Where are my cats getting fleas from?!

[Saymyname28]

I have 4 INDOOR cats. The first two arrived with fleas but I'd treated them before they even came in the house and I bathed them.

We've had them 8 months ish.

They're treated monthly, they don't go outside. We have no other pets.

We had an issue with lice a few months ago that took ages to get rid of becuase I thought they were fleas and was using the wrong stuff. Got the right stuff, lice were gone.

Less than a month later I see a definite flea on one of their faces. Treat them all. We took them with us to a renovation were doing and treated the whole house with the brutal bug stuff. There should be no fleas in the house or on the cats. It's been 2 weeks since we got back and they've all got flea dirt on them.

I haven't seen a flea yet but they're all fluffy and wriggly but there is definite flea dirt on them all.

What the hell is happening?!

Take the cats to the vet. It's been months now. What miracle are you waiting for?

You need to treat your home to as well as your pets. The eggs can live in fabric and when they sense movement they hatch. You need to get some flea spray and spray all fabrics. You then hoover and hoover again, literally hoover everywhere daily. Throw the hoover bag in the bin. You get rid of as many fabric things as you can. Fleas live in the home now just on the cats. Also the flea stuff only kills the fleas when they bite the cats. It doesn't kill the eggs that's why just by flexing the cats won't have got rid of the fleas when they first arrived. You need to read up on the flea cycle to fully understand how to get rid of them. It's a hard slog but can be done op good luck

Flea eggs can live for years. We moved into a house that had been empty a long time and it was infested. Yes, you have to do soft furnishings, skirting boards as well as the animals.. Front line is useless

Our indoor cats managed to get fleas, we stupidly thought they didnt need treatment being indoor cats. we treat them every 3 months with prescription treatment, we have done nothing else and have no flea issues at all.
The prescription stuff is expensive (I think I pay about £35-£40 per cat every 3 months) but the way I see it, its better to pay out for something that works than spend a fortune on a lot of treatments that dont do a thing.

They could be being brought in by household members. My sister has outdoor cats who perpetually have fleas (she does treat them but with cheap, supermarket shit).

I was always finding fleas on my cats after visiting her house. Spraying Indorex on shoes and socks before visiting her helped a lot.

Fleas are an absolute bastard to get rid of. I read somewhere that you have to be devoid of any sign of fleas for 2 years before you can be confident you've got rid of them in the environment. They are well evolved little fuckers that will survive a nuclear holocaust!

I use indorex fairly regularly (hate to do so because it kills spiders which makes me really sad) as well as advantage (fipronil-based products are shite).

I also read they will hitch a ride on humans but so you're never 100% guaranteed even with indoor cats.

Good luck!

Also steam clean. Steam kills the eggs. So as well as intensive hoovering, washing bedding at 60 etc, steam carpets, cracks in floors, soft furnishings,?everywhere. It really works if you keep at it.

As for cat fleas not hitching a ride on humans - I still remember my horror 30 years ago, when I’d gone to a friend’s house to feed her cats, and 2 days later gone to the library and saw a flea leap out of one of the books I was returning. (Librarian said nothing, either didn’t see or was being very calm and professional!)

Treat the cats with Advantage spot on and use Indorex spray for the house. You may need to spray the house more than once and keep hoovering to remove the fleas and their eggs.

It's important to understand the flea life cycle. They live in the home and only feed off the pet. The female lays 25 eggs a day. The eggs pupate. The pupae are impervious to sprays like indorex and staykill..they hang around and "hatch" in response to food sources (detecting heat, warmth, CO2 and movement).

This is why they survive in empty houses and erupt when people move in.

You need to treat all pets with something effective at the correct dose and interval. You need to treat continuously for at least three months and also treat the house/car/hot wash pet bedding - this targets eggs, larvae and adults.

The pupae..you have to wait for them to hatch and bite a treated pet to "get a dose".

A one off treatment lasting a month is rarely enough to get rid of an infection.

Also: due a recent (Jan 2024) legal change.Vets must now physically examine a pet in order to prescribe (or change a prescription) a POM-V anti-parasitic. The consult fee may be reduced if the consult is for this reason only. It is currently free at our vets.

Ridiculous comment. And rescues are full to bursting anyway. Many having to pause any new intake.

