Please help...Flea's and serious reaction to bites.

[ihearttc]

I really need some help-I am at the end of my tether with this situation and I honestly don't really know what to do next.

We have an 13 year old cat. He is mostly indoors and when he does venture outside he literally sits in the garden. We have had him since he was a teeny tiny kitten and he has never ever had fleas until about 4 months ago. In the summer we noticed some bites on my 9 year olds legs. He plays football and we thought he'd been bitten there by something (their ground is right next to loads of open fields). He reacted quite badly to them and his legs looked a mess quite honestly. Anyway we went to doctors and got AB cream to put on them and they have healed but have scared really badly. Then about 8 weeks ago we noticed new bites all over his legs and some on the bottom of his back. Originally they were tiny but it seems like with every bite they are getting bigger and bigger or he is reacting more to them. Neither me, my husband or my 3 year old have been bitten at all.

Took cat to vet who checked him all over and insisted he didn't have fleas but treated him anyway (I can't remember what they gave him now) but I came home and checked him throughly myself and found about 4 on him with a few bits of black stuff which I assume is flea droppings?? The stuff seemed to work as within a few days I noticed some dead fleas on the floor. Ive put flea spray everywhere-Ive used some carpet powder first but read that didn't work so got Indorex and have used that. Cat has now had Advantage on him after I read that was the best one to get for the last 2 months and we have Indorexed again even though its supposed to last a year apparently but my son is still getting bitten.

Im hoovering 3 times a day at least and washing everything every other day on a really hot wash. Everything has been scrubbed and cleaned within an inch of its life. We have wooden floors down stairs and I have cleaned those and put the indorex everywhere I can.

We got Flea bombs as well last week and used those and I honestly thought it would be the last of it but yesterday morning he woke up sobbing and his legs are literally covered again with huge bites the size of a 50p piece. I have only seen 2 live flea's and that was about 3 weeks ago so what on earth is biting him.

I know it sounds melodramatic but this is ruining my life. My 9 year old is begging me to make this stop and I honestly don't know how to. I haven't dared take him to the doctors anymore because Im really worried what they will say. My gut feeling is to get rid of the cat which will break my heart but I don't know what else to do. I assume with the cat gone and I keep treating the house eventually they will all go and our lives can go back to normal? Im really scared that because his reactions to the bites are getting worse and worse at some point very soon he is going to get really ill with it.

Any suggestions?

You are all probably being bitten, but only your son is allergic to the fleas saliva.

Advantage is an over the counter product and whilst it is good for many it is no where near as effective as the prescription only products such as Activyl, Advocate and Broadline which all have much higher doses of the relevant drugs in them.
The caveat I would add in is the ordinarily flea bites are only on the legs if you have travelled recently with bites on the back too ou should consider the possibility of bed bugs.

Are you giving your son antihistamines these can dramatically help with the itch.

You have to give the fleas chance to go through their life cycle. You will initially kill the current ones, but any eggs will still hatch. These will eventually die as you've treated your cat and sprayed the house. Unfortunately irony an immediate fix, you have to be patient.

Thank you thats really helpful...I assume those other treatments are from Vet only? When I asked if there is anything stronger he could have the vet insisted he didn't have fleas at all and wouldn't prescribe anything else but recommended Advantage? He has a really thick coat...its smooth on top but really thick fluff underneath so Im wondering if they are almost hidden and he didn't see them. Ive combed him thoroughly every day as well which is torture for both of us as he hates it so much and can't find anything in the comb now so no idea whats going on.

We went on holiday for a few days at the end of August but the bites on the back (they are right at the bottom of his back) have been over the last couple of weeks. I have checked all beds and can't see anything but tbh Im not entirely sure what I should be looking for with regard to bed bugs. Would they not be biting us as well then if they are bed bugs? Or might he be allergic to those as well and not us?