Fleas! What works?

[Greedybilly]

Anyone found anything that works that you can get over the counter?
Or do i need to remortgage my house and go to the vet? Thanks

Vet prescribed flea and worm treatments are equivalent to GP prescriptions, ie a lot stronger, with differing active ingredients, and with oversight. They will check the health and weight of the cat so it's a good MOT time really.

The OTC stuff is rubbish. Also your vet will know which products the fleas have become immune to in your area.

The only thing that works is the tablets. Starve your cats for at least half a day so they're really hungry (and the taste of it won't mither them as much), get a tub of premium wet cat food (ideally paté) and mix 1 full crushed tablet into half of the wet food per cat. Once they've eaten that, give them their regular food. Again, making them hungry enough to eat it is key. I've mixed a tablet into a full tub of paté before and they've eaten 2/3rds of it before going off it, but they need the full tablet. So that's why I make them hungry enough to wolf a small amount down with the full tablet in it.

I do it this way because stuffing it down their throat sounds terrible. And the spot on stuff doesn't really work.

Also, get Indorex. The spray is brilliant. Wait until everyone is out for the day, spray it all over the carpet, under the bed and the sofa or wherever they like to go. It will kill everything including the eggs.

You can get all of this cheap off Amazon, or probably a bit pricier from pets at home. No vets visit needed.

@DonnyBurritowhat tablets do you mean? Thanks

@Pixiedust1234yes Im inclined to agree. Just sooo expensive.

Flea tablets. I use Johnsons '4Fleas' and have a subscription on Amazon so they just get posted every 3 months. You do have to couple that with the Indorex spray, or there's little point. You need to kill the eggs too.

You can also flea comb them and drown the fleas in water with a bit of washing up liquid. They're quick though, it's a bit of an art/sport.

Vet stuff is the only thing that works IMO. Barbies you’ll need to remortgage or sell a kidney.

Bravecto 3 monthly from the vet. Johnson’s etc have been known to be very toxic to cats. We pay £20 a month for our vets health plan which includes bravecto and milpro (for worms), a 6 monthly health check and 10% off treatment. We also have insurance with pet plan.

Ok thanks all for responses!

Johnson's are toxic to cats!? Not sure how, mine are still going after years of using the stuff. Although your set up sounds decent. Assuming that's £20 per cat?

Vet stuff only. OTC tends to be useless at best and toxic at worst.

I buy Advantage online from Viovet, it’s always worked for mine, you can buy it from Pets At Home it’s behind the counter in a locked cabinet and my vet doesn’t have a problem with it like he does with Frontline.

the supermarket stuff is crap but my cats have been flea free for years with Advantage.

I use pet drugs online, cheaper than paying vets
I’ve not tried anything amazing vets or otherwise, capstar tablets seem to kill the adult fleas quickly but you have to keep it up regularly to kill the whole cycle of them.
im currently having an infestation in the carpets, its a nightmare! I’ve ordered Diatomaceous Earth Powder from Amazon for the carpets, yet to see if it works though.

This is the only thing that worked for us too - indorex and the johnson tablets, alongside daily combing for maybe three weeks until everything had died. We also washed any fabrics we could i.e. throws daily and bedding a lot more often. It is a good idea to limit the cats to one room whilst you are sorting this out.

A flea can lay an average of 50 eggs a day each, and there can be hundreds if not thousands of fleas in your home! So it is a serious battle.

It's not that expensive to use a vet, but they now insist on a yearly check before dispensing more. That's an extra cost obviously. But many vets will give you a prescription you can get filled by a cheaper source online.

@Movinginthesunlightyyes it seems to be a full time job :/

I use the Johnsons4fleas tablets.
I use a pill crusher and mix them in with lickylix.
If you don't mind turning the house into something out of breaking bad, the dog ones are exactly the same ingredients. If you get the largest size dog you get 4 X the dose for the same price. Crush the tablet and divide the power into 4 parts and save a few quid.
I also have flea lamps which are great for catching any jumping around the house.

NexGard combo from the vet. Hasn’t failed us yet. The only time we’ve had them was years ago and it’s because we made the mistake of using Frontline.

I paid £90 for a mandatory vet annual check (weighing, looking at teeth, feeling abdomen) including the flea meds before they would prescribe those.
£50 in three months time when this lot runs out for the repeat meds. So staying flea- free is going to cost £240 a year.
I don’t think our vet (not part of a chain) is super expensive either. But this cost is going to put a lot of people out of the possibility of having a cat as a pet at all. It’s really sad that everything pet-related is so expensive these days.

NexGard here too btw.

I use Advantage from https://www.vetuk.co.uk/index.php?main_page=advanced_search_result&sort=vuk&keyword=Advantage+cat
We have one cat who has to have Bravecto because he's got a serious allergy but Advantage works fine for the others.

Advantage is good. It worked on my two cats when Frontline wasn’t working and I was thinking I would have to spend a fortune at the vets for the prescription stuff.
I buy it from Pet Drugs Online. Their prices seem very reasonable.

I pay £17.50pcm per cat to my vet. That covers them for: their vaccinations, three monthly Felpreva and an annual check-up. It's worth every penny.

The felpreva is effective against fleas, worms and other nasties.

Why wouldn't you do something like that?

Bravecto works for our dog. Had him 10 years and never seen a flea. It is a bit expensive but he’s worth it.

Indorex sprayed in the house and then frontline on the neck. Both from Amazon. I promise that’s all you need! Yours sincerely - crazy cat woman of 9 cats.