Your “treatment” isn’t working. You need to Indorex the house and give the cats decent monthly treatment. Advantage works for us.

You'll need to take both your cats to be seen by the vet - they won't be able to prescribe anything over the phone unless they've been seen and checked in person in the last year.

You need to spray the house with indorex, wash all the bedding and blankets ect.
Advocate is the best flea treatment from the vets.
You won't get rid of the fleas unless you have made sure your home is clear of them.
Maybe make a vet appointment the will give you stronger medications and stuff to stop them itching and also advice.

I fact not maybe, please take them to the vet they must be so uncomfortable.

It's a very low level transient infection, they haven't been crawling with them for months. They were when they first came. It was disgusting.

Treated them and bathed them regularly combing through them. Since the first infection I'd literally get 2-5 off a couple of the cats and at least one wouldn't have any. When they had lice. They didn't have fleas. There's been no lice for weeks, then fleas turned up. That's why I'm so confused.

I think they got the lice from the vets, they showed up very shortly after the eldest female was Spayed and she was the worst.

In a previous flat, before having any pets, we had a flea infestation from charity shop furniture and I'd find as many on my own body while I was out of the house. Treated the place twice and never saw them again.

This house has been treated repeatedly. I didn't think an infection could be staying dormant in this house and keep coming back. So I asked for ideas of where they could be coming in from. I think it might be coming from a friend with dogs.

Look sorry, if it’s actually at the stage where you see 2-5 fleas actually on the cat, that is not low level. That means there are fleas every fucking where, laying loads of eggs, which as pp have said can lie dormant for years. I’m afraid they do need vet treatment plus all the other measures suggested. It’s getting warmer now, it will only get worse.

But if you're not treating your house with proper, effective products, then it doesn't matter how often you spray or put down powder. If the fleas are resistant to it then you may as well set fire to a bunch of fifties.

You need to tackle it properly from all angles. Take all your cats to the vet and get them treated with a proper prescription strength treatment and while they're gone, get the house treated with Indorex (don't bother with Frontline spray or random powders). Wash the bedding, blankets etc. and chuck out anything you can't clean properly.

Now you've had an infestation in your house, you'll probably need to use the prescription treatment every month to ensure you're killing the adult fleas, the eggs and larvae.

We had fleas in our old house (also indoor cats) and it was a right PITA but it's the only way to get rid of them.

indorex the house

When mine had fleas I only knew as the boy is allergic to them so his hair was falling out. I think I saw 1 flea.

If you are regularly seeing 2-5 fleas then they are everywhere.

This house has been treated repeatedly. I didn't think an infection could be staying dormant in this house and keep coming back.

But that's exactly what happens. The larvae take 2-3 weeks before they pupate. At that stage they can lie dormant for months. Mainly stimulated by vibration eg vacuuming.

None of the products kill all of the lifecycle stages. So you will get a return and need to keep on it with the best products on both the cats and your home. That's Bravecto or similar, and Indorex. So if you've been using other products that fleas have some resistance to, then you're likely back at beginning by now.

It's a bloody nightmare. I've just admitted defeat and got pest control in. Actually cheaper than endless cans of Indorex.
.

Tbh we defeated our last infection pretty much entirely by treating the cats properly and a shit load of hoovering. No indorex. The fleas really want to bite a cat, not a human if they have the choice so if you treat the cats, the fleas die.

We found if the fleas couldn't get cat, they would compromise with human.

So we knew the Bravecto worked as the cat's hair was growing back but we were getting bitten.

It takes at least three months to break the flea cycle. Indorex and steam the whole house repeatedly and ask your vet what flea treatment is most effective currently. For our dog, it was Nexgard Spectra or Simparica Trio - not sure what the equivalent is for cats, but our vet said not to bother with Frontline or Advantage.

Treat the house, not the cats. Flea eggs can live for months in soft furnishings, edges of carpets, etc. Then they hatch and have a feast on your pets, jump off again, shag. Then lay more eggs in your soft furnishings.

Ideally do this every spring and autumn.

This. You need to spray the skirting boards because they hide behind the skirtings then come out at night. I used flea tablets and spot on and my 2 cats and 2 dogs are flea free.