Neighbours cat with fleas dilmemma! WWYD??

[CrookshanksinJimmyChoos]

Our neighbours cat is a sociable little fella and is often in our house for nibbles and the odd nap. As a cat lover, I haven't exactly discouraged it and have enjoyed having him around. However....have recently found fleas!!!!

I haven't wanted to go up to the neighbours and say er excuse me, your mog has fleas (how to even word that!!) so have resorted to replacing the flea collar he was wearing with an identical new one, a months course of Bob Martin's spot on and I comb him regularly with a flea comb. I know I shouldn't really do this but I don't like to think of an animal all itchy.

However, we are still finding flea poo when do the checks on his fur....am reluctant to Front Line him in case the neighbours have already done so (I doubt it but have to play it safe) and don't want him getting an overdose of flea treatment, or for their kids to touch him after he's been front lined and end up with something nasty as a result of it. But, at the same time, don't want to leave it untreated as it can't be very comfortable for the poor cat...

What to do??

BUMP

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You have to treat your house as well as the cat - get some spray and treat carpets, curtains and soft furniture. Otherwise the fleas will just hop back on.

And please do tell your neighbours - even if only so that you know the cat isn't allergic to any of the stuff you're putting on him. I have to say I wouldn't be happy with anyone who took it upon themselves to treat my cat for anything without telling me - you really must tell them.

Bob Martin spot on is rubbish - Front Line is far better and will sort him out very quickly. But it's really up to his owners to do it.

I haven't been bitten by anything though and we have laminate and have not seen any fleas....ugh at thought of fleas in house.........what spray to use that wouldn't be toxic to DS??

you won't have been bitten necessarily as you have animals, the fleas will stick to biting them [and if they are treated they won't last long] However they will be laying eggs in your skirting boards, etc, trust me. No flea sprays are ideal for children. Get someone in and go out for 24 hours if possible afterwards. Otherwise don't worry if you don't get bitten, but if you ever sell the house and the people afterwards don't have pets, they might get eaten alive - that's what happened to us!

Ugh!! Really??? Oh crap!! The thing is, the cat sits outside on our bin miaowing for us and when I've got the porch window open for fresh air he hops right in and I feel awful having to suddenly say no and keep chucking him out - he looks so confused, which is why I was trying to treat him....

You really think that if we kick the cat out permanently they will start crawling out??? ughh!!! All downstairs is laminate and I hoover regularly and when cat is here, he has his own blanket that I wash regularly....

Oh crap!!

i do, sorry. we moved into a flat when the previous woman had a cat. We took up all the carpets and sanded all the floors. We sprayed with flea spray as a precaution. And still the blighters plagued us for a year. It was a nightmare. Had to get Rentokil in twice. Obviously an extreme example but they are amazingly hardy and productive. Don't mean to scare you, you might be alright but do have a word with the owner, even if offering them Frontline in your hand at he door!

I will do so right away....mind you, I like to think the flea collar, bob martin and comb have done something but yes, 'tis not ideal....how to word it???

Hello, lovely day isn't it? By the way, your cat has fleas!

Help!

Not that easy. You could just go round for tea or something, notice the flea poo and point it out in the cat's best interest ask which flea treatment they use, and if they say, nothing, you could secretly frontline the cat at your place....bit of a conversation stopper tho...

Our vet said you shouldn't combine treatments, so if you have a flea collar you don't use spot on. (Flea collars don't actually work IME).

Actually we got so fed up with our neighbours taking in one of our cats regularly that when DD1 moved out she took him with her. The neighbours had a right go because we hadn't told them!!!

Thats the dilemma - if we tell them and they then use Front Line, it was only two weeks ago that I used the Bob Martins and I don't really want to admit that I've treated him......oh crap....I should never have treated him and just told them from day one!

i think the cat will be fine, but i think you'll have to stop letting him into your house if you can't treat him. And then see if you get bitten or not!

Thing is, all of that supermarket stuff is crap. You need proper stuff or it won't work.

