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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to want to get rid of my cats

84 replies

BEAUTlFUL · 27/05/2008 22:34

I don't mean hurl them off a bridge, I mean sell them to a nicer home.

We have two cats, a mother (6) and her son (3). Despite our using Spot-On, both cats are riddled with fleas which are now rife in our beds, curtains, carpets and sofas. We've used those Bob Martin flea bomb things all over the house, to no effect.

DS1 has flea bites all over him, and DS2 had a flea crawling on his face today! And two days ago, the son-cat nibbled on DS2's tiny little fingers. I couldn't tell if it was a sweet, grooming-kind of nibble or a preliminary munch.

Both cats love all the baby's stuff (playmat, cot, pram) and I'm forever turfing them out. They wind round my legs when I'm going downstairs, and when I'm in the kitchen.

I've had enough.

Can I take them to the Cat's Protection League and have them re-homed? What should I do?

OP posts:
Original poster
BEAUTlFUL · 27/05/2008 23:04

bethoo, it is so bad. Last summer, I watched DH sitting on the sofa picking fleas off his legs constantly.

Hey -- could I use a steam-cleaner on sofas, etc, to kill the eggs?

OP posts:
micci25 · 27/05/2008 23:05

if it is just the fleas that are bothering you the most you can get frontline from the vets i had tried loads of stuff in the past (bob martin is shite imo) and none worked the frontline from the vets is really really good. for my two cats, dog and spray for the house it was about £75 so quite expensive but you get enough to last about 6 months.

plus if you are really really vigilant with hoovering all soft furnishings and carpets and washing any thing the cats sit on (esp in warmer weather) they shouldnt come back. vet told me most fleas live in the furniture not the animal

my cat used to love trying to 'groom' my baby of course i never let him but he never hurt her.

iof they are really bothering you though there is no harm in rehoming as long as they go to a good home

IdrisTheDragon · 27/05/2008 23:05

Our cat had fleas when I was very pregnant with DD (only I seem to get bitten) and DH just thought it was some pregnancy aliment. Then after DD was born he got bitten and suddenly my pain was realised .

We used some heavy duty stuff; can't remember what but DD would have been very small and it was fine.

I think it sounds that you are frustrated with DH having wanted the cats, but not actually doing anything about them. This is why I have told DH that despite him wanting a rabbit, it will never happen.

CarGirl · 27/05/2008 23:07

I should think steam cleaning would work quite well. The infestation sounds unbearable I can so understan why you want them gone - unfortunately the fleas will still be there..........

bethoo · 27/05/2008 23:07

steam cleaner is good though i do not know if they would kill fleas. maybe the heat would.
maybe you could strip everything that you can and cover with white sheets until the treatment starts to work or as recommended can you and baby stay at friends while you bomb the place?

IdrisTheDragon · 27/05/2008 23:08

I also recommend front line

misdee · 27/05/2008 23:08

do you vacumn daily? i would advise doing that with cats.

i had to use the strong flea stuff when dd1+2 were small, we had had a kitten for ust two weeks, who had been de-flead, but once the cat left the fleas attacked us, it was a nightmare. i sent dd's out for the night to stay with someone else, sprayed one room, closed the door, did the next one and so on, until i was in the hallwaym, with my bagf and coat, sprayed there, locked up and went out for thje afternoon. came back opened all the windows, vacumned everywhere, no more fleas.

micci25 · 27/05/2008 23:08

yep steam cleaners work well but you still need to hoover them too. i steam clean my soft furnsihings about once every two weeks to keep on top of fleas, gets rid of any animal smells too

espadair · 27/05/2008 23:18

I had been thinking of getting a cat again since our last one died a couple of years ago but this thread has put me right off. flashbacks to our own fleas infestation years ago, suffered for ages, can't remember the name of what worked but it did cost us £20 from the vets and it was a spray. Thanks for bringing me to my senses

cathcat · 27/05/2008 23:21

We had fleas in the house when DS1 was about 10 weeks old and I got freaked out because nothing seemed to be working. Frontline was the way to go but it can takes a few weeks to work fully . The can had a customer helpline no. on the back and I spoke to a lovely man who calmed me down!

cathcat · 27/05/2008 23:23

Someone told me I had to wash every single thing in my wardrobes and linen cupboard and steam iron everything to kill any flea eggs. Just what a person with a newborn baby wants to be doing! Luckily it was not necessary.

Original poster
BEAUTlFUL · 27/05/2008 23:28

I'm still gibbering at the idea of vacuuming daily. Vacuuming? Daily? Vacuuming daily?!

I might just employ a vacumming daily.

