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
Pets

Join our community on the Pet forum to discuss anything related to pets.

Original poster

my son i think is starting to react to his flea bites. do i need to get rid of my cats?q

37 replies

juicychops · 22/08/2009 20:01

have fleas in my house. im trying to get rid of them and have spent a fortune already. my 2 cats that i have had 6 days are covered in fleas and although they are now being quarentined in the kitchen, their fleas and eggs are prob still being transported around the house. my other cat is living outside at the moment so i dont need to worry about her but these new ones would prob get lost if they went outside as they dont know the area

my son has so many bites now and when he is being biten they are now coming up as great big red spots as opposed to the little dots he was getting at first. i think he is beginning to react to them and im worried he will start to develop more symptoms if he carries on being biten

i dont want to get rid of my new cats as they have already come from one awful home, but i feel that by keeping them i may beputting my son's health at risk.

what do you think i should do?

OP posts:
beautifulgirls · 22/08/2009 20:07

You need to spray the house with a decent household spray such as Indorex. If you get the flea problem under control your son should be just fine. It is not the cats causing the problem, it is the fleas.
If you have already separated him from the cats and you say the fleas are in the rest of the house anyway, then you will not acheive anything getting rid of the cats anyway.

Ewe · 22/08/2009 20:24

Have you frontlined the cats?

Once you have done that then put the heating on as the heat brings out the fleas, then flea bomb all rooms, powder the carpets and rugs, spray mattress and curtains and hoover like crazy. It is time consuming but does work.

Ewe · 22/08/2009 20:24

Oh and some piriton for DS?

theyoungvisiter · 22/08/2009 20:28

akaik getting enormous great blobs is nothing to worry about - I always reacted like this to cat fleas as a kid, huge red things the size of a £2 coin or bigger which then went purple and took an age to fade. When we moved to a flea-infested house I looked like a plague victim for months.

however there was never any suggestion that there might be more serious health consequences other than it being bloody unpleasant.

Agree that frontline and extermination of the house is the way to go, and you must keep treating the cats or the fleas will come back.

Original poster
juicychops · 22/08/2009 20:42

yes all cats have stronghold spot on stuff on them. how long does that take to work? i put it on them all yesterday lunch time but still picked 2 live fleas off one of the cats this evening

how much as an estimate does it cost for an exterminator to come in? really dont think i could afford it though. do them bombs work? do i need one for every room or one for up and one for down stairs? i have a 2 up 2 down terrace house
do the bombs kill eggs too?

i have been hoovering about 6 times a day the last few days im constantly itching from the thought of fleas around me!

are you allowed to use flea collars with flea treatment or not?

OP posts:
Joolsiam · 22/08/2009 20:50

Did you get the Stronghold from the Vet ? If you got the supermarket version, then I'm not surprised that it isn't working - it isn't as good.

Equally, you may have seen fleas on the cat that have jumped on from inside the house and will eventually be killed by the Stronghold.

It will take time to break the cycle - there will no longer be eggs on your cats but there will be elsewhere in the house.

You can get a spray from your vet (around £11 I think) that will treat the whole of a house that size - you spray it round the sides of the room and on soft furnishings and it effectively kills all fleas in the room - really works well. You need something like this, otherwise the fleas will just keep spreading back to the cats.

Give it a couple of days and you should start seeing a difference

Don't put flea collars on the cats yet - it has to be one or the other treatment and, to be honest, the Stronghold is better.

OrangeFish · 22/08/2009 20:55

Try Frontline from the vets, supermarket stuff is not as effective BUT since you have already applied it I wonder if it would be good to give them another dose of an another.

The fleas aroundcat beds and cats will go in afew days but if you already have a house infestation you need to sort it in a different manner (they are also feeding now from the family)

Original poster
juicychops · 22/08/2009 20:57

thanks yeah it is stronghold from the vets hopefully it will work soon.

are them flea traps any good? cos at least you can see the dead fleas!

i think il try and get some of that spray. i was using a johnsons one from pets at home. is that crap then?

are all the pet shop treatments crap?

also one more question - i bathed one of the cats before i put the stronghold on him cos he shit and weed in his carry case and was covered in it. now i wish i had bathed the other one too as he is covered in flea dirt and the one i bathed isn't so much now

will the stronghold wash of him and not be effective anymore if i give him a bath now he has it on?

