Our whole family (2 adults+2teens) have come out in hives, very itchy and annoying!

[HivesChives]

No Idea what's caused it, we haven't changed anything like laundry liquid (still use ecover), haven't changed our diet.
The worst affected area for everyone is the feet and ankles, see photos of me, Dad, but we have the odd hive in other parts of the body as well.
We've tried antihistamines to no avail.
The weather hasn't even been particularly hot for the last month.
Any suggestions/advice?

Do you wear slippers/ shoes without socks at home? It certainly looks like flea bites which are concentrated in the low and exposed areas of feet and ankles. But very few in the area covered by shoes.

Thinking about your previous covid like symptoms - have you had any cat scratches or blistering? I know that you can get flu like symptoms if a cat passes on a bacteria via a scratch.

These are my wife's feet.

Sometimes we wear slippers, sometimes barefoot.

The flea treatment we use on the cat is called advocate, it's a prescription flea treatment.

They look more like flea/bedbug bites than hives. I've had similar this year and our cat has monthly treatment. Maybe more resistant this year?

We use the same flea treatment also

Those do not look at all like hives, too regular. Hives tend to be big irregular raised patches.

I'm with the consensus, fleas.

Pretty definitely flea bites, typical appearance; has a stray cat been in the house if you’re sure your cat doesn’t have any?

They look like fleabites. My flatmate had a cat years back and it had fleas. We used to wear jeans and we always used to get bitten around our ankles.

Hives are usually in clumps, raised together in areas. Those are not hives. They do look like bites though.

That's flea bites.

Being the whole family and worst on feet and ankles is a give away.

You need Bravecto for the cat, lots of other treatments are now ineffective and multiple cans of Indorex to spray the house.

Yep, agree with most of the others - you have a flea infestation. You need a new flea treatment for the cat and Indorex your house.

Sorry but that looks like scabies.

Treatable with lotion from the chemist and washing everything you own

Scabies? Bed bugs?

Check your bed for black spots like a biro has been dropped on it. That's bed bugs

Either way, you all need to be seen either by your GP or Pharmacist.

It doesn't look anything like scabies!

It does however look exactly like flea bites. I'd hoover incredibly thoroughly then Indorex the entire house (including all soft furnishings) and then go out for the day while it settles.

Oh and if it's bed bugs get professional treatment immediately. We're 4 months in and still haven't quite got rid (took ages to get to the bottom of what it was)

Defo looks like flea bites

I hate to say it but at our last visit, 2 weeks ago, the vet said they no longer uses advantage because apparently it doesn’t work as well as it used to…

But OP uses Advocate, not Advantage...

It's possible the reason OP and her family are being bitten is that all the fleas have moved off the pet and on to humans.

Fleas prefer the animal they are designed for. If she has treated the pet so they can't bite it, the fleas are now making do by biting her.

Following as I think my cat may also have fleas (if that is what is causing your bites OP). Can I therefore ask, what is the best flea treatment and can it be bought anywhere other than the vet please as mine is a bugger to get an appointment even for a prescription

There's no way that your whole family have come out in hives!

It looks more like bed bug bites or fleas!!