Fleas! How to rid the house of them (quite embarrassed)

[Molehillmountain]

Saw one jumping of baby the other day. Have treated the cat but how do I get rid of the ones in the house.

lots of hoovering mainly

you can spray the places where the cat sits or sleeps

Those smoke foggers really do the trick. Flea powders and sprays didnt work for us.

Foggers didn't work for us either on one rather stubborn infestation recently.

One can of Indorex, however, and we were sorted and haven't had any since (several months ago now!)

Try a small shallow plate with golden syrup in it to the depth of a few milimetres. Then put a reading lamp with the sort of bulb that gets warn shining onto the plate. Thy are attracted by th heat from the lamp and jump onto the plate where they get stuck in the syrup.
My vet used to recommend Frontline but now says Stronghold is the one to use. Lots of anecdoctals on the net about Frontline not seeming to be as effective as it was.

Ditto lots of hoovering and empty the canister into an outside bin or bag straight into the rubbish bin.

I sprayed the house too and discovered all the moths, spiders, earwigs, wood lice and flies that congregate in the corners of the rooms, edge of walls etc.

Sadly I've still spotted the odd flea and even though the cat has had drops on the back of the neck, I've put a flea collar on her too and check her over as soon as she comes back in the house. Bob Martin's stuff is rubbish!

The woman at Pets at Home says Frontline works but takes 2 or 3 weeks to work and you will see your cat scratching after they have been done.

I also read that letting your Frontlined cat into every room is a good thing as the fleas jump on the cat and die.

Also hoovering and washing bedding.

My sympathies. I still shudder at the memory of saying "it's not chicken pox, it's just a couple of flea bites" re: my 2yo. And this wasn't in the 17th century, it was just a few months ago.

I can recommend effipro (available on vet uk) for the cat (works better than frontline) and indorex for the house along with lots and lots of hoovering. We have six cats and had a major infestation over the summer as apparently it's been a bumper year for all things creepy and crawly. Since using the above combination it's back under control and the cats are much happier :D

www.vetuk.co.uk/effipro-effipro-for-cats-c-3_1019_1017?zenid=o3t2k1vj5r8c5lhrs37k7n7057

Indorax.
Electric flea trap. Cheap on amazon.
Hoover, Hoover, Hoover.

Frontline does NOT work anymore. The fleas have built up an immunity to it as it's over 10 years old, plus the preparation has changed so that it can be sold over the counter.

We've just had our cats done with advantage. Hoping it will work.

it is said that if you put a flea-collar in the vac bag, it will kill the fleas you hoover up. A moth-killing hanger would do the same (they emit a small amount of vapour which is effective in a closed dark container, the chemical breaks down exposed to sunlight, rain or fresh air)

be sure to use cat chemicals not dog ones as some insecticides are toxic to cats (but not people)

Thing that worked for us was getting the cat an injection from the vet twice a year. Have not seen a flea in 3 years.

We had tried all powders and lotions known to man and nothing worked.

The injection works as a contraceptive on the fleas so you will not see an immediate change but a couple of weeks and they will breed no more!

Thank you for all your suggestions. Am having a major autumn spring clean so will Hoover like mad. Cat has jabs this week so will do flea thing at same time. I feel nervous about the heavy duty flea treatments for the house but perhaps I need to get on with it. Can't bear any more bites on baby dd2

We have also found the injections to be very effective. Good luck!

Effipro is the same as frontline, same ingredients. Ime neither work.

We've found Frontline Combo very effective.

Also get flea spray for the house from the vet - much much more effective than what you can buy at pets at home et al. The one we got is called Acclaim.

Hoover every other day too. There is one stage of the flea lifecycle where they are basically bomb proof so you need to let it go through the cycle (the adult fleas will be killed once they hatch)

You have my sympathies, we had a terrible infestation last month, took a lot of effort to get rid of it. Mortified doesn't even touch it.

gawd, glad we are not the only ones. We have one cat and our cleaner has been on holiday all summer, suffice to say we didn't hoover as much as we should have . Cleaner is now back and we have flea collared the cat plus frontline and Indorexed the whole house twice. DS2 still got bitten today. Indorex again at the weekend it is! Plus cat off for injections.

Oh and may i recommend Indorex for the HUGE spiders in the garage and attic. DH de spiders our garage twice a year, some of those fuckers are frightening

You can also buy Acclaim at larger Boots stores