I don't think it would hurt to use Frontline on top of Bob Martin - the Bob Martin isn't very strong. It's not very effective either! If you are still seeing evidence of fleas then the collar and the treatment haven't worked; for every flea you see, there are another 10 that you don't.

You can give the first two treatments of Frontline at weekly intervals, so if it's been two weeks since the Bob Martin, chances are it's fine. You could always ring a vet and ask their opinion - most vets are quite happy to give that kind of advice over the phone.

You won't necessarily be bitten if the cat is kept out of the house; fleas and their eggs can lie dormant for a very long time, and wake up again once the weather warms up, or once there's a meal (a cat!) in the house. That's why you must treat the house - the fleas could be a long-term thing if you don't. You can buy flea sprays from the pet shop or the vet; since having dd I only ever treat one room at a time, and keep the door closed and dd out for 24 hours afterwards. Pay special attention to warm places as that's where they hang out - under radiators particularly. And bear in mind that if you are going to continue to allow the cat into your house, you will probably need to re-treat the house at regular intervals, because the chances are that he will get fleas again.

is it my cat? he's also is a sociable little fella and is living in at least one our neighbours houses tho we haven't been able to work out which one. One night he came home with a brand new collar on . Ours comes home so infrequently ans is no so unused to me it's difficult to keep up to date with his flea treatments. If it was my cat, I'd want the neighbour to tell me rather than take treatment upon themselves because of risk of allergies /overtreament and also because I'd need to know to treat my house and any other pets I have.

it is my cat isn't it? little black and white thing, notches missing out of both ears?

look for flea poo bees, tiny black curled stuff on cat's back

Ta ruty, unfortunately the cat in question will now not let me get close enough for a flea-poo search. He is keeping at least three feet away from me since my last attempt at defleaing him. I'll see if DP can have a look later should we get a visit. My other two cats seem to be flea poo free thankfully but then I'm absolutely sure they are properly frontlined every month. If I could find out which neighbour our wanderer is squatting with I'd hand them the frontline and see if they could have better luck.

Hard luck.

Bob Martins spot on if doubled up with a flea collar is likely to be toxic to the cat. It is horrible horrible stuff and vets are campaigning to stop the stuff being sold as we see more incidences of poisonings from this product than any other.

Frontline is a much much safer product and is much less likely to cause any adverse effects if applied now. I personally have never seen a frontline overdose.

Spraying your house is a really good idea. Make sure you get a spray that has a flea hormone in it as well as a flea killing agent, so that any eggs that have a delayed hatching will not progress back to full adult fleas.

No, this cat is not black and white, besides I spoke to the neighbour personally to ask if they were ok with the cat coming in as didn't want them to think it had gone missing.

Anyhoo, plucked up the courage and apparently he's been front lined and he is ok...so maybe the flea poo I was seeing was left overs (I've never actually found a flea on him and I've searched a lot!) and he just needed a good comb...interestingly enough, when I gave him a good comb this morning and then checked him, nothing came out so it may just be he needed a good comb....so, I think my house is ok. Its pretty warm with all the heating on and no bites or anything. Probably the fact its most laminate downstairs helps a lot....

My next door neighbour is a crazy cat lady. Problem is she doesnt look after her little loved ones flea control. The whinging about money daily explains but she always manages to get totally pissed once or more a week!!!! My poor puss is soooooo very allergic to fleas and I have to get the vet in - oh so many times, its costing a pretty penny. There is no use talking to her the grog is far more important than fleas. Wits end. My cat hates being locked inside. Seems to me I have to put my cat down, move or kill her cats (never would). Terrible state of affairs I must say.

We have a similar issue with a neighborhood cat but we don't know what house. Anyway we Broadline our cat religiously every month and he still got fleas! We have had to have a stronger 3 month brand now because the fleas have a tolerance for frontline and now broadline it would appear. So be mindful even though they are using Frontline it might not be working for them at this time x