FLEAS!!!

[Choice4567]

The cat has fleas. I have done everything! Noticed them about 3 weeks ago. She's had two rounds of drops, and now has a flea collar. I've washed everything. And I mean everything in the house. Bedding. Rugs. Blankets. Cushions. Cuddly toys.

I've gone through 3 bottles of flea spray and covered the carpets and sofas. Numerous times. All bedroom doors are now kept shut so she's only downstairs. I've combed her everyday. There's certainly a lot less fleas than at the beginning. But they're not going away, and me and the children are getting huge fresh bites everyday

I can't carry on like this! Is there something I haven't tried? Can a vet do anything more?

At this point (she's v old and likely got cat dementia) I'm almost willing to ask them to
Put her down. we can't carry on being this itchy

We gave up with flea drops; ours now have Credelio tablets and we haven’t had a flea in years.

Our usual preventative (Advantage) stopped working a few months back and we got the dreaded fleas too. Only thing that stopped it was the Credelio the vet's prescribed.

I had to take mine to the vet, such a faff

It's been a couple of weeks and I think she's okay now

Interesting, that's two votes for the tablets. I'd not heard of them, but worth a go.

What did the vet actually do?

We used to have 3 cats and I remember one time they all got them.
It was awful. We tried everything. Throwing flea bombs into the house.
Nothing worked.
We had to get a specialist company out and then they were gone. Think we got tablets from the vet too.

I have seen Indorex flea spray recommended a lot on here for around the house, although I haven't needed to try it myself.

Vacuum every single day and empty the bag into the outside bin every single day too.

Fleas are becoming resistant to treatments and I think that's the big issue at the moment.

It's a fucking nightmare. We have several cats and earlier in the year really struggled with it. Made my skin crawl!!! The drops no good. Get the tablets. You can use the tablets consecutive days too it isn't just once a month, obviously read the packaging. You have to hoover like mad and it put all soft things in the washing machine on a 60° wash. Plus used all the spays. The fuckers just keep coming back but I'm determined to eradicate them it's definitely better than it was. I absolutely hit the roof with dp over it as well because I said we need to be hoovering the house top to bottom daily and he wasn't even though they're his cats!!!

Bravecto from the vets. My girls got fleas last year and nothing would shift them. Of course one ended up at the vets with flea allergy. I used bravecto for my dog (also has flea allergy) and didn’t know for cats it was a drop. Hadn’t considered it as it’s a tablet for dogs and there’s no way I can get a tablet in that cat….. It’s expensive (around £45) but it lasts for three months. Will absolutely be using it on all cats and dogs going forward

My problem is I'm doing all that! I'm
Hoovering everyday, washing the blankets and rugs and then spraying them. It doesn't seem to be making any difference! I'm absolutely riddled with bites

I wasn't the biggest fan of this cat anyway. I'd quite like her to go and live outside until the fleas have gone!

If you're buying over the counter stuff, head for the vets. If nothing else, they will know what is and isn't working locally.

You need vet prescribed flea treatment, not OTC ones, they really don't work. It's such hard work so I really empathise, it sounds like you're doing all you can.

If you're not a big fan of the cat, can you find her a new, loving home? She deserves to be adored and you deserve to not have a cat you're not the biggest fan of.

Once you have an infestation you need to treat the house as well as the cat. Indorex is good stuff, just follow the instructions on the can.

If they’ve had a chance to lay eggs in the house then Indorex will work but only on the fleas. So you have to wake up the eggs (vacuuming will encourage this) - the fleas won’t live long enough to breed and lay more eggs but will bite till they die. As pp say you need vet treatment and a proper vet prescribed spray for the house.

It's likely that the fleas are now feeding off you humans and not your cat, as she's had the tablets or drops and they really won't be keen on her! So getting rid of the poor love won't solve the current spate. Fleas live (and lay eggs) on furnishings and in corners of rooms, then come to us humans for the odd munch which keeps them breeding..ugh.

It is awful, we had same situation last year. Several rounds of RIP Fleas spray eventually blasted them, but it took a few weeks of hell.

I tried everything last Summer: vacuuming twice a day, the expensive flea spray everywhere, keeping cat in the back porchroom for 2 weeks to try and rid the house, salt everywhere (don't do that it clagged up the rugs and was horrific).

In the end vet check up - prescribed credelio, fleas gone in days.
Costs £10 a month now for the credelio.

I have had cats for 40 years. I have never seen a flea.

The old cat had Advocate. The new ones have Felpreva - three monthly.

Thanks all. Vets for prescription tablets seems to be the way to go

I'm not really going to get rid of her (who'd want a 17 year old flea ridden dementia cat?!)

It just feels insurmountable. I've hoovered and used Killer Flea Spray everyday. All over the sofa and cushions, blankets and bugs. But maybe they're getting in our clothes? Then we'll track them upstairs. Change our clothes and then they must be living everywhere

I can't afford to be doing this many loads of washing everyday! Collected a load of clean washing in from the line this afternoon, but my daughter has left it in the basket on the sofa. So I probably need to re-wash that load too 😩

Nexgard or Bravecto work. Flea collars don't work. No flea treatments bought off the shelf work. Advantage, Stronghold, Advocate and Endectrid have stopped working. Get either Nexgard or Bravecto from the vet.

I do feel sorry for you and the family, OP, but I also feel sorry for your cat. You say that she is very old and possibly has dementia. You absolutely can't put her outside, especially in the winter, and you can't end her life just because of a flea problem. She deserves to live her days being well cared for and for as long as it is in her best interests.

You say you are vacuuming daily but are you emptying the vacuum outside daily? This is very important.

I feel your pain, I was in the same situation a few weeks ago. My daughter was covered in flea bites and nothing was working. I took my cat to the vet and they gave him credelio. That got rid of them (I tried various OTC brands but nothing worked). Then spraying with Indolex every few days. Touch wood.. they seem to have disappeared. I’ve had cats for 30 years and never had fleas until now.

l'm a vet nurse - nothing other than veterinary prescription only medicine -POMV category products will work .
95% of a flea infestation is in the cats environment ,there is nothing available that kills fleas in the pupae stage , indorex or rip spray will kill fleas eggs and larvae, you don't need to constantly spray these -read the can.
Even with the best products it can take 3-6 months of the flea life cycle until you see improvements in the house.
The vibrations from the hoover and also steam ie a steam cleaner or dishes of hot water dotted about can speed up the hatching stage the newly hatched flea will then quickly die after biting the treated cat.
Let the cat have free movement throughout the house for optimum product efficacy.
When you have the correct product follow the manufacturers instructions completely ,don't be late applying each dose.
I would recommend stronghold plus spot on- NOT ordinary stronghold.
With the right products ,constant hoovering,daily flea combing you will conquer it.

Go on Atlantic pets and order Credelio for Cats - Flea and Tick Tablets
It's been the best thing for us. I crush it into a lix a lix

I used R.I.P fleas for my home. It's worked everytime. Fleas are an absolute nightmare!!

I have noticed the fleas are becoming immune to more of these treatments it's really strange.

I use advantage on my cat. I've not had any problems so far with it.

We have no evidence at my practice that Stronghold PLUS and Advocate have stopped working , this is not the feed back we get from our clients.
I cannot speak for original Stronghold but completely agree that anything other than POMV (vet) products no longer work .

I also find flea combing everyday for a few minutes really helps too.