Cat with fleas...I think

[crosshatching]

Morning all, I was hoping you could give me some advice. My little cat is really itchy and grooming a lot at the moment. I have used a Bob Martin flea thing on the back of her neck a few days ago, but she's still scratching. Is there anything else I should be doing?

You could use a Flea comb too.
Tbh I don’t find the off the shelf flea treatments very effective. Prescription treatments from the vet are far more effective.

Have you had a good look to check that it isn’t a skin condition rather than fleas? Separate her fur and have a look at some of her itchiest spots and check her skin condition.

The Bob Martin stuff is awful - makes my cat's eyes sting somehow! Frontline is much more effective.

It's possible she has a skin allergy, our cat gets very itchy in the summer time and has had antihistamine injections before.

Have you done the flea test with damp kitchen roll? Wipe it across their back a few times from bottom to tail and if there are any black bits on there it's flea eggs.

Don't use Bob Martin
Try Advantage flea treatment or ask your vet for what's effective in your area

You need a prescription neck treatment such as nexa guard. Isn’t much more expensive and will transform their fur and skin. Just ask the vet.

Bob Martin is rubbish stuff and has been known to kill cats!!

There was a massive recall on the product

Advantage is very good as pp says. Apparently, fleas have become resistant to many of the other preparations .

Yup. Frontline is no longer effective.

Advantage treats the house too. It sheds as the animal moves

This is all brilliant - thanks everyone. Will have a look for Advantage and try the damp tea towel test.

vet told me that if your cat has fleas there's a chance they may also have worms ( fleas carry the eggs) so make sure you are using a prescription wormer too

We use bravecto on our cat and I've never even seen a flea or flea dirt. 18 months old. Get it from the vets, use every three months and costs £200 a year. We also use a wormer from the vets.

The fleas in your area will be resistant to different solutions than other posters. Ask your vet which is currently effective.

Round by us last year it was Advocate that was prescribed, this time around it’s Stronghold, but will likely change again in the future as resistance increases naturally.

We have been warned against both frontline and bob martin for years, and whilst I’m a bit of a cynic thinking the vets change recommendations based on pharmaceutical profits, you can easily end up spending more trying to fix a flea problem than paying for the prescription solution in the first place.

It may not be fleas though as others have said, allergens etc. Mine over grooms and seems itchy/gets a bit scabby when the weather shifts and his fur either thickens up or sheds with temperature changes.

Actually that's a really good point about the fur thickening up, she's doing her annual transformation from sleek to flooffball. I will try the other tests and call the vet to see what they recommend.

Following with interest as my two got very itchy recently. Went to the vets and paid a fortune for prescription all in one spot on treatment but one of them is still scratching a lot.