Help! Either the fleas go or the cat gets it...

[aloha]

We are absolutely plagued with fleas. had them in our old house and now we've moved we are infested again. Poor ds has horribly bitten legs (so do I) and I've picked them out of dd's hair (ugh!). Dh absolutely hates it. Says it makes him feel unclean. He now is very, very keen to get rid of the cat. The cat, admittedly, is remarkably stupid and unfriendly, but the children like having a pet (even a very unsatisfactory one) around. I know if we get rid of this cat dh will not countenance having another pet, and I would like the children to have a pet. We have sprayed the carpets repeatedly with horrible toxic chemicals, hoover (admittedly only once a week but I can't do more, I just can't) and the cat has a flea collar. We did the drops thing on her before but it made no difference. Are some cats just particularly flea-ey or something?

some cats do seem more prone to fleas - when I was growing up we had a long haired cat that was always getting them - one of my litle jobs was checking the cat for fleas weekly -- I got very good at it - used to crush the little b*ggers with my nails

But as I said earlier, my present cat is fine has only had fleas a couple of times in 6 yrs

ha It must be something about anti-social cats -- the longhaierd one was REALLY unfriendly

Cat jabs do work, apparently. I am sorry. We just have killer ants in the garden, who are seriously making me think of moving.

What I thought was fleas turned out to be a mysteriously revolting skin condition of my own

Dh was glad we were moving as we'd leave the fleas behind! But unfortunately...

Hmm..killer ants.. kettle of boiling water on nest? That sugary stuff they take back to the nest and kill all their kind with?
It's not terribly Bhuddist, any of this, is it?

It's martial Buddhist. Which you do get.

(You even get martial t'ai chi, with swords. DP does it.)

God, that should frighten the ants
Must google to try to find phone number for vet. We have been very remiss with jabs etc. Think dh secretly hopes cat will die.

Yes - recommend Frontline. Not cheap (just paid around £28 for six months supply for one cat), but IMO worth every penny - fleas are worse than awful! Only available from the vet, but since we adopted Ronnie and Charlie from Blossom2 a year ago, we've had no problems in the flea dept. You have to keep on top of it though and remember to use the drops monthly, but it comes with little diary/calander markers to remind you.
now if I could teach them not to abandon leftover mouse bits wherever the feel like dropping them, that'd be perfect! Very happy for them to catch the mice though.

We have a vet round here somewhere if you're desperate. In our house it's DP who attends to the wretched mogs.

Found the vet... dh muttering darkly about the expense of cat food...

Mi, do tell more about your 'revolting skin condition' - I'm agog!

Our cats have never had fleas up here in Scotland but we were plagued with them when we lived down south. When I remarked on this to the vet he said cat fleas are mainly a southern and city problem. A friend with four cats (hmm, that may just be three now - I lose track!) uses one of the remedies from the vet and it actually works, unlike the OTC stuff you can buy.

Aloha, we have an antisocial tabby, as well. But she is lovely to look at. Since dh has been away she's been getting nicer and nicer - I think it's just dh she hates, snigger, snigger!!

I will call the vet tomorrow and find out what he recommends, apart from death.

Frontline is fantastic. We had a cat that was very allergic to fleas and you could tell the day they arrived on him (he'd get covered in little black bits). A couple of (very smelly) drops later and with a day or so the fleas were gone. If you have a real infestation then there are some house sprays you can get from the vet. The over the counter stuff from the pet shops are worse than useless.

Oh, and fleas are usually much more of a problem in the summer, so if you treat your cat now you may find that the problem goes away quite fast. Our vet said that the fleas drop off the cats into the grass where the next cat picks them up. I am guessing in the winter the cats go out less, or it's too cold for the fleas.

Suedonim, I had what looked like a dreadful outbreak of bites, all over my body. They were quite horribly acne-looking, actually, and also very itchy. I tried all sorts of anti-flea things but was eventually told that they were a skin rash wossname, which did clear up. In the end.

Gosh, that sounds awful, MI. Glad it cleared up eventually.

aloha keep us updated i have to know if this has a happy ending

Have borrowed a cat basket and will book a visit to the vet when my mum can look after the children as can't face struggling with a furious cat, a baby and a small boy. Dh keeps looking at the cat with a thoroughly evil way though.

sorry if i am duplicating havent read all.

our cat gets fleas often (eats dead rotting country things)

the vet prescribes fab stuff (drops on back of neck). he says all stuff you can buy over the counter is pants.

the BEST way to get rid of fleas in your home is by hoovering. They live in dust. Change all the beds and hoover the mattresses, edge of beds, under beds and round all corners of rooms. Do it really thoroughly.

remember the fleas will jump on the cat so once she is treated she willbe a walking flea killer.

I would only use spray if I could do it before I went away for a few days it is hideous stuff.

HTH. the dds have had lots of bites before on their legs and scalp and it is embarrassing.

God yes, poor ds looks like he has scabies or is abused child. Keep expecting social services at my door.
Ok I WILL go to the vet!

Shall I look in the Yellow Pages for your area Aloha?

For a vet or a cat disposal unit Blu?
I have a vet, but dh would vastly prefer the latter option!

Oh, I thought you were looking for a grim reaper of a vet...

You know me...

Don't! You'll only encourage him, and he doesn't need much encouragement.

Enid is absolutely correct. Plus flea eggs and indeed fleas can remain dormant for up to 2 years. If there is no animal in the house or the problem is bad then they will bite people. They only need animals/people to feed - they can reproduce anywhere!

Hoovering is a must - as is treating the cat very regularly. Usually hoovering around the edges of the room where its not disturbed so much is more beneficial than hoovering just where the people can walk. IME its highly unusual for a pet to not have fleas if not being treated. But i do live in the South........

This time of year, the central heating goes on, that can escalate a flea problem too.

Static (in carpets etc) can also cause marks that are similar to flea bites. The remedy to that is to lightly spray carpets with a fine mist of water.

Cats! "Buy one, get one flea"

Couldn't they have a nice rabbit in the garden?