Aargh - Fleas

[squishy]

I frontlined my cats the other day because I'm being bitten terribly (thank goodness 10 week old DD isn't, DH also isn't). Have just seen a flea. Am very concerned that she will get bitten (also concerned that we have an infestation) so plan to get proper treatment for the house from the vets, but they were unable to tell me how long to keep DD out of the house for - anyone had this before? Any ideas/suggestions? eek.

the worse they will do is bite they wont live on her

I know, but if she's anything like me, she'll react very badly to the bite. Paranoia really as I've been being bitten for over a week and it's taken me a while to get around to doing anything about it

I know fleas are hell but I would worry far more about the chemicals in the treatment. We cope with just frontline, but we only have one cat now. The reason the vets can't tell you how long to keep your dd out of the house for is that they don't know and they don't want to get themselves into trouble by being wrong. 10 weeks is so very young and babies are so sensitive I personally would not treat the house. Wash everything you can, hoover regularly, spraying with (I think) a solution of water, tea tree, lavender and thyme will help deter them, and neem oil is supposed to be excellent but I am not quite sure how you use it.

Ah, OK. Have just spoken to a pharmacist who told me that the 2 active ingredients in the treatment are a derivatives of a plant and therefore harmless, but that the carrier is a volatile ingredient which evaporates quickly.

Oh, what a dilemma - the frontline clearly hasn't done the trick (always has in the past).

THanks for the advice, will go and think on.

That's what I thought (I was sitting on furniture and noticed the flea on my arm - same thing a couple of weeks ago) but the vet's nurse told me the fleas can live for years without feeding, but I thought it was the eggs, and the frontline stalled the reproductive cycle - may hoover around and give it a day or 2 before making the decision (am taking DD out all day Sunday, so that would be a good day to do it, if I'm going to). Thanks (they go for me, too!)

Our cats like sleeping on our bed, but can put a stop to that - they don't sleep anywhere the baby does.

Am a little concerned about things like her activity mat and sheepskin rug - they are on the floor, but the pharmacist reckoned they'd be OK - mainly carpets and furniture/bedding - is that your experience?

Oh I need to join the flea club too.

I treated our cat about 3 weeks ago and also sprayed the whole house. It is only me that is getting bitten and it seems only when I am in my room, but I sprayed the room to death so what else can I do ??

Pamina, did you actually spray the beds ?? and if so what spray did you use ??

If you are seeing fleas and getting bitten like this then you have an infestation that needs treating.

when we had an infestation when we had a newborn and I kept finding them on knees of clothes when sitting down or babygro sleeve (baby sitting on lap) and found out through research that this is because they had jumped up from the carpet (fleas can jump to knee height).

You will have all stages of fleas in your carpet and it takes time to stop seeing newly hatched fleas as the sprays don't necessarily kill the pupa stage which can lie dormant for ages but is triggered to hatch by movement nearby. This is how a rental property left empty for even a year can still be "infested" with fleas when a new tenant moves in.

We used a one-off spray and then hoovered up after the recommended time limit. We did downstairs first and kept baby upstairs all day in a room with a window open for fresh air. Then 48 hours later I did the upstairs and kept baby downstairs all day (apart from going out etc).

It took well over weeks before we stopped seeing the odd flea here and there but it was comforting to know that any we did see were already "dying" as they had hatched and come into contact with the treated carpet.

Hope this helps

Should say well over 6 weeks before we stopped seeing the odd flea here and there.

Hi Squishy, we've just had a flea infestation too - weird because normally they don't come until spring, must be global warming!

You probably need to spray the cat as well as frontline him, frontline only kills the eggs, not the fleas, so it will take a while for the current crop to die. I frontlined, sprayed the cat and hoovered ferociously for a week and that seems to have it under control for the moment - trying to hold off spraying the carpets unless absolutely necessary.

FWIW I too react very badly to flea bites (and mosquitoes) but DS seems to be almost unaffected - he has been bitten a few times but they've only come up as tiny red pricks, no swelling or itching at all. Maybe babies have some natural protection or don't react in the same way...? I don't know.

Go to the vet and get the prescription only flea killer that they can give you.

It is expensive but it actually works, unlike most of the stuff you can buy over the counter.

You may as well buy the good stuff first as last, it will sae you loads of time, frustration and money in the long term.

Oh and I have found that machine washing pretty much gets rid of them - so maybe you could wash the playmats, sheepskins etc instead of spraying them...?