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The litter tray

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

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Original poster

Do cats basically always have fleas?

23 replies

caitlinohara · 30/09/2015 21:34

We have had 2 cats for about a year now. I will admit I have been a bit crap about de-fleaing them (I have done it, used the drop things on the back of their necks twice and given them tablets a couple of times, but not every month or whatever it's supposed to be). Recently they started scratching a LOT, even though I had given them tablets only 2 weeks previously, and dp had bites on his ankle. I got a flea comb and combed masses out of them both - about 25 live ones on each of them. Freaked out, hoovered, sprayed, had all the sofa cushions off, the lot. Gave more tablets and drops on the advice of the pet shop lady. That was last week, and they seemed to have mostly stopped scratching, then today i have combed a couple more live ones out of both of them, much smaller ones admittedly, but shouldn't the drops stop them getting them? Or do they just keep them under control? Is this just normal when you have cats?

OP posts:

Haffdonga · 30/09/2015 21:40

No!
You need better flea stuff than the pet shop sells. Ask your vet.

Pobspits · 30/09/2015 21:41

No! Poor things. Go to your vet and get proper treatment.

Fugghetaboutit · 30/09/2015 21:41

Get Adavantage or Advocat and it treats the house and cat so you don't have to do all of that

TheOneWiththeNicestSmile · 30/09/2015 21:41

agree that you need vet stuff for fleas, not pet shop stuff

it costs more but it works

Fugghetaboutit · 30/09/2015 21:42

It's the time of year they all get infested. I just treated my cat too

Girlfriend36 · 30/09/2015 21:43

No speak to your vet and get the proper stuff! Advocate is the only treatment that works on my cats and I am religious about putting it on every 4-6 weeks.

Vinorosso74 · 30/09/2015 21:44

You need something from your vet. We use Stronghold but there's another one called Advocat (something like that anyway). Stuff from pet shops/supermarkets don't work.
Monthly treatments keep them at bay, autumn is a peak time for fleasI believe.

Palomb · 30/09/2015 21:47

I've had mine for a couple of years and they have never had fleas and we only treat them sporadically with frontline.

RockinHippy · 30/09/2015 21:52

No!!!

You need to look after them better, all of the (sorry) . Fleas are miserable for cats too & can be harmful if you have an ongoing infestation.

Our cats have had the Program Jab, it's meant to last only 6 months, but that's just the vets trying to make it more profitable, in our experience it lasts much, much longer. It works by sterilising the fleas when they feed on your cat, so they never become an infestation. It's been a godsend.

You also need to treat everywhere they sleep/lie, carpets, skirting boards, cracks in floorboards etc with Indorex spray & Hoover everywhere - repeat as per instructions on the can

Good luck

Original poster

caitlinohara · 30/09/2015 21:55

Thanks. So the Advocate stuff actually stops them getting them? What if they are already living in the carpets etc? Will we get bitten if they don't fancy the cats? Pet shop lady said something about them all hatching out at this time of year when the heating comes on. It's making me itch just thinking about it. Cats seem fine by the way and are looking all sleek and snazzy because I keep combing them whenever they come near! How expensive are we talking here?

OP posts:

Original poster

caitlinohara · 30/09/2015 21:58

By the way, it was the Cats Protection lady who told me not to bother going to the vets for flea treatment because she said they rip you off and over the counter stuff was fine. But she also told me they were from the same litter and liked children....

OP posts:

Lonecatwithkitten · 30/09/2015 21:59

Flea treatment is one the 'buy cheap but twice products'.
You need a good quality spray like Indorexx or Acclaim to treat the house. Then a good adultcide for the cats like Advocate (prinovox is same stuff different brand), Broadline or Activyl. You need to use it like s religion for the next three months.

PearlMcClutcher · 30/09/2015 22:00

You can buy Advantage on line for about half the price the vet would charge you (about £13 for 4 last time I bought some I think) and it lasts way longer than 4 weeks on our old boy. Advocate I think requires a prescription so you can't get it without one (ie probably have to get it from the vet)

RockinHippy · 30/09/2015 22:03

You can buy Indorex online cheaper too

I would highly recommend looking into the program jab though, we've used it for many years through 2 lots of cats & it really is the most effective & cost effective way to sort out fleas

steppemum · 30/09/2015 22:03

the flea treatment on the back of their neck will kill all live ones, and then as they sit down on eg sofa, any fleas living in the sofa come over and bite the cat. Those fleas then die too. So in theory after a while all the fleas are dead because they have come back to the cat and bitten it.

Fleas do bite humans, but they can't survive on humans alone.

The treatment last for a month (usually) which means they keep killing any biting fleas for that long.

Once your house is clear, and your cats are clear, then they can stay clear until they meet other cats and get them again. But fleas can live in the garden in the same way they live in the carpet! Cold weather will kill them off in the garden.

Moln · 30/09/2015 22:05

Mines never had fleas, I have always used Advocate from my vets monthly.

I get a text from the vets to remind me, but I also have a reoccurring monthly reminder set on my phone

TheOneWiththeNicestSmile · 30/09/2015 22:06

You can get the prescription stuff online way cheaper than the vet price but you need a prescription to buy & some vets (like mine ) charge a fortune for the prescription, the bastards

but it is a bit negotiable. I split the difference with mine & they supply the stuff direct, for less than the normal charge, but more than the online sites

Girlfriend36 · 30/09/2015 22:06

My vets do a pet plan that costs £10 a month but includes flea and worm treatment (advocate) and their yearly booster plus a vets consultation if they should need it. It works out really good value.

Personally I wouldn't buy off the internet as the dosage is based on weight, I would ring your vets for advice and treatment.

My cat was properly infested before I started on Advocate, not seen a single flea since then

gingercat02 · 30/09/2015 22:12

Our 2 are 13 and have never had fleas (and only get supermarket drops on to go to the cattery). Have a cat flap and loads of cats on the estate

TheRadiantAerynSun · 30/09/2015 22:21

Some seem more susceptible than others.

We have two cats, both treated the same and both outdoor cats. One is always picking them up and one never does. Just like I get eaten alive and DH never does.

If you have a susceptible one you have to be religious with the treatment and buy the best you can. DH has an alarm on his phone to remind him.

Girlfriend36 · 30/09/2015 22:22

I think some cats are more prone to fleas than others, you sound like you have just been very lucky gingercat

steppemum · 30/09/2015 22:54

I use vet advocate.

The reason is that when we used the supermarket ones they didn't work. the vet said that they just don't work on some cats, while they are fine on others. Mine has a lot of thick fluffy hair and that sort of fur is often a problem.

But once I cleared the fleas I don't use it every month. Usually about once every 3 months

BuggersMuddle · 01/10/2015 21:07

Agree with other posters - visit the vet. If you combed out that many live ones the cat's probably fairly infested and you will need to treat eradication in the house like a military campaign . Provided you use a vet strength treatment and a good spray though, you should be fine.

BuggersMoggy is fine if both brawling and the local wildlife and had fleas when we met him so we had to go down the route of spraying. Nevet removed more than a couple at a time with the comb though and we were still bitten!

We used Frontline for years with no issue (and no fleas) until one day he received a bad burn from it. We've since changed to Activyl on the vet's advice and it seems to work well.

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