I've lost my mind. Fleas!

[missladybird]

I'm obsessed. I think about nothing else.

We've had kitten 4 days and she's crawling with fleas. Took her to the vets on Sunday and the vet sprayed her all over with frontline - many people have said frontline is useless now but I have to wait another 3 weeks before going back to the vet to try something else.

I can see then crawling in her fur. I've been combing then out as well as I can end drowning them. I've steam cleaned and hoovered all downstairs (kittens never set foot upstairs).

As a last resort I've bought indorex but I'm reluctant to use it with toddler in the house. I've posted about this already but my anxiety is loving this problem and I'm not thinking rationally any more.

Help!

I won't be spraying her with raid

She's absolutely fine in herself thankfully.

How likely is it that I've transferred eggs upstairs?

Advocate is fantastic. I strongly recommend it.

Leave a bowl of soapy water with a small candle in the middle in an area where there are fleas. Obviously be careful with flame. They are attracted to the light and heat but drown in soapy water. It really works caught about 30 in one night, half that next night, none by third. Prefer it as avoids spraying chemicals and very satisfying to see the bloody things dead.

We have never had success with frontline despite the vet repeatedly recommending it.

The only thing that has ever worked for us is the injection at the vets which stops live fleas from reproducing so stops the cycle. It works within days and lasts for months. If you ask the vet for it they will do it but for some reason don’t actively volunteer it (one of even said it doesn’t work!) - I don’t know though minimum age for it.

Oh and every time you hoover, more may be awoken from the vibrations that were in the carpet/sofa.

Spray a kitten with raid?! What terrible advice! That’s like saying spray a baby with bleach! Pp please never do that to a kitten!!!!!!!!

I can truly sympathise, this is the first time my boy has ever has fleas and it feels like a never ending task trying to kill them.

Indorex is meant to be fab or check with your local counsel, some do flea infestation removal for a fee (I think it’s between £30 and £70 depending on where you live) and it’s meant to be pretty thorough!

Best of luck!

The candle with the soapy water thing - this worked (ish) for me. I would recommend doing it every night for, say, a week as it'll give you something you can actually see. So, first night 20, second night 10, third night 5.... might help your anxiety if nothing else?

Glad you are not going with the raid suggestion!
Buy food grade diotomacious earth on line, or some pet shops sell it. Chuck it everywhere, carpets, floor boards, skirting boards and leave down for a couple of days. It will make a mess and you will need to brush up as much as you can as it will block the hoover filter ( wear a mask as you will make a lot of dust at this stage). It kills them mechanically by destroying the exoskeleton, so no pesticides. You can also give the kids a light dusting ( it won't harm her if she ingests a bit - some people use it as a wormer).
Worked brilliantly on a flea infestation a couple of years ago, when I was getting nowhere with other treatments.
Indorex is very good, can you use it in toddler free areas as, yes, you will have tracked fleas all over the house!

Not the kids, dust the KITTEN, sorry 😀

I've been in your situation I was furious and was obsessed like you! Honestly do not ever let anyone recommend frontline it really is pants. You should definitely use the indorex it's amazing. Get little one ready to go out, if they're old enough to play in garden if someone can watch it will only take you at the very most 10 mins to spray the house. Then leave windows open and go for a walk. It will be fine after half an hour but an hour is good. It does say on the tin fine for even crawling babies (once dry) as I checked myself
I promise you won't see a spider or anything crawly for well over a year!
For cats I'm sure the vets give a tablet that totally stops fleas I think it's called program? It wasn't cheap but once your on top of the issue it wont come back.

And hoover like mad for at least 2 weeks!

Spray her with a good insecticide insect killer RAID wait 30 mins then wash her.

This is possibly the worst advice I've ever seen on here

OP you might need a couple of tins of the Indorex. Hoover hoover hoover and spray everywhere - especially in corners. And hoover some more (I sprayed inside my Dyson too to no ill effect). Hoovering wakes the little sods up and lets the Indorex at em. Brush the kitten a good few times a day - I put any fleas that resulted from combing on kitchen roll and mashed them with the end of the comb to ensure that they were fleas no more but have heard about using washing up liquid in water to drown them. I wouldn't wash the kitten in washing up liquid (only because I wouldn't wash it in something I wouldn't wash myself with). I didn't wash my cat at all when she was riddled - just brush, hoover, spray, repeat.

Fellow anxiety sufferer and flea survivor here... I feel your pain but you'll absolutely get through it.

For goodness sake do NOT listen to doodle01. One key ingredient in RAID cockroach version is permethrin which is toxic to cats in pretty low doses. This cat, being a young kitten, is likely to be even more vulnerable. The main ingredient of the flying insects version is phenothrin which can also be toxic to some cats.

Indorex the carpets, keep the cat clean and see the vet again in three weeks for the next treatment, Job done.

The best flea treatment imo is the 'spot on' ones that you squeeze at the base of the neck and between the shoulder blades. When you put it on put the kitten somewhere different front the rest of the house for 24 hours (eg utility room, ideally somewhere without carpets). It makes the cats blood taste bad so the fleas just jump off. Then reapply every 5 weeks. (you only need to keep the cat separate if fleas are actually present not for repeat applications).

Hoover whole house and put flea spray down everywhere, ventilate the rooms and go out for a couple of hours. If you get an infestation buy 'flea bombs'. You basically set them off into a room or area and vacate that place for 3 hours. Brilliant things.

I've had 2 flea infestations and a couple of close calls and this is my best advice.

Just saw the update to say you won't be using RAID. Good for you!!

I actually have some diomataceous earth from an ant issue I had a couple of years ago. It worked a treat but I'm not sure whether it goes out of date or not. I haven't seen fleas on anything other than the kitten so I (hope) I don't have too much of an infestation on my hands. I feel so itchy and disgusting though. Do you think I can afford to wait another day or 2 to see how she goes before using the indorex or do I definitely need to just face my anxieties and just spray?

Also, when we're over this, is the best thing to keep them at bay the injection or a tablet? As you have noticed, spot ons and sprays make me crazy so if prefer something that isn't on her fur that could transfer onto dd's hands etc.

Please please don’t take her back - it’s not her fault!!

Indorex really works. Just spray before you’re heading out to shops etc. Advantage is much more effective on cats, so try the next.

Remember to throw away the hoover bag after hoovering.

They don’t do any harm beyond making your poor little kitten uncomfortable, and they really will go - hang on in there!

I have used indorex with a baby. Just sprayed and went out for an hour or so

Program injection from the vet is excellent as it makes fleas infertile. I use that with advocate, and for immediate problems there is a tablet called capstar. Also indorex flea spray. Last 2 items available on Amazon.

Raid censorship she a cat covered in vermin any idiot knows RAID is a bad idea but they don’t have blood suckers hopping round the house

Can u tell me what fleas bombs are most effective please?

Diotomacious earth won't go off. If you already have some, use it. If the kitten is covered in fleas, you will have them in the house, whether you have noticed it or not, sorry!

A long time since Ive had a cat but when we did have a flea outbreak the only stuff that worked was from the vet we sprayed the house with. As far as I remember it either killed the eggs that had been layed or stopped them hatching, otherwise our cat would just have got reinfected.