Fleas

[BreadmakerFan]

My cat or cats have fleas. I was unaware until I saw the state of my child and felt the bites. Four out of five of us have been snacked on. Cats have had flea treatment on their necks as they would be traumatised by going to the vet. Today I powdered all the carpets and hoovered them and the furniture. Cats out of the house for the day.

Since being home, one child been bitten, I am itching though could be an old bite. Not four weeks yet since last treatments but I'm not convinced we've got this under control. I know we haven't.

I really didn't want them to have to go to the vet as it stresses them but seeing the state of my child's legs have been a shock.

My previous cat never had fleas so I am fed up. Any advice would be great. Thank you.

We took our new rescue cat to the vets last week, on the same day we collected him as he had fleas. They have a new tablet treatment that the vet said kills the fleas within 3 hours! I was very keen to get rid of them before they got into the carpets. You will need to treat your environment as well as the fleas. I would go to the vets!

Hoover like a Stepford wife - particularly on areas that aren't trodden on much and in cracks and crevices. Indorex spray - lasts about a year - is something that seems to be pretty effective as well for carpets and things which can't be washed properly.

What spot on treatment did you use on the cats?

Oh - and itching could well be imagination but if in doubt, head to the nearest shower/bath and undress in there, shaking clothes quickly inside out above the porcelain. That should identify any freeloaders.

I've hoovered more than a handful of times downstairs. Should I vac we real times a day? The flea treatment was a Bob Martin one iirc.

I had a flea on me this morning but it escaped.

I've bought flea tablets and a comb today.

Cats are AWOL.

Ah - Bob Martin have changed their formulation I believe ( they used to have stuff which really wasn't good for cats) but I think it's the same basic ingredient as Frontline - which has stopped working in many areas of the country due to flea immunity.

You're best off getting some stuff from the vets - say something like Advocate. (I have to dash but I'm sure other posters can give you recommendations.)

Have the cats been wormed recently by the way?

Cats wormed last month. I asked the vet if they had fleas but she said a couple and that was that. She didn't say I needed to do anything or I would have done. My late FabCat never had them so it's all new.

Next Tuesday is 4 weeks since we last treated them. Would you recommend same again or trying the tablets I bought today? I would like to try and home treat to lessen the trauma to the cats. Last chance though as my poor boys are not snacks!!

Returned.

What tablets are they? (Seniorboy regards pills as a tool of the devil so it has to be spot-ons for him.)

Fabcat may never have had fleas but all it takes is one flea ridden cat to come meandering around yours and eg sit in a particular spot where one of yours likes to go and......Bingo! Or for you to visit someone and have a cat on your lap....... It's luck, really, so usually best to adopt preventative measures on a permanent basis if you can.

I'm amazed at your vet's seeming nonchalance by the way. Would you have said that they were a decent practice?

Your vet sounds dreadful.

We use Advocate for our cats (we have five). We get it on repeat prescription. It's normally cheapest to get the vet to issue the prescription and then to bu the actual Advocate online.

You really need to do it monthly - otherwise the fleas come back again.

Indorex is good, as is vacuuming.

An alternative is to get the cats an anti-flea injection (again from the vet). It lasts, IIRC, around three months so it could be less.

First thing I'd do if I were you would be to find a decent vet.

Go to vet, get advocate or advantage for the cats, they must all be done every month, forever.
You don't need to bring the cats to get the stuff.
You need to get indorex or acclaim sprays for the house.
Hoover, wash everything, hoover, hoover, hoover. Empty hoover each time.
Let cats access everywhere in house when they are treated as environmental fleas will go on them & die.

The vet we normally see is brilliant. This was a new one.

The tablets are Bob Martin ones and claim they kill 100% of fleas in 24 hours.

I'm hoovering several times a day. Bloody cat scratched DS yesterday after she tripped him up.

I don't use the word 'amazed' lightly - I was slack-jawed when I read that a vet could throw away something like 'there are a couple of fleas' and leave it at that during a consultation. I was giving some wriggle room, though, for misunderstanding - yours, hers or mine.

I'd ring up tomorrow, speak to your normal vet and get some prescribed flea killer - eg Advocate. I don't know what these Bob Martin tablets are but I wouldn't give them to the cats without consultation. Neither would I blame the cat for bad scratching behaviour - she may not be herself if she's got the blighters biting at her.

Cats need regular flea treatment. Our cat has a flea allergy and suffers horribly unless I am completely religious about the treatment. Honesty flabbergasted that a vet would see fleas and shrug it off.
Oh and I don't buy over the counter stuff for my pets. I prefer it prescribed by an experienced professional.

I didn't tell the cat off. I was just venting on here. She's lovely.

I'll think about what to do for the best. I just keep thinking I don't want to stress the cats out but if I can get stuff without having to take them than that is good. That's why I have been buying stuff, so they didn't have to get stressed.

Vent away.

If you've had the cats at the vet recently and you explain the situation to your normal vet - and I absolutely would because he needs to know, especially if he's the senior vet - then you should be able to get the meds prescribed for you to pick up and not need to take them in. (Or get a prescription issued if you have more time and don't have to have them treated that day.)

PS - I usually get Seniorboy's meds via a phone call. As it happens, he generally sees the vet every couple of months because of his complaints but I have a feeling that most vets operate on a 'seen within last 6 months' basis for younger and generally healthy cats. (For me, gettting flea control and ordinary meds (ie anything that I administer myself) is independent of his immediate attendance - I just pop down the next day and pick them up.)

It was the first time this vet saw my cats. My usual vet was away showing off his new baby .

Personally (and it would be very personally), it would be the last time for me as well.

Normally I see the same one. Think it's better. No choice this time as he was at the other side of the world and the cats needed their annual jabs.

So all the flea treatment you have given is Bob marten tablets?

Advocate is the only stuff that works on my cats but I think the vet has to see them before giving it out to check right dose for weight.

Bob Martin did nothing for my cats fleas, if anything it seemed to make them stronger likewise frontline was useless.

I haven't been given anything. I've bought the flea treatment myself, yesterday I did the carpets with the powder stuff and today I've bought a comb and the tablets.

I gather from the OP that they've had a spot-on, Fanny, but I think it was BM.

All the vet needs is the weight and if they've been recently they'll have that and be able to prescribe a decent treatment and use it every 4 weeks forever.

Sack off the stuff you've been using.

You also need the cats to come in the house to get bitten so the fleas die.

Comfortis is the name of the effective vet prescribed flea tablet we were given. Is something you have to have a regime for otherwise won't break the flea cycle. With a previous cat about 5 years ago in our old house we ended up with pest control spraying our whole house after program flea infections failed.It was that serious a problem but we did get rid of it.