Should I tell her

[JerryGarcia]

Friend staying tomorrow for one night. Should I tell her my cat has fleas? Have treated the house today. Boiled all bed linen. Treated cat too of course (he's now slunk off in a sulk). Despite having cats for my whole life, I've never had this dilemma and not sure what to do. She's pregnant and Google tells me it's not harmful for the baby. I'll double check this with the vet in the morning and will immediately cancel if it is but going by the info I've currently given, should I let her know?

I would. Then it can be her choice.

I'd tell anyone staying in my house if the cat has fleas.

If it was me I would be bothered even if I was pregnant. But it should be the guests choice to stay or not.

I’d let her know out of courtesy. That way she can reschedule or arrange to stay at a local B&B. Fleas may not be harmful per se, but they are pests and no one likes to be bitten by them.

You need to tell her so she can decide if she still wants to visit.
She'll find out anyway as flea treatment absolutely stinks.

Tell her. Fleas can cause horrible bites if you're allergic and irritating itches if you're not. Just phone her and say you found out your cat has fleas and if she wanted to rearrange you'll totally understand. Job done.

I’d want to know, especially if you’ve used very strong chemicals to treat the fleas and it’s still lingering everywhere

i wouldn’t want to go in anyones house who has fleas, I’m allergic to flea bites and they find me very tasty so I end up with huge 50p size lumps and had scaring from them for years when my car had fleas and we couldn’t get rid of them. She won’t want to get fleas and eggs and bring them home with her either.

Definitely. I'd not stay if there were fleas in a house. Her choice.

Yes, you must tell her. I wouldn't stay somewhere with a flea infestation, sorry!

Yes because if she sees a flea and you haven't said anything she will assume you live in a pig sty. We've had this issue and it was absolutely awful. They eat you alive, it's really not nice. Plus, she could be allergic to the bites. Some people are allergic to different bug bites, and some don't even notice.

Have you vacuumed all through the house's nooks and crannies? Have you used a proper spray and shut that room away for a good few hours, then re-vacuumed and aired that room out?

That should get rid of them. It did for us and we had a bad, ongoing infestation that was ruining my life for a time. We bought a new bed too just to be sure.

Treat your cats every month with a treatment from the vet, not an off the shelf one, one that is prescribed according to their weight, otherwise it can harm the cats and/or not work properly.

If you think the problem is sorted tell her it's sorted but if she sees a flea not to be alarmed, and check she isn't allergic to the bites.

If you have treated the whole house with a decent product (Indorex?) and treated your cat with a veterinary grade flea spot on (not a cheap one from the supermarket etc) then you won't have fleas. Tell her out of courtesy, but everything should be fine.

Our house had fleas once. I think it's not nice to have company over in that context so i would alert your friend.

Definitely! I'd choose not to come and would be grateful to have made the choice

Of course you should let her know. Why wouldn’t you?

Tell her. If you've treated with chemicals she may not want to be around that if she is pregnant

I'd also tell her from the chemicals perspective if she's pregnant.

@JerryGarcia I'm not sure what stage she is at but I had a miscarriage at around10 weeks baby years ago, only picked up at1st scan and the first thing the doctor picked up was a lot of flea bites round my ankles and told me they were a significant risk in 1st trimester

Yes and don't let her stay until you've had pest control fumigate. She will not thank you if she takes fleas home pregnant or not

Yes of course you should.

Thanks told her yesterday. Treated cat and the house before I'd told her. Combed cat today and no fleas on him. We're going to meet somewhere else.