OP posts:
Original poster
BEAUTlFUL · 27/05/2008 23:30

You lot are so lovely, you really are. I promise not to do anything rash with the cats. (DH, however, is going over the bridge in a sack.) I'll make a vet appointment tmrw and ask for a baby-friendly flea-killing action plan.

OP posts:
jammi · 27/05/2008 23:48

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

ALMummy · 27/05/2008 23:57

My midwife told me that it is a natural reaction to go off your pets when you have a new baby. It is instinct telling you not to allow an animal around your baby. I had no time for our dog at all after the birth of DS and would not have cared if we found him a new home despite having adored him before. Now of course I adore him again and feel so guilty when I look back on how I ignored him when my kids were smaller. He is such a kind, gentle old thing as well. Don t do anything hasty.

Shitemum · 28/05/2008 00:03

Flea-killing products are highly toxic. You do not want to use them if there are small children in the house.
Just in case you didnt know...

Lovesdogsandcats · 28/05/2008 00:03

There are at least FOUR of you on this thread who gave your cats away once you had kids????

Honestly, do you all realise how fucking stupid and selfish you sound. People like you should never have been allowed to get a cat in the first place, and the cats are probably much happier away from you anyway.

To Op...Frontline kills all fleas within 24 hours. Stuff from pet shops is crap, you need the proper stuff from a vet. Honestly, do your research first before deciding to part with your family cats. And a cat winding itself round your legs...showing you affection you mean? that should make you happy, can't understand why anyone would see that as a negative thing...I love my cat coming near me and brushing up against me.

Original poster
BEAUTlFUL · 28/05/2008 00:04

!!!!!!!!! That's so interesting, because I went off the mummy-cat after DS1 was born (then went back on her), and this time around I'm hacked-off with both of them.

OP posts:
Lovesdogsandcats · 28/05/2008 00:05

Flea killing products are fine as lo9ng as you wash your hands after, and try not to let the kids touch the area of application on the cat, for 24 hours after. other than that, they are fine. Read the instructions, and that is what they say.

misdee · 28/05/2008 00:07

lovecatsanddogs, we only had the kitten two weeks as it set off dd's allergies. she was wheezing and coughing. dd2 also reacted to the cat.

unfortunatly no-one would take my kids.

but i did have someone already on standby for the kitten, who took good care of her.

mashedup · 28/05/2008 00:07

Hi

I took my cat to the vets when he had fleas. She gave him tablets, (he was losing fur), and 3-months Stronghold flea treatment, with the advice to de-flea him each month all year round.
The Stronghold has all gone, so I've got Frontline. I used Spot On, but it didn't work. I told the vet, she said it was useless. He's now better, and we're no longer scratching.
I agree with Almummy, when my children were small, I didn't want animals near them. Try Frontline and give it a bit longer before you do anything.

scaryteacher · 28/05/2008 00:25

I had my 3 cats 9 years before I had ds so there was no competition - they were going nowhere!

Frontline is fab and works a treat and as long as it's applied regularly the problem doesn't return. I used it in conjunction with some stuff in big yellow cans for the carpets and it worked.

Cats and baby, no problem.

SparklyGothKat · 28/05/2008 00:31

I had a cat (he died 4 years ago ) from a kitten. He never went out and didn;t have fleas. We had just moved into our own place and BIL brought us an old sofa around. It was crawling with fleas.. my whole flat ended up infected with fleas.. [shudder] anyway I went to the vets and got some spray and did living room, closed door, bathroom, closed door, kitchen, closed door etcetc and then sat outside on the balacony with the cat. went back in 1 hour later, opened all the windows, hoovered... no more fleas.. also frontlined the cat. That bob martin stuff is crap.. sorry, you need real hardcore stuff..

soopermum1 · 28/05/2008 00:34

you can get frontline online now, the laws on selling it have changed. i believe they work in that they put something toxic into the cat's bloodstream so that the fleas die whenever they take a bite of the cat. cats are infinitely more attractive to fleas than humans so the theory is all the fleas at some point will jump on the cat and get killed by the frontline. therefore, in theory, you probably need to just the frontline a couple of days then give the house a good old clean to rid it of dead fleas.

i got my cats one of these, and could'nt get them out of them. they loved them. otherwise, keep certain doors shut if you don't want them in particular rooms and shoo them off other things. a gentle spray from a water pistol may help.

www.amazon.co.uk/Quality-Pet-Products-7151-Radiator/dp/B000EDWHZ4

egyptianprincess · 28/05/2008 01:13

Lovesdogsandcats, please get off your moral high horse and stop telling people they sound fucking stupid and selfish. As you never met the cats in question I don't see how you can judge.