Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Housekeeping

Find cleaning advice from other Mumsnetters on our Housekeeping forum.

Original poster

Flea help Please!!!

13 replies

Knickers0nMyHead · 21/04/2010 15:15

We have fleas!!!!!

I have two kittens but they don't have them

I thought they were in my fabric sofa so that went on the fire but last night I got bit 12 times in one area

Any help on how to get shut of them would be great.

Also, I don't have a lot of money to be spending on all these expensive flea products, the drops for the cats cost enough.

OP posts:
IBlameThePMT · 21/04/2010 15:17

I found that hoovering really, really thoroughly for a few days on the trot seemed to help get shot of the buggers. But at that point I hadn't hoovered for about 2 months so it needed it

bluebump · 21/04/2010 15:20

We had fleas from a neighbours cat when my DS was a newborn. We used a steam cleaner to get rid of them as it didn't contain any chemicals and you could steam things like the furniture and bedding etc and the long sprayer got in all the nooks and crannies in the house. We just hoovered up afterwards and we've never had them return.

Joolyjoolyjoo · 21/04/2010 15:21

I take it then you have deflead the kittens? IME it is worth getting the better (more expensive) flea products as a lot of the cheaper ones don't really work, so work out more costly in the end, sorry.

Vet or pharmacy should be able to sell you a household spray. This should be sprayed all over, especially around skirting boards and other such cracks and crevices, as that is where fleas like to lay their eggs. there should be instructions on the tin, but I usually advise doing the upstairs when you get up in the morning (so you aren't breathing it in) then downstairs when you are going to bed at night. keep the kittens out of the way too. Hoover next day, then get rid of the hoover bag. make sure you do bedding/ furiture, but worth doing a patch test first in case it discolours fabrics.

You want to hit these little buggers HARD, because they multiply quickly! I know you say the kittens don't have fleas, but they may well have brought them in, and will act as a reservoir if not treated! Fleas don't spend a lot of their time on the animal, preferring to live in your carpets etc

Good luck! HTH

icecoldcatsbum · 21/04/2010 16:20

I found Skoosh very good. It is a spray but worked the best of all those I've tried over the years. In fact I have 2 cans sitting in my cupboard as I thought I would need much more than I have actually needed! One treatment seemed to work here. Also I found the Johnson flea tablets good for the cats (made my little one a bit sleepy though for a few hours, not that she was ever that active in the first place!!)

bintofbohemia · 21/04/2010 16:24

Oh god, our cats brought fleas in at the start of last year. THey were biting me for ages (and DH sayign there was no way it was fleas) before I caught one of the hideous little buggers. They were so hard to get rid of. We called the council in and they came in and sprayed, which killed them eventually, although there were a few stray ones lurkign for months, even after we rehomed the cats.

Call your council, ours were prompt, and very cheap, was about £15 for two spraying sessions.

Good luck, they really are horrible.

Greenshadow · 21/04/2010 16:26

We got 2 kittens a couple of years ago. They didn't have fleas (or so we were assured).
Needless to say, before the little darlings had been outside/met other animals, the house quickly became infested.
I think it would be impossible to say for sure that yours haven't got them, and would have to assume that they did bring them into your house. Treat them as soon as possible - we didn't and are still paying for it - they are hell to get rid of.

Original poster
Knickers0nMyHead · 21/04/2010 23:29

Cats were treated as soon as I got them and have been having drops on every 5/6weeks ever since.

I hoover at least 3 times a day in the living room anyways

I will ring the council tomorrow and see if they will sort it.

Thanks for all the advice.

OP posts:
ameliameerkat · 25/04/2010 18:05

I looked after my boyfriend's cat once and a few weeks later my flat was leaping with fleas! Thankfully I never got bitten I bought some chemical aerosol spray and after leaving the designated time, hoovered (had to buy a new hoover as my previous one didn't have much suck!). Then hoovered everyday for a couple of weeks, which seemed to work. Couple of weeks later, more fleas (but not so many) so repeated the process. Didn't look after the cat again! I hope you got yours sorted.

abunchofmasterdebaters · 25/04/2010 18:19

the only stuff thats ever worked for us is from the vets it is quite expensive but so worth it especially with our 5 cats

didgeridoo · 25/04/2010 23:00

We had a very bad flea infestation once, when a neighbour's cat got locked in our house for the weekend. We sprayed all soft furnishings with spray from the vet's - quite expensive but bog standard spray from a pet shop didn't work. We got Environmental Health to spray the rest of the house, which was free if I remember correctly, but their spray wasn't suitable for soft furnishings. The problem can keep recurring for a number of years as the sprays can't kill spores, which lay dormant. We had to re-spray in the summer for 2 years after the initial infestation. Good luck!

GlastonburyGoddess · 25/04/2010 23:16

hire a decent carpet cleaner and do all the carpets/rugs/mats in the house

then buy the spray from the vets-is about £20ish do all over with this especially the edges of carpets/corners etc do any sofas/chairs with this too

flea the cats with a proper flea treatment eg frontline or stronghold, the shop bought alternatives just dont cut the musturd.

steam clean/wash all curtains

wash all bedding at high temperature

wash cats beds if they have them

wash things you wouldnt normally think of eg slippers/dressing gowns etc

then hoover hoover hoover

I would recommend doing this asap-the warmer the weather gets the more theyll breed and your have a major flea problem on your hands then!

ceres · 26/04/2010 07:17

i remember reading a tip about putting a cheap flea collar in your vacuum cleaner - presumably to kill the hoovered up fleas and eggs.

whomovedmychocolate · 26/04/2010 07:26

Have no money as in on benefits? In this case I think you get a rebate for the treatment from the council and it's quite cheap. We had the council come out and spray our house -the cats died and then we noticed we were getting bitten. Did the trick.

Incidentally they can't survive on human blood so they must be biting the kittens. The way to check is comb the cats over some kitchen towel and wet the resulting dirt/dust - if it turns red, that's dried blood from where the fleas are feasting on your mogs.

Fleas can lie dormant for several years before they hatch out because a host animal appears (in this case you and the kittens).

New posts on this thread. Refresh page