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

Surely you take the cats to the vets for their yearly vaccinations and they usually do the flea treatment as part of the checkup?

I can't comment on Stronghold Plus. I can't remember if we used to prescribe that, or the original Stronghold. Our practice stopped prescribing anything other than Nexgard for at least 18 months now as nothing else was working - either for our clients or for our shelter cats. But as I said, I've forgotten which Stronghold we used to stock.

we have four pets and are in the midst of a flea storm. I'm surprised you say they're biting you - we seem to be immune. I don't like over treating so we usually only treat them in the warmer months to save the bees etc, but the damn things are becoming indestructible. We have one cat who seems to be waging a war against the local mouse population and I think he's spreading them to the rest of our poor cats and dogs.

Which drops are you using?

Thank you this is useful

I was only joking before about getting rid of the cat, but really it could be 6 months? The children and I are covered head to toe in really itchy bites. No way can I live like this for 6 months, and I couldn't do that to the children. Them being healthy is more important than a pet

Bravecto really works. I’m in many cat forums and I’m always surprised by how many people buy the super cheap stuff from Amazon or whatever and are then surprised it doesn’t work. You need proper prescription stuff.

I know, you're right. I got suckered into being the cheap stuff 🤦‍♀️
I also naively think they wouldn't be allowed to sell the stuff if it didn't work!

nexguard on the dogs and fipronil (i think) on the cats. One of the cats is impossible to get tablets in without forcing them down his neck (and he's the culprit). He doesn't eat real food, not even meat, so it's hard to hide anything in his food - he only eats dried food or dreamies. He's also a deeply suspicious character.

The tablets recommended above - are they small? Could they be forced down?

I had a major outbreak in my house around two years ago (when the usual treatments stopped working). Now bear in mind I have around 20 permanent cats in my house. I gave them all one dose of Nexgard, and I haven't seen a flea since. And I didn't spray anything, just did the usual washing, really nothing much. So it's not that I don't believe people who say it takes six months - but it certainly didn't for me.

Fipronil no longer works. Nexgard for the cats too and that should sort it. I've never used the tablets so can't comment.

You need to read up on the flea cycle. The eggs lay dormant and then hatch when they sense movement or the carbon dioxide in your breath so killing the fleas on the cat isn't enough. You need to get some strong flea spray and deep clean. All along the skirting boards etc get rid as much soft furnishing as possible then hoover every day. Regular empty the hoover. Get rid of any brushes etc used to brush the floor as the eggs can remain in the bristles and clean the hoover. You repeat this process every day to remove the eggs whilst you kill the adult fleas. I can be done but as eggs can lay dormant it is a lengthy process. You must keep up with the flea medication for the cat so newly hatched fleas are killed if they bite him/her.

We could NOT get rid of them last year!! Eventually got the smoke bombs and - alongside washing and hoovering- we got advocate from the vet and they seem to have gone for the last few months.

We have had a nightmare ages it's just a constant cycle. We'd never had an issue with fleas, my vet actually asked me last winter when we were in for the annual booster as she said people were having a nightmare and the fleas were becoming resistant to lots of treatment. Spraying the house with indorex flea spray, hoovering, cleaning. We tried the itch flea treatment as frontline plus was no longer working. I seem to get bitten and my daughter does but husband and son don't. I'm going to try some of the recommendations on here.

Does anyone have suggestions for dogs we just use frontline plus on her and have noticed her itching a bit more than normal.

Nexgard for both the dogs and cats

It is really odd how the fleas bite some people more than others - it was the same in our house, 2 of us were gnawed while the other 2 were not!

Another vote for Credelio.

I make a small cut in a piece of chicken and slide the pill in. He swallows the whole thing.

Bravecto

What are you spraying the house with OP?

By the time you see adults, you have a massive background infestation of larval, pupal and egg stages in your home.

Spray with Indorex and LEAVE IT DOWN. Don't vacuum for as many days as you can bear it. Indorex will kill the background intermediate stages but you might need to redo it after the current eggs hatch. The trouble is they now know that flea eggs can last over 20 years dormant in the environment so it's a battle royal to get control.

I had them, bought in by a regular cat visitor.
Found a few goes with the carpet shampooer helped to clear them.
These days I would probably try the steamer (bought to eradicate the bedbugs)

Vet

Then I had good success with a flea comb - daily until new ones stopped hatching.

My cat has had fleas lately and I don’t know how as she only is in the house and backyard. They are nearly gone. Apart from vet treatment I find that steaming is good as it kills the eggs and larvae. It had been years since we’d had any problems ( hadn’t kept up the steaming)

You need to bite the bullet and get a pest controller in and take the cat to the vets. They'll be gone in days not months of you do that.

https://atlanticpetproducts.com/products/credelio-for-dogs/1208

I have bought credelio for my cat many times from here, arrives quite quickly.

we still use drops, but every few days we use the capstar tablets as well! my dog got fleas from our fields and then obviously our other dog got them and then the cat! was a nightmare until I found the tablets! sprayed the whole house with Indorex, washed everything and hoovered about 10 times a day for a week and not had then again! 🙌

we did one dose of credelio and a spray of the house with indorex, and haven’t been bitten since. We use the credelio regularly to keep on top of it.