Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
The litter tray

Join our community of cat lovers on the Mumsnet Cat forum for kitten advice and help with cat behaviour.

Original poster

Fleas/Frontline drops didn't work

41 replies

BobblyGussets · 03/05/2013 20:06

Fed up now. I treated the cat with those drops on the back of his neck. The blurb said he would be protected for three months, but I can still see them coming off him after two weeks.
I also cleaned the whole house, hot washed all the bedding, pillows and duvets, lit three "flea bombs" but we have counted at least 15 flea bites on poor DS1.
I have seen them, they hop off the cat onto our white duvet cover, they look like very long fleas.
Helps! Please does anyone have any ideas?

OP posts:
bollockstoit · 03/05/2013 20:12

frontline doesn't work anymore. You need advocate, but you have to get it from the vet.

Spero · 03/05/2013 20:15

Yup sorry most fleas are now resistant to frontline. And my vet wouldn't give me any advocate as she hasn't seen the cats in last 12 months so now I have to take both cats in just to get bloody flea stuff.

thecatneuterer · 03/05/2013 20:15

First I think you may have misunderstood the blurb. I'm guessing it was a pack of three - hence three months - monthly use is recommended. Anyway that's a side issue.

Our clinic no longer stocks Frontline as it appears that fleas have become resistant to it. We instead recommend Stronghhold, Advocat or Advantage.

And I don't know what a flea bomb is, but you will need to spray the house with a vet-recommended flea spray. I've completely forgotten the names of them but one comes in a large yellow can. You have to buy them from pharmacies or vets, not off the shelf.

Good luck

bollockstoit · 03/05/2013 20:17

spero my vet only makes me take one cat in, once a year, but I think they charge about £15 for that.

Original poster
BobblyGussets · 03/05/2013 20:17

Thanks all, I will get him to the vets soon.

OP posts:
cozietoesie · 03/05/2013 20:18

Indorex is the one I've used in the past I think.

You need to hoover valiantly as well, OP, particularly in cracks and edges etc.

Spero · 03/05/2013 20:18

I was told - it's a medicine! We can only legally prescribe it if we see the patient! Ffs.

BeerTricksPotter · 03/05/2013 20:22

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Spero · 03/05/2013 20:32

Frontline doesn't work for me - anything from supermarket been useless. So vet has me over proverbial barrel.

BeerTricksPotter · 03/05/2013 20:39

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Fluffycloudland77 · 03/05/2013 20:47

Get a private prescription off the vet and buy advocate off the online pharmacies.

Would the flea injection help?

thecatneuterer · 03/05/2013 21:29

You can now buy all (I think) flea products off prescription at pharmacies and in Pets at Home. They can only be sold by qualified/licenced people, but you no longer need a prescription. The law changed about two years ago I think.

demolitionduo · 04/05/2013 10:11

I swapped to Advantage when Frontline stopped working. You can get it online without prescription. Last time I bought it, bestpet were the cheapest I could find.

PeneloPeePitstop · 04/05/2013 10:13

Yep, advantage is a good one. I compare pet supermarket and hyper drug on price.

Lonecatwithkitten · 04/05/2013 11:50

Just to clear up why we have to see cats an dogs for advocate.
Ordinary Frontline is what is know as a NFA-VPS so a little like the behind the counter products in the pharmacy can be sold by a suitably qualified person so either pharmacist or someone who has been on an SQP course.
Advocate, Stronghold, seresto and Frontline combo is POM-V so has to be prescribed by a veterinary surgeon who has the animal under their care. The veterinary medicines directorate are very clear that if you have not seen the animal in the last 12 months it is not under your care so even with a written prescription the animal needs to be seen in the last 12 months.
So clinics offer free check ups for flea and worm treatments - we do Grin.

Fuzzymum1 · 06/05/2013 20:43

I buy advantage from vetUK - it's a fraction of the cost from the vet. I do all seven of our lot once a month-six weeks and since swapping from frontline have seen only one flea and that was the day before they were treated again.

Irishmammybread · 06/05/2013 22:36

If Frontline is applied correctly it should work, but it doesn't kill the fleas straight away,it can take 24hrs for the fleas to die so you can still see live fleas on the cat if it keeps picking them up from the environment.
Spraying the house will help with environmental control.
Comfortis is a new palatable tablet given once a month and is the fastest and most effective product, most fleas are dead within an hour. You also know the cat is treated effectively, sometimes a spoton can go on the hair rather than the skin and drip off and cats sometimes don't like the sensation on the back of their neck!

Original poster
BobblyGussets · 07/05/2013 22:57

We got Advocate from the brilliant vet surgery who saw us on Saturday morning, so Sausage didn't have to spend the bank holiday with fleas.

I hope you find something that gets rids of your fleas soon, Spero Grin

Thanks everyone, you are fabulous pussy advisers.

OP posts:
RobinBedRest · 08/05/2013 23:02

Anyone else use flea collars, I'm wondering what they have on now as they are just sold in supermarkets so presumably not licenced at all?

Spero · 09/05/2013 13:18

Never known a flea collar, or anything you can buy in supermarkets to work.

Still not been arsed to make an appointment for cats, it was more of a preemptive strike as no fleas apparent yet but as soon as they arrive they all feast on my daughter and I will be officially a Bad Mother.

fergoose · 12/05/2013 22:33

I buy Effipro - works a treat and good value. Can buy online too.

thecatneuterer · 13/05/2013 04:17

Spero Flea collars don't really work. Nor do any other unlicensed flea products. And what's far, far worse, some of them can actually kill your cat!

Bob Martin's used to be the worst offender. Our clinic used to regularly see cats that were convulsing that had been treated with Bob Martin's (the correct one for cats and the correct dose). The vast majority of these died. There is a lot on the internet about it. I still feel upset about two year old cats that I was sent to pick up one Christmas Eve that were convulsing after being treated. The vets cared for them right through the night but they were dead the next morning.

About a year ago Bob Martin's changed their formulation so it no longer contains the dangerous ingredient (which I've just forgotten the name of) but most of the other 'off the shelf' spot on flea products still use it.

Personally I would still boycott Bob Martin's as they knew about this problem for years but still carried on regardless, and of course all other off the shelf flea products should be avoided like the plague.

thecatneuterer · 13/05/2013 04:27

I've just found the dangerous ingredients: pyrethrin and permethrin.

Of course most cats will be fine with these, but some will react badly and can die. Even if they've previously had no trouble it doesn't mean that they will never react to it. Fergoose I've tried to look up the ingredients of Effipro but couldn't find them. If it does contain either of these ingredients then I definitely wouldn't recommend it.

cozietoesie · 13/05/2013 07:46

Something called Fipronil. There's a lot of information out there about it if you have a spare day or two to do the necessary research.

fergoose · 13/05/2013 08:34

Yes, it does contain fipronol. What is the problem with that ingredient?