OP posts:
pickyvic · 22/08/2009 20:59

id always get flea treatment from the vet - its more expensive but always more effective. if you get rid of the fleas you wont need to get rid of the cat! cats get fleas - unless you treat them - part and parcel of pet ownership.

Original poster
juicychops · 22/08/2009 20:59

orangefish, so what would you suggest to do about them eating us? i think my room is ok at the moment but its ds getting bitten every night in bed

OP posts:
Original poster
juicychops · 22/08/2009 21:01

i dont want to get rid of my little kittys they are so lovely. although not given them much attention at the moment other than strokes as dont want fleas and eggs on my clothes!

OP posts:
Joolsiam · 22/08/2009 21:01

Vet UKhave all the household de-flea products aswell as the vet strength Frontline etc at better prices than vets.

It says on there that Frontline can take 48 hours to take effect ..

As for bathing - I wouldn't to be honest. Why not just comb through, if the cat will let you - sometimes a comb will catch fleas and you can dunk it in water to drown them.

Joolsiam · 22/08/2009 21:03

Have you changed DS's bedding / hoovered his mattress ? That might help.

However, best thing would be to treat the house with a flea bomb or Acclaim spray (from vets or on that link I gave) and it will kill the fleas that are probably now living in the soft furnishings in his room - the right product will fix that problem within hours

Original poster
juicychops · 22/08/2009 21:24

cool thanks joolsiam [smie]
yes already hoovered his matress both sides a few times and cleaned all bedding. i will have to wait until monday til i have some money but think i will get hold of that spray and possibly a bomb too for his room.

im telling you, my house has never looked so clean after all this clearing of clutter and hoovering!! shame the kitchen smells of manky cats all shut in one room together

OP posts:
Original poster
juicychops · 22/08/2009 21:26

just looked at the site you linked to and i think i will get one of them flea traps for in ds's room! i can put it under his bed so hopefully they wont bite him anymore. will also get the spray. hopefully they will deliver quickly!

OP posts:
flearidden · 22/08/2009 21:28

I have just entered flea hell. After having a quiet time over the last few years we have an epidemic in my house.
I have hoovered like mad.
I have frontlined all three cats.
I have put down a flea trap- very satisfying. Have caught 48 so far!
Flea incidence is much less but I anticipate a long haul out of this.
Am planning to get spray from vets as soon as I can afford it.

Original poster
juicychops · 22/08/2009 21:32

flearidden - i have sympathy for you!

OP posts:
Pandoraneedsbugs · 22/08/2009 21:37

Hi Juicychops
I had up to 100 insect bites all over me throughout my teenage years - drove me nuts but I survived. When the family cat died I confess I cheered!

I still have the scars though

bamboobutton · 22/08/2009 21:39

i can definitly recommend indorex for getting rid of fleas. at one point ds had 20+ bites on him.

i have spent a small fortune on flea sprays from pet shops and the vet and they were crap. my dsis told me to use indorex and within 24h the fleas were gone.

marvelous stuff.

Original poster
juicychops · 22/08/2009 21:40

there is hope for ds yet then!! his body looks horrible bless him. he looks like he has measles! even the very first ones are still visable. they are taking weeks to go.

as long as he doesn't get them on his face i can hide them

OP posts:
bamboobutton · 22/08/2009 21:41

definitely what's with my spelling today?

Original poster
juicychops · 22/08/2009 21:44

so what do you think i should get - Acclaim or Indorex? what gets the most votes?

OP posts:
MANATEEequineOHARA · 22/08/2009 21:53

I am having flea issues atm too. I might go for the flea trap. That does sound satisfying! I ordered 10 flea bombs on ebay and they only sent 1! I used it in one room and it seemed to do the job, but kind of pointless when I can't do the rest of the house. I have tried sprays and powders but none have cleared them properly. I am washing bedding loads and my hoover is well and truely dying now too due to the manic over-use It is truely grim.
Do make sure you empty the hoover straight away every time.
Also, cost for exterminater - our council in Devon charges £50 for the first room and £20 for each room after. No way could I afford that...the battle continues

Original poster
juicychops · 22/08/2009 22:08

my council dont do it anymore so would have to pay privately and would cost loads i can imagine

OP posts:
Original poster
juicychops · 22/08/2009 22:09

Acclaim or Indorex what do you think?

OP posts:
Swipe left for the next trending thread