Flea hell

[FleaHell]

I couldn't find The Litter Tray and posted in Chat but here it is! Please help with my horrible flea problem 😭

I'm aware this sounds dramatic but I'm sobbing.
I have a cat (13yo). Never really had an issue as such with fleas but always treat preventatively anyway- prescribed stuff not OTC. She had the injection once but it didn't agree with her so I stick with spot on.

A couple of months ago DS was complaining of being itchy. He had some lumps and bumps and the Dr advised it was viral and it'd be fine. Anyway it turns out its flea bites. The cat doesn't scratch but a month ago, most definitely had fleas. I treated the cat, treated the house with indorex and thought that'd be the end of it.

It was just the start! DS got covered in bites, I checked the cat (3w post treatment) and yep, more fleas/flea dirt. Treated again, sprayed the house again and used some of the fogger sprays to be sure. No new bites for a week and I was just sitting on the settee feeling relaxed for the first time in ages. Felt a tickle. Fucking flea. Live, adult flea. I'm back to itching like crazy (they don't seem to bite me but the thought makes me scratch) and feeling like a terrible parent with poor kid being covered in bites. Also (unreasonably) resentful of the cat.

What the hell do I do now? I'm going to try and get the cat in at the vet for an alternative flea treatment, thinking about local pest control to do the house?

My partner is pest control and he always tells me that once they have taken over they can be very hard to treat unless you have more commercial products. This is because the eggs won’t die from a domestic spray. Where are you based?

Indorex spray works well. Kills eggs too.

We had this exact situation

Switch to a different flea treatment, prescribed asap, we had this with an older cat too…fleas in the area had become resistant to Frontline.

then you have to have a week where you hoover every day incl skirting board crevices, beds (human and animal), sofa etc. Spray with the Indorex and repeat.

it nearly broke me as my two children were still young and I was doing this after work every day.

finally don’t miss the next treatment in the schedule.

antihistamine will help with the redness and itchiness of the bites in the meantime.

https://www.healthline.com/health/healthy-home-guide/how-to-get-rid-of-fleas

for us it definitely settled after the first week on intense cleaning

Hi

I was you six months ago - we literally had to do all the above things and the worst was (I can hardly bear to say this) taking off clothes at night and running hands down clothes to see baby fleas fall onto the bathroom floor. Literally 3-4 high jumping, tiny bodies. I’d hold them between finger and thumb and run them under the tap or they’d jump again.

It was misery.

So I’m here to give hope!

Yes find the right brand for your cat - we tried many and the Bravecto 3 month dose (not cheap) but so worth it - it helped hugely.

But it was the carpet steamer that killed the problem. Hands down. Kercher small yellow glorious angel that it was. It kills the little sods - you have to hoover first then steam into oblivion. I bloody steamed everything everyday for about 3 weeks. It worked. And it was so satisfying knowing the steam killed it at source.

Steam the pet beds -rather than wash- it nukes them (fleas/babies/eggs). Honestly it was the only thing (had tried washing beds for weeks) and I was in despair.

I still steam now twice a week (for revenge) - no to avoid any return!

Not a dual carpet cleaner I hasten to add - just steamer. About £99 I think if on an offer. I’m evangelical about it as it saved my sanity.

Go for it!!!!
xxxx

Thanks all. Between advice here and on my thread in Chat I think I have a plan of action!

@FormerlyPathologicallyHappy I use/d Indorex, I think I should have shares in it by now! I think the problem is that the cat still has active fleas.

@BamberGirl yes I think there must be some sort of immunity to the Advantage I've been using. I've got an alarm set to ring the vets as soon as they open! I was cleaning like crazy but after using the foggers it said DON'T vacuum for a week to give it chance to work. I'll go back to daily cleaning! Also juggling ft work and single parenting but I'll do anything at this stage.

Thanks for the hope @anyideasthatcouldhelp! My cat didn't react well to Bravecto last time I tried it but will discuss options with vet. I actually have a steam cleaner for floors etc stuffed in a cupboard- I'll go over everything after I've vacced!

