Broadline stopped working - car got fleas :-( do we need to do anything else.

[dahliaaa]

That’s it basically - went to do her monthly treatment last night and saw flea dirt on fur. We are always very careful about doing the treatment on time so rang vets this morning and they said they had a few people with same experience.
Anyway they gave us something else and I bought some indorex house spray.
Have washed all bedding, sprayed every room. Going to hoover every day and have been brushing her with flea comb.
Is there anything else we should be doing. Should I get pest people in.
Feel horrible thinking fleas in house !

CAT not car - I hope there’s none in the car !

I'd hoover the mattresses, both sides and do the skirting boards every day as well. It takes a few days for them all to go so hang in there. You don't need to get pest control, they should go.

Thank Rudgie will do that

If they don’t go, try flea bombs

This house has a lot of Stuff around & hoovering everywhere is impossible. Flea bombs did fix it (not a massive infestation but regular bites)

I’ll try to find details of the ones I used

It was these - they’ve gone up a bit since I got them

They work well though, so worth a try if yours are persistent.

Vacuum clean really well. Spray indorex and then NO VACUUMING for as many days as you can bear it. That is the secret to getting a good knock down effect with Indorex or similar.
Most of the flea lifecycle happens in the house. The fleas hop on the host to eat, have sex and lay eggs but the ggs are shiny and smooth so they fall off everywhere and the egg, pupae and larval stages all happen in the hosts environment and this is why endlessly treating the cat won't cut it once there is a thoroughgoing infestation. Leave it down, tread it in, let it waft around as doors are opened and closed for days on end. Take care with birds and fish (ie follow the instructions on the can) but they don't mention the leaving it down on the can but it makes all the difference.

Eggs not ggs. Can you imagine a cat infested with GGs :)

Shizelts we’ve already hoovered everywhere again
I wonder if it’s worth me getting another can of indorex and doing another bug spray in a few days. (It’s MUCH cheaper on amazon than I paid at vets !!)

Thanks Giantkitten I’ve made a note of those

There good those flea bombs, I've used them before as well. You have to make sure the cats are no where near the rooms though.
Make sure you are emptying the hoover each time and throwing the dust outside. Otherwise fleas can jump back out.

Dahliaa perhaps wait and see how much 'knock down' you get? By the time humans are getting bitten it is accepted by parascitologists that there is an infestation that will take three months to clear! It might be worth giving it all another squirt this time next month and then again a month after that?

Was it the Broadline? That’s a shame as we use the two in one .

the thinking behind the three month thing is that the eggs are difficult or impossible to kill so there is a time lag for the different forms to emerge. Fleas are interesting and hellish to get rid of, especially for cat owners due to the cat wandering about and meeting other cats and other hosts. We have no cats only two dogs. We have not had a flea infestation for ten years and that was because back then we bought a chatty caravan off Ebay that had a latent infestation. Got rid of that infestation and nothing until recently I rescued a hedgehog and like an idiot I left the towel I wrapped the critter up in, in the car. Next thing both my dogs are scratching and being driven half mad with itchies. Indorex in one spquirt seems to have done it but I might eat my words and have to do the three month thing : /

Broadline stopped working around here summer '17, according to our vets. Stronghold is the flea control of choice now, working fine. One of ours (the nervous rescue) is also allergic, so we need to keep the place totally clear - stronghold does the job all by itself.

Yes it was the Broadline two in one that has stopped working.

Vets said they have had a few people having same experience.

Thanks for the messages re 3 months - think I’ll do that just to be safe.

We haven’t actually been bitten - fingers crossed that’s a good thing.

It’s now 6 days since I applied the new replacement stuff from the vets and did the spray all through the house.

Haven’t seen anymore fleas (to be honest only saw a couple originally - it was the little black flea dirt on her coat that made me realise the problem.)

Anyway have been combing cat everyday but there are still signs of flea dirt in her coat every day. Is that to be expected a week on or do I need to go back to vets to get something else (the treatment the vet has now given us is a three monthly one.)

Thanks

Hopeful bump

Stronghold will usually kill them all of within a couple of days, but sometimes not - if you're still seeing fresh flea dirt at 12 days then ask the vet, that's an entire flea lifecycle and shouln't happen.

Are you checking it's real flea dirt? Dissolve it in a teaspoon of water, it'll show red if it is digested blood. If you're lucky the little darling is just rolling in some autumnal filth :)

Thanks spoon that’s really useful.
12 days will be this coming Thursday so if still a problem then will go to vet again.
It is definitely flea dirt and found 2 new (dead) fleas today (definitely New - they weren’t there yesterday.)
I’d just hoped it would all be clear a week on - but was obviously being but too optimistic !
The weird thing is that other than the odd v drowsy or dead flea we really haven’t seen any evidence at all other than the dirt on cat fur.
(No bites on us. Not seen lots of fleas in house etc.)

It's possible she's picking up new fleas off some other cat, I suppose... they always do seem to generate a lot more dirt than a few fleas could possibly crap out!

Sorry for stupid question (I would never have made a vet!) but now that she has changed treatment (which should hopefully be working) does that mean even if she comes into contact with other cats that have fleas she won’t get infected with them ?

Well, they may hop on but they’ll die when they bite her. They shouldn’t have time to lay eggs before dying, which is the main thing.

Thank you !

Another vote for Stronghold. Used to use Frontline but my then cat developed a flea allergy whilst on it and this was a few years ago. The vet said it had stopped working, much in the same way antibiotics stop working if we overuse them. No idea how they’re still selling it.

Anyway, yes, try Stronghold