

I'll definitely try hoovering with a flea collar in the hoover.

Currently the kittens are happy in their cat tree. Suspect that will need to be decontaminated too at some point.

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Ohnocats · 01/11/2024 22:50

BlueMum16 · 01/11/2024 22:35

Please do not use domestos on yourself.

A fabric spray and some spot on will rid these tomorrow.

It's ok I was kidding about the Domestos. My skin is crawling though.

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Ohnocats · 01/11/2024 22:48

TheresaCrowd · 01/11/2024 22:43

Are they your first ever pets?

It's a bit worrying how dramatic you're being.

Nope ironically I grew up in a crazy cat house, with dogs too. I can only recall seeing fleas once on one of the dogs. Treated promptly with spot on and trip to the vet and never saw fleas ever again.

I've never had to deal with this before alone as a single parent, being the only adult in the house responsible for anything and everything.

Sorry if my anxiety is bothering you, I came here for support not judgement.

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TheresaCrowd · 01/11/2024 22:44

MereDintofPandiculation · 01/11/2024 22:24

That's interesting! Will they jump on to white paper too?

Yes definitely.

You can get white sticky bug trap paper from Amazon.

TheresaCrowd · 01/11/2024 22:43

Ohnocats · 01/11/2024 21:57

The thought of combing out the fleas and drowning them is making me want to drown myself!

Are they your first ever pets?

It's a bit worrying how dramatic you're being.

Thelnebriati · 01/11/2024 22:43

I hate to gross you out but kittens need regular worming as well as flea treatment.

ClafoutisSurprise · 01/11/2024 22:39

Experienced fleas for the first and hopefully last time a few months ago. Vet’s flea treatment plus Indorex (sprayed everywhere), vacuuming and washing of bedding - all gone within a few days of the visit to the vet. We were warned that we may still see fleas over the following weeks as new ones hatched, but nothing. I was so stressed and depressed disgusted when I saw flea dirt and fleas crawling in my cats fur, but getting rid was much easier and quicker than I expected. Don’t despair!

BlueMum16 · 01/11/2024 22:35

Ohnocats · 01/11/2024 22:09

Going to stand in the shower and douse myself with Domestos.

Thanks for all the tips. Keep them coming.

Please do not use domestos on yourself.

A fabric spray and some spot on will rid these tomorrow.

rainbowstardrops · 01/11/2024 22:34

Oh I feel your pain! When we got our kitten from a friend of mine, she said the kittens had all been treated and they probably had but whatever flea treatment she used just wasn't effective. When we realised we had fleas, I was beside myself!!!
Looking back, I can be rational. I spent a small fortune on Indorex and sprayed all around the skirting boards and everywhere else to be honest! I washed cushions and throws etc regularly and sprayed all the furniture too. I also used a nit comb with a bowl of soapy water and that was strangely satisfying to comb them out.
Like I said, I was beside myself but you do get out the other side eventually, you just have to systematically do all of the above and eventually you break the cycle.
Oh and make sure you buy flea treatment from the vet going forward and don't forget to apply it every month! Good luck!

Ohnobackagain · 01/11/2024 22:31

@MereDintofPandiculation possibly - think they are attracted to the colour

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