We had the same problem and used these and it worked in combination of indorex, daily hoovering and then applying advantage.

Good luck!!!!

Thanks @XFiler I tend to prefer spot on treatment as I can't physically get a tablet down my cat. If the spot ons aren't working I'll have to do vet trips! There's definitely options I haven't tried yet so I have some hope. It's the house that's bugging me if you'll pardon the pun! I keep looking round (been awake since 3) thinking they could be anywhere/everywhere!

I'm going to treat the cat with vet help and try again with the indorex/cleaning routine. If I can't get on top of it in a reasonable amount of time I'm just going to get pest control in- I've probably spent half the cost of a professional on indorex already 💸

I had the same problem, it was horrible. After no success with a bunch of flea bomb products what finally worked incredibly well and easily was salt! Just buy a 10 or 20kg bag of regular cooking salt, and sprinkle it heavily over all the floors and ideally soft furnishing too, making sure it gets into any cracks in the floor etc. It'll kill the fleas in 24 hours, but leave it down for 9-14 days to get any eggs as they hatch too. As long as it doesn't get wet, it's very easy to vacuum up at the end, and you can pretend you're at the beach too. Google it to see that I'm not just making it up :-)

@ArtichokeSurprise I've read diatomaceous earth has a similar impact so I definitely believe you!

The house just wouldn't be liveable in if I covered everywhere with it- though I'm considering using it in conjunction with other approaches! E.g. edges of rooms/stairs etc.

Been counting down to the vets opening and having a massive declutter (as quietly as possible so as not to disturb neighbours). My bedroom carpet has quite a few dead bugs: woodlice, little spiders, ladybirds. So I feel reassured in a way that the indorex/bombs have done something. It just means every time the cat comes back inside, they're spreading again?!

Forgot to say I also confined the cats to one room and the hall (with access to outside of course ) for about 4 weeks and removed or covered the soft furnishings in the area with soft plastic sheeting (a friend has just bought sofas). This, plus the steaming seemed to break the cycle around the house of flea babies/adults etc

Happy steaming - the sense of being able to do something proactively to resolve it is great.

I wish that were an option @anyideasthatcouldhelp I've racked my brains but the layout of the house basically makes it impossible. I thought about somehow confining to downstairs but that means closer proximity to us, and the sofa etc is harder to clean/steam/spray!

Cat is booked in at vets and I'm having a morning of vaccing and steaming. I'll pop out at lunchtime for more Indorex.

I'm not sure what to say to the vets re treatment - I want to be honest and say I treated with spot on this Monday but if that means they won't treat today I think I'll honestly cry. But of course don't want to harm cat either. It seems some vets will allow oral treatment in conjunction with spot on, suppose I'll have to hope for that option..

Once the cat is treated they then help…the fleas prefer animal blood 🤢 so they hatch, hop onto the cat and are then killed.

You need to wait two weeks before treating with something else.

We had this earlier in the year. I ended up paying a local pest control company to deal with it. £235 very well spent. Im worried they'll return but can only keep treating the animals and as pp said will be steaming this weekend. I always stick some cedarwood essential oil in the water as that's supposed to kill them

I really do feel your pain. We had similar years ago and it took 3 months or so to completely rid the house of the little buggers. I used Indorex, flea bombs and hour upon hour of hoovering - but we got there in the end! 👍

Thanks all for comments and advice! I'm feeling very very slightly better having seen and spoken to the vet. The cat is ok and she could only see flea dirt. She said she thinks the fleas are somewhere in the house, jumping on cat and, when desperate, poor DC.

I have bought more Indorex and going to try a rigorous routine of vaccing, steaming and spraying. If that's not doing the trick I'll get pest control in!

From your OP it seems the house was first treated 2 months ago. Sadly, it needs treating again at 3 monthly intervals after the first treatment. The Indorex is effective against live fleas, eggs and larvae, but not the pupa stage of the lifecycle. How long it takes fleas to hatch from pupae is dependent on various factors such as temperature and humidity. If you have other pets, such as a dog, make sure they are also treated (it is often cat fleas that bother dogs).