No flea treatment is working

[Overinvolvedmum]

I know there is another recent flea thread but thought I’d start my own as it’s a slightly different situation.

I have 14 week old kittens who have never been outside but yet were infested with fleas. When I first took them to the vet at 8 weeks they were too light for advocate so I waited until 11 weeks and then treated.

Since about that time the house has been infested with fleas. I’ve sprayed can after can of indorex, taken the cats back to the vet and they’ve also been treated with Bravecto.

I’m also flea combing them constantly and haven’t found any on them today.

I thought we were getting somewhere but I was bitten about 6 times yesterday and have just had a live flea jump on me.

I need some help, I can’t cope with this and am seriously starting to think of rehoming them if I can’t get rid of the fleas.

I need some suggestions as to what to do next please

Sorry I should have made clear, at the first trip to the vet they didn’t appear to have fleas according to the vet. This has all comes out since they were 10/11 weeks

They’re probably picking them up again from the carpets and furnishings. My cats were like that and the only way we got rid of them was to use advocate and keep hoovering every day if possible. Hoover the soft furnishings as well as carpets. If you haven’t found any on the cats it sounds like the flea treatment on them is working. It’s just that your house is now infested

When were they lasted treated with prescription flea treatment?

Fleas can be a bastard it took months for my cats to be rid of them. Definitely indorex the house again, make sure to focus particularly on corners and skirting boards, do the curtains and hoover a lot. Whenever you hoover you must empty the hoover bag or barrel every single time outside to get rid of the ones you have hoovered. Make sure your bedding is clean as well and remember unfortunately its a process that can take a few weeks of keeping on top on not a one off process

Sympathies though its absolutely soul destroying having to do it every day so much but eventually you will kill them all in each stage of life cycle.

I sprayed a little bit of indorex into my hoover bag as well.

Soft furnishings need treatment and hoovering but dont indorex your bed just hoover the mattress and wash the bedding.

Thanks @Dodie66 I thought the point of indorex was to kill the fleas in the house? I’ve gone through 3 cans and am still getting live fleas. Does it only work for a short period do you know?

I’ve put indorex in the hoover bag as well. We’re about 4 weeks into this problem now. They were treated with advocate 3 weeks ago and bravecto a week ago, the vet said it was ok to treat sooner than 4 weeks.

I’ve washed all cushion covers, blankets the lot. Anything that can’t go through the washing machine has been sprayed

I don’t know how long indorex lasts sorry. I didn’t use it. I do know that constant hoovering worked for us. At least once a day if possible and empty the hoover bag regularly. As there are no fleas on your cats their treatment seems to be working

It should work for a year. The issue is that you can’t kill the eggs so they will keep hatching. Hoovering helps agitate the eggs and prompt them to hatch. It will take a few weeks for all the eggs to hatch but if you’ve used products from your vets to spray the house and a suitable treatment for your pets then they will end up disappearing because the treatments in the house and in the pets will kill any hatching fleas from maturing and laying more eggs. You may get the odd bite till they’ve all gone but they will go. Hang in there!

Johnson's Raid fly spray - the blue can. Spray 10 in from the floor all over and close door. That has worked for me. Otherwise get a steam sprayer and do the same, 10in from the carpet covering all areas and let it dry naturally. I have used it on all different carpets and it didn't damage any of them. The steamer may need to be done twice or maybe three times on consecutive days but it will definitely kill off fleas, larva and eggs.

Took us months to get rid of ours. My house has never been so clean!

Yes it lasts a year, so stop spraying that.
You need to hover, hoover, hoover and keep washing soft furnishings because the eggs get bloody everywhere. Go through their fur with a flea comb everyday.
You will get rid of them but it can take weeks and weeks.
Make sure you get rid of the hoover contents outside, every time you use it because the little buggers climb out of them.

Good luck

Fleas have a life cycle and lay lots of eggs. Keep doing what you're doing and eventually they'll go. 4 weeks isn't long enough.

I believe the flea cycle is three weeks. Indorex is brilliant stuff but only kills the adults. Look up their website as it explains more on there. Make sure you spray under skirting board cracks, door hinges, under fixed cupboards, side of stair steps etc. Its the minute cracks rather than middle of carpets that need your attention. Get rid of extra cushions, blankets etc until you win.

Good luck, its demoralising but winnable. You have to be more persistent than those little buggers.

I use Acclaim (not on the kittens!) It kills everything pretty fast. It's strong stuff though so be careful not just to breathe it too much yourself. Spray before going to bed in all the rooms you and the cats aren't. Pay particular attention to round the skirting boards. Have a good stamp around the room, again around the edges, because eggs hatch in response to vibrations. You need to repeat about a week later to catch anything you missed.
I buy it from Anazon - I'm not sure which shops it's available in.

Okay so it seems like I’m doing the right thing, thanks everyone.

I hope I get on top of it soon, as I’m really struggling with coping with them, they’re such awful things to have in the house and I’m not sure the cuteness of the cats is going to feel worth the fleas for much longer.

We had a flea outbreak years ago - the cats were on a prescription flea treatment but still had fleas everywhere. They were treated with bravecto and eventually after lots of indorex and hoovering the fleas disappeared. Once the live fleas jump onto the cats they’ll die too. I’ve treated the cats with bravecto ever since and, touch wood, have never had another outbreak.

Still struggling with this.

I’m back to finding live fleas on the cats, not as many as before but 4 today. How long does it take for the Bravecto to kill them?

Are you still hoovering everywhere at least once a day? The treatment might be working on the cats but getting back,on them when eggs are hatching out in the carpets,or soft furnishing

I’m hoovering twice a day and constantly washing blankets and things.

Are you hoovering sofas etc too?

We take our cats to the vets for their anti flea jabs 😂 not actual name, sorry! But this injection makes all fleas that bite them infertile, vets advise it lasts 6 months but we've found once a year works

About £70 per cat

Diatomaceous earth. Thank me later 👍🏼

How do you use diatomaceous earth? Is it safe to let the cats go j to the spaces you’ve used it?

I’ve randomly found some cans of staykill at the back of my garage? Is that any good does anyone know would you spray that as well?

I’ve got laminate floors with no rugs downstairs, I’m hoovering twice a day and hoovering sofas and still had a flea jump on me watching bake off just now.

l’m seriously going to lose the plot soon.

I’ve rung the vets today and I’m already doing everything they suggest.

Just sat down on my sofa and within seconds had a flea on me. I’ve already had all the cushions off and the sofa out and hoovered the whole thing once today as well as twice yesterday.

I’ve had cats my whole life and never experienced anything like this, it’s unbearable