Fecking Fleas!

[puttergal]

I've got a dog and a cat.
Dog is white and with very thin fur so I can see if she gets fleas - especially when I bathe her.
I spotted lots on the dog other day and treated her (and the cat - who is dark/densely furred - so I can't spot fleas on her but I can tell because of the flea dirt on her white bed).
I think the dog picks fleas up from being outside and running in the long grass etc as my pets don't really come into contact with other animals (cat stays within my small garden).

I treated them both with flea stuff from the vets last week and I've just spotted another flea on my dog do I treat them both again with another dose?

I did vacuum the house and wash the bedding, but it's a bit of a mammoth task as they both sleep everywhere in the house, on all the beds/sofas/carpets etc!

Fleas don't live in the outdoor environment so your dog can't pick them up from the grass. Much more likely cat has picked them up from a neighbouring cat and brought them in and now your house is infested. Flea eggs can live in the home environment for years and hatch out in the right conditions (has your heating been on?). If they've had fleas before then it's likely just intermittent hatching out of existing eggs causing reinfection.

You need to treat the cat and dog with prescription medication, plus hot wash all bedding, Hoover all soft furnishings and then spray the house with indorex or similar to kill off eggs that will be in cracks and crevices.

The way I got rid of mine. I had to hoover my entire house everyday for over two weeks. And I mean everywhere. Even lifted up the sofas and under cushions. Only at that point did they finally go.

Also. Don’t forget to hoover down the back of the radiators. They hide in there as well.

Don't repeat the treatment now, you risk overdosing - just be sure to reapply at the correct intervals and continue doing so for several months. Spray the house, pet bedding and soft furnishings with something like Indorex or RIP Flea.

Unfortunately you have to ride out the life cycle of fleas which can involve a lengthy dormant period in the environment, during which time new adults will hatch out and can (briefly) be seen on your pet before they cark it.

it's an effing nightmare, I have three cats and I swear every single flea makes a beeline for my poor white dog. I comb everyday and the buggers never really go, don't want to put chemicals on them as one cat is 18 with kidneys in decline and the other cat has a health condition.

Feels like it's easier just to burn my house down.....

@darktriad

it's an effing nightmare, I have three cats and I swear every single flea makes a beeline for my poor white dog. I comb everyday and the buggers never really go, don't want to put chemicals on them as one cat is 18 with kidneys in decline and the other cat has a health condition.

Prescription flea treatments are clinically tested for safety. They have no effect on kidneys or anything else as they aren't systemically absorbed. Why would you leave your pets with constant itching and skin irritation? It must be so uncomfortable for them

What flea treatment have you used? Spot on or a tablet? If you’ve used the neck one, ask your vet if they can prescribe the tablet . This is what we had to do and it works so much better! Also we had to get professionals in to spray our house. If you ring the council for your area they should be able to put you in touch with a professional company and I think in most areas it’s subsidised ( I think ours cost about £85 for the whole house). It worked though when nothing else we tried did. Good luck!

Indorex is what you need!

Yes indictirex

We have had a 9 week battle. We haven't had a bite for a couple of weeks, but I worry that there is one hardy fucker left.

How can something so tiny cause so much misery? No one would be sad to see them extinct. Can't we charge rich white Americans to hunt them?

@Bippitybop

What flea treatment have you used? Spot on or a tablet? If you’ve used the neck one, ask your vet if they can prescribe the tablet . This is what we had to do and it works so much better! Also we had to get professionals in to spray our house. If you ring the council for your area they should be able to put you in touch with a professional company and I think in most areas it’s subsidised ( I think ours cost about £85 for the whole house). It worked though when nothing else we tried did. Good luck!

Thanks! I will ask my vets, I've only ever used the drop on the neck ones. I feel better getting in pest control, although not sure how that's going to work at the moment, 3 of us are WFH, I just can't hot wash every piece of furnishing/carpet etc in the whole house - plus clothing as well I guess?

I just can't hot wash every piece of furnishing/carpet etc in the whole house - plus clothing as well I guess?
But you can hoover everything - including sofas and mattresses and indorex

From experience, if you can see any jumping about on the floor get pest control in ASAP. We went from spotting one randomly in cat fur (treated them immediately) to indorex (after seeing them jumping around the floors - didn't work) to infestation in every room very quickly. It took two pest control visits and a couple of months (thanks COVID restrictions) to eradicate them after flea treating the cats several times. Hoovering constantly didn't cut it even slightly.