DD came back with fleas in her hair!

[Sillysosij]

This is 2 issues really but I’m looking for reassurance for the more immediate one.

She’s been coming back from her dad’s EOW with bites on her for the last 3 visits. He has a cat. She has told me the cat has fleas. He has told me ‘oh, we were at a bbq, those blasted mozzies! Ha ha.’

well today, I found a FLEA in her hair. I think I saw a second but it was too fast. I know it’s not lice- she’s had lice before, and she has bites all round her ankles, behind her ears, etc.

Putting the outrage aside for a minute, what the hell do I do?! Are we going to get an infestation? We have no pets at the moment.

No more visits to his home until the cat and house have been de-flea’d. They can meet at a park or go out to an outdoor activity unless DD reports there are fleas in the car too. They can live in upholstery- the Tube has fleas for example.

Fleas can’t really live on humans so good shower, clean clothes. You can get anti-flea spray if you are concerned of any hitchhiker fleas getting into your DD’s bed and bedding. Spray bed frame and floor. Wash everything on 60C plus. Use a tumble dryer if you have one.

You can shop him to RSPCA as well if he’s not going to acknowledge the flea issue as the cat will be suffering.

Send her with flea treatment next time and say if it ever happens again the visits stop for her own welfare

Oh god fleas are grim if they like your blood (im the only one they like in my family) if they are getting into her hair the infestation must be really bad, in her bed perhaps. Our last influx i only lasted a few weeks but I only got bitten from the knees down.

Their whole house needs treating most likely via fumigation. Its the only thing that worked for us and we had a cat who was fully treated, the fleas were a dormant population when we moved into a new house, treating the cat alone might not be enough.

A child is too young to use a flea treatment and it’s clear her dad isn’t going to use it. I would just keep her home.

If he can’t keep his home clean and pest free for your daughter being in it I wouldn’t send her back. That’s really grim OP and not fair on your daughter if she’s coming home with bites, I’d also be having a very frank discussion with him about the flea bites and not letting him laugh it off.

I don’t think it can have originated in the house as he’s been there a year and the fleas only happened last month. But yes it must be bad if they’re in her hair.

They do seem to gravitate to her, we had a cat when she was a toddler that got fleas and they would bite her even if no other humans had a sign of them. Of course we got them under control but she has them all round the hems of her clothes, worst at her ankles, ears, back of her neck but she even had them at her waistband :(

I have a business involving sewing and am very, very anxious about them infesting my materials. Obviously I am concerned about DD & now I have seen them and it can’t be brushed off I will discuss this with ex, but I am also very worried about it affecting my income. Does anyone have any tips on preventatives?

You could spray your house with flea treatment like Indorex or Acclaim, they used to last a year but not sure if it is now 6 months. Any fleas that are in contact with a sprayed surface will die. Put a flea collar in your Hoover in case you suck any up.
You can use the sprays on fabric, but test a little bit first.

They could well have originated in the house, as eggs and larvae can lie dormant for a year or more.

Regardless of where they came from though - I’m understanding, fleas can be really hard to thoroughly get rid of, but when she’s being bitten to shreds and coming home with them in her hair it’s a problem. Especially as we live 1:45 away by car, so it will have been biting her for that whole car journey :( it also makes it hard for them to just do outdoor visits because of the distance but perhaps they could stay at his parents or something until it’s under control.

I hate this- especially as he is very retaliatory. If I bring up a problem he will absolutely cause me a bigger one (or attempt to).

For now I will get a flea spray for the house I think, luckily since we are moving most of her teddies are bagged up already.

? The RSPCA will do nothing (quite rightly really - they have serious welfare cases to fry) about a cat having fleas.

Please don't take this advice! It's not at all what the RSPCA are for.

It is a case of animal neglect. I’d report it as the infestation sounds really bad and if the dad refuses to get vet treatment for the cat, then that is neglect.

