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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To beg you to share what has actually worked for you for fleas?

69 replies

Lilolily · 19/11/2021 11:55

I really hate it when people do AIBU when it’s not really, but I’m at the end of my tether with them and need help!

My cat is always itchy as she has a skin condition but fleas just seem to be ongoing no matter what I do.

I do the vacuuming and throwing the bag out immediately. I treat her monthly with spot on from the vet, have got rid of all but 1 carpet (and the stairs). I’ve used bicarbonate of soda, flea powder, all sorts!

Please help - what worked for you?

OP posts:
ThePlantsitter · 19/11/2021 11:59

Have you got an infestation i.e in the sofas and stuff? I found bravecto 3 month pipette from the vet for the cat, & vacuuming and indorex spray for the house finally got rid of them.

Commiserations though, is a right pain in the arse.

Keyboardkaterina · 19/11/2021 12:01

I used a fogger- it’s like a candle that kills off all insects in the room. Had to do a couple a month apart but it worked. You’ll need to make sure your cat is in a different room and get one for each room - they’re available online. Good luck!

DrMadelineMaxwell · 19/11/2021 12:01

Indorex is amazing. We had a nasty infestation which it cleared right up and has never returned.

GailTheSnail · 19/11/2021 12:02

Using the acclaim spray on furniture etc helped and also I think you spray the Hoover bag to get any that may hatch when they are in. I also tried switching up brand of spot on flea treatment helped as I read somewhere that fleas can develop an immunity although i dont know how true that is! Good luck

Lavender24 · 19/11/2021 12:06

I have two long haired dogs and it took so long to get rid of fleas. We tried absolutely everything but the only thing that got rid of every last one was daily flea combing in the bath.

RainbowTomte · 19/11/2021 12:08

Not having pets.

Hth.

roses2 · 19/11/2021 12:08

Council flea service - only thing that worked for us. Think it was £400 but when you add up the ££ spent on DIY sprays it was not far off.

Fere · 19/11/2021 12:10

This time round after 3 treatments I had more and more fleas so came up with this solution.
I am combing my cats with 2 combs I have from the times my kids had lice.
One cheap traditional, the other is the branded Nitty Gritty Nit Comb.
I had to my cats to be patient, they like it after a month of getting used to it.
Seems to work better than the spot on treatment.
I kill the fleas straight away or drawn them in water, and squash the eggs straight away.
I would be gentle with your cat if he has skin condition as both combs pull their fur if you aren't carefully. Both my cats are older moggies, not long haired. I feel they aren't grooming themselves as vigorously as they used to.

AnxiouslyAnxiousToday · 19/11/2021 12:10

Indorex 1000000% - we got an infestation, they were in the carpets, in our beds, on our clothes it’s was a hideous situation!

Indorex’ed the house and went out for the day, after 24 hours I haven’t seen a single flea since. We hoover everyday now as habit too as we used to do every few days. But my god I couldn’t rate that spray highly enough.

lawandgin · 19/11/2021 12:11

Indorex is good stuff, but strong. Ideally clear the house of pets and people and go top to bottom - any soft furnishings, against skirting boards etc. I usually use two tins for one treatment of our house.

Fere · 19/11/2021 12:11

Just to add, this is the first month of my new "treatment". I still find occasional fleas, much fever eggs. Works for my dog as well as he has often cats fleas.

Rupertpenrysmistress · 19/11/2021 12:11

Yep indorex is what you need.

PAFMO · 19/11/2021 12:13

@DrMadelineMaxwell

Indorex is amazing. We had a nasty infestation which it cleared right up and has never returned.
Indorex is the only thing that works imo. My mum's neighbour's cat brought them to visit and we tried everything. It went on for about 6 weeks. Then poisoned the fuckers with Indorex. Never had another.
Missmissmiiiiiiiiisss · 19/11/2021 12:15

We inherited a flea problem Sad The only that finally got rid of them was a super chemical spray ‘bomb’ type of thing. Sadly all the more environmentally friendly things failed.

CoffeeAndDryShampoo · 19/11/2021 12:17

If the spot on treatment from the vet is not working they may have an alternative tablet form called Comforts that might be worth a go instead. Also Indorex spray and thorough vacuuming.

CoffeeAndDryShampoo · 19/11/2021 12:18

*Comfortis

BahHumbygge · 19/11/2021 12:18

Stronghold from the vets.

While you're waiting for that to work (it can take around a fortnight to start breaking the breeding cycle), flea combing several times a day.

Get a cereal bowl of water, stir in a squeeze of washing up liquid. As you're combing and find fleas, immediately remove the flea from the comb and drown in the water. The washing up liquid breaks the surface tension of the water, so the fleas can't jump out. You'll probably start out finding loads on your pets, but after a couple of days, it will put a big dent in the numbers.

squashyhat · 19/11/2021 12:19

It won't help with the infestation but going forward I recommend Bravecto treatment from the vet. You dab it on the back of the cat's neck every 3 months. We have used it on ours since we got him aged 4. He's now 7 and has never had a flea and he's very much an outdoor cat.

IDontDrinkTea · 19/11/2021 12:22

Hired a professional pest control service.

Going forward, I’ve found spot on treatments useless for the dog. Since giving her an anti-flea tablet we’ve never had another one

CookPassBabtridge · 19/11/2021 13:14

I sympathise OP. I detest fleas mainly because they attack me mercilessly for months in the late summer, my feet and ankles look like I'm a heroin addict. The only thing that killed them was a combo of the cold weather and getting a proper tablet from the vets.

SpinachIsAGatewayDrug · 19/11/2021 13:15

Vet- prescribed treatment for the animals.

Indorex for the house (cheaper to buy online).

Indorex is like nepalm Grin

Ispini · 19/11/2021 13:18

@Keyboardkaterina

I used a fogger- it’s like a candle that kills off all insects in the room. Had to do a couple a month apart but it worked. You’ll need to make sure your cat is in a different room and get one for each room - they’re available online. Good luck!
We used the same and after a few uses they worked, you can get them from Amazon. Our cats were hanging out with some strays and brought them in. It has to be the biggest pain in the arse ever! You have my sympathies it does take a while to get rid of them as their eggs are very resilient! Initially we had the house professionally fumigated and they even survived that twice!
OneTC · 19/11/2021 13:20

I rehomed the cat for about 3 months and turned our flat into a legitimate toxic fucking wasteland

IAmMeThisIsI · 19/11/2021 13:21

Do all the cleaning you're doing. But buy some of those tabelts for fleas off the internet that makes the fleas drop off. Obvs follow all the hygiene rules etc. Then Frontline the cat once. Wait just two weeks. Frontline again. My cats took about a month for all the newly hatched buggers to come out and die (after jumping on my cats). Frontline can have a delayed response in killing them off but it does eventually work. It's the little feckers that newly hatch out that are the causing the delay.

annonymousse · 19/11/2021 13:25

We had a problem with fleas back in the summer with our dogs. We flea bombed the house, sprayed all the carpets and under the furniture with flea spray and used spot on for the dogs. We bought flea tablets that they can take daily. That was all useless so now they have a tablet from the vet that is supposed to guard against fleas for up to 3 months. We spent nearly £300 to get rid of them. Every time the dogs scratches now we're paranoid. We Hoover daily and brush the dogs too. Fingers crossed they are all gone now.