Flea bites!

[BIWI]

I need help!

We have two very lovely cats. (Moggies). We treated them for fleas in mid-September with Broadline, from the vet. Then a month later.

But I'm being bitten to buggery by the fecking fleas.

No-one else in the house suffers, for some reason! And the cats are still scratching, which leads me to believe that Broadline isn't working - just like Frontline stopped working.

Anything we can do to kill the fleas?

But more importantly, what do I do about the flea bites? My feet and ankles are wrecked!

Broadline has the same flea ingredient as frontline. Maybe try stronghold or advocate

Thanks @dementedpixie - I'll check that with the vet.

But what about my bites?! it's all about me

@BIWI if you are being bitten you need to treat the house as well as the cats. You need to use a good quality household spray like indorexx, acclaim or RIP.

Bite and sting cream? Sudocrem? Antihistamines? Ice wrapped in a tea towel

We had some heavy duty spray for the house from the vets. As well as anything else we could get our hands on from wilkos/ amazon etc.
Thing is the fleas are probably now living in your carpets / soft furnishings, so you need to treat everything in one go.
Change all bedding and wash at 60, Hoover then spray mattresses, same with carpets, Hoover, then dust with flea killing powder (I also sprinkled liberally with bicarbonate) then let off the spray or flea bombs in any room that may be affected. Hoover again throughout a couple of hours later.

It may take a couple of efforts. Funnily enough it was only me and dd affected by bites in our house, but you have my sympathy, they’re awful. The itching was unbearable. We’ve both got scars!!! I used to spray the jungle fever as a deterrent, and used eurax/ savlon on the bites.

I think the cat was treated with something stronger by the vet, who said it would kill any fleas who then bit her as it would remain in her and poison them. Vet says some cats need treating more frequently and she would probably need it every 3 months.

To stop bites rub baby oil with a few drops of neroli or lavender oil make some up put on your feet legs ankles ,,,, then hoover daily for at least a week especially around edges of floors skirting .. you can also put salt down on carpets leave on 2 days then hoover .. its normally the eggs that have fallen off fur that are hatching when they are near a warm blooded body . Hope this helps .

Thanks @Lonecatwithkitten. I'll get some of that. But we've never had this before! Is it a particularly difficult time of year, do you think?!

Its indorex spray that's supposed to be good in the house. I think its fipronil that's not as effective as it used to be

You need to treat the cats and sterilise the house.
I used indorexx off Amazon.

Treat the cats, hoover the entire house, every nook, cranny and soft furnishing, treat the entire house liberally with indorexx.

Hoover the entire house, every day for the next three days, the heat and vibration stimulates any unhatched eggs to hatch, and at the end of three days, indorexx everything, again. Then hoover some more.

Did I mention hoovering? Move the beds. Move the wardrobes. Move the sofas. hoover, hoover, spray and hoover.

Do you think I need to hoover, @FixTheBone?

I'll do all of this.

But it really fucks me off. We're vigilant about treating the cats. Yet still I get bitten. But no-one else in the house does! Fuckers

Are you sure it’s flea bites?

I'm fairly sure. It's fucking irritating that they love me, and yet ignore DH and DC2!

I’ve had the same problem. Bought broadline from the vets and was being bitten and seeing flea dirt on the cats. Bought a flea comb and got about 30 fleas off one cat and 10 or so off the other about a week after treating with the broadline. Bought advantage from pets at home and now thankfully getting no fleas with the flea comb. Will be giving the vet the rest of the unused broadline back and demanding my money back next time I go.

It's not that the other people in the house aren't being bitten, they probably are, but you are allergic to the fleas saliva which is why you're body is reacting.

Treat the house - every single room - and vaccum before and afterwards and you should be fine. Broadline is good and can help with killing fleas in the environment but there's always more this time of year when the central heating comes on!

I've had this (and I was the only one bitten too. So unfair!) and the only way to get it sorted is vet strength flea stuff plus carpets properly treated. Either lots of cans of flea treatment or get someone in to do it professionally at two week intervals. Don't use rentokill they will charge double a local pest controller. And hoover a LOT. Wash loose covers.

@BIWI

I had the exact same thing, only me that got bitten, tons of bites at ankle level, the occasional one elsewhere.

We don't have indoor pets, so it confused me at first until i saw the little jumpers.

Thanks all. Clearly need to channel my inner housewife I think!

Bed linen in the washing machine and the hoover will be coming out as well.

Then a call to the vet I think.

When we had a flea infestation my DH and eldest DS were bitten loads, me and youngest DS not at all. Weird.

For immediate relief dab vinegar on your legs, settee skirts/chair cloth.
Put out a washing up bowl half filled with water. Then drop in two drops of washing up liquid. Fleas jump up and land in the water but cant get out because the wul leaves a layer they cant get out of. They sink to the bottom, pour away down the sink the next day.
Have a sturdy set of tweezers handy. Pinch the fleas to death. Also put an old cup by your sink. fill with water, then add two drops of wul. When you get a death defying flea, catch it with tweezers, push the tweezers deep into the cup and rejoice as the flea drops to the bottom of the cup. Very satisfying.

This is only a cheap way of immediately dealing with fleas. Buy the best household treatment you can afford.