Report cruelty or neglect
We receive a call for help approximately every 30 seconds. We have to prioritise cases of cruelty and neglect where our specialist skills are required. Help us prioritise these calls to help more animals by following the steps below.
https://www.rspca.org.uk/utilities/contactus/reportcruelty

”Neglect is where an animal is suffering because their needs are not being met, for example not being fed, not being provided with vet treatment or being kept in a small cage all day. Neglect can be unintentional.”

There is no way on gods earth my child would be returning there. Take photos and send them to him. No more visits in that manky house. I don’t think I could forgive my mother if she continued to allow visits in those conditions. It’s disgusting. He can see her elsewhere if she wants to see him.

It is total neglect and you can call SS if you need further advice.

The RSPCA won’t do anything. Even though the infestation sounds bad, they can get bad really quickly. OP said she had an infestation when her DD was a toddler and I doubt she was neglecting the cat. If the cat was starved and chained up outside the RSPCA might consider attending.

I wouldn’t be sending my DD round unless it was with Indorex and stern instructions for him to spray everything and wash on high heat. The problem is that drop on treatments from the shops don’t work well, he will have to get one from the vet. Fleas carry some types of worms so the cat may have worms too. It’s also not your responsibility to buy things for someone else’s cat. So I think you should tell him what he needs to do, treat your own house and the clothes DD was wearing just in case, and don’t send your daughter round until a week after he’s treated the cat and house.

I’ve told him and he’s agreed to treat the cat/house & wash her bedding. Obviously I can’t control what he does in his house but he has agreed to it without a fuss which is good. I feel so stupid and guilty for believing him when he said it was mosquitos last time but I know he does take her to his parents and they have a lot of bbqs. I was suspicious after it happened that she was covered in bites on 2 drop offs in a row but it had been summer, they have a pool, I actually sent her with a bug repellant roll on. A third time I was already very concerned, then I found the flea.

Will head lice treatment work on fleas? I always have lice treatment on standby because you never know when the next outbreak letter will come home, lol.

It’s a losing battle. When I was a child we used to have carpet. Animals treated and pest control spray. All good. Until the next thunderstorm. For some reason the thunderstorm would always hatch the eggs. Vacuums never seemed to get them out of the carpet, so it was an endless cycle.

May not happen now though, as I am old and likely flea treatments back then only killed fleas, not eggs.

Nothing kills the eggs. You have to hoover to hatch them and then let the indorex (or equivilent) work. And treat pets with treatment from vets. Fleas are pretty species specific so whilst cat fleas would love on a dog, they’ll bite a human but won’t stay. Treat your own house with indorex and make sure your DD uses something like Smidge when visiting. Treatment does take time (eggs may take a few weeks to finish hatching) but it’s straightforward to become flea free again.

@TrailingLoellia their threshold for cruelty and neglect is extremely high. A bad infestation of fleas doesn't come anywhere near it.

It would be wasting their time from serious cruelty cases. I'm currently working with them on a terrible case of neglect (think animals dying) and they evidence they need to do anything is astonishing.

They are often ineffective in overwhelmingly bad cases. A few fleas is not going to venom their radar and calling the RSPCA over things like that wastes their time and resources - which are stretched super thin.

Spray for carpets and all soft furnishings is needed. Do your house and it will help protect against eggs turning into larvae.

Unfortunately the RSPCA don't operate like social services. Provided the cat has a roof over its head, food & water, they won’t be interested

They were interested when I saw a local farmer killing the kittens of his barn cats with a shovel. So they do act a bit like social services in my area.

Bit of a difference between a cat having fleas and someone killing kittens 😬

The infestation is really bad per the OP’s description. Her ex is in denial and likely to refuse to get the cat vet treatment. Untreated flea infestations leads to anemia and other flea borne diseases/parasites affecting the cat. Fleas can be life threatening if left untreated. So yes it is different from being whacked with a shovel, but only in that it can be a long and lingering torturous death by neglect.
https://excitedcats.com/will-fleas-kill-a-cat/