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Anyone got any better strategies for ridding our house and cat of these infernal beasts? So far we've had 2 applications of frontline 4 weeks apart, hoovering the house every other day, washing bedding every other day, even gave the cat a bath in anti flea shampoo which seemed to be the most effective but I suspect the neighbours nearly called the RSPCA due to the sounds the cat was making in protest.
Still we're finding them on her fur. Anything else we can do??? Getting rid of cat not an option...
Forgot to mention emptying a can of that flea spray in the rooms on the hottest day of the year and nearly passing out.
Is it just a case of rinse and repeat until they're gone or something else???
Ours have worm and flea treatment, never have a problem.
They get a dose as per the instructions, probably every 3 months
bit drastic but get the carpets out if it's that bad, I expect there's flea eggs in them.
An outside cat? Visiting a house or another cat who’s riddled with fleas.those fog thingys worked when we had a problem years ago. Fleas may have mutated since then
Similar position back in the spring. Dog brought them in. Like you spraying / hoovering etc didn't work.
I got a pest controller in. You have to get anything movable off the floor (obviously not wardrobes / beds etc).
They'll spray the whole house (you gotta make yourself scarce for a good few hours). In direct contrast to the instructions on the spray tins I was advised DON'T hoover for 3 weeks. Basically the spray doesn't / can't kill the eggs so the little critters hatch, you may get a bite or two but the residue from the spray will kill them before they can reproduce. Cycle broken.
Best £120 I ever spent.
We found there wasn't really a substitute for near-daily combing with a flea comb (and disposing of the fleas in washing up liquid solution) from spring to autumn, especially as the cats got older and more infirm. Our cats enjoyed the grooming, but it really was a chore. Once the fleas got to ride around for a little bit longer they would lay eggs and the problem would escalate rapidly (typically ending in spraying the entire house with Indorex - even spaces where the cats were not allowed).
Frontline never worked where we are. I remember finding fleas scurrying around literally in the greasy spot on a cat's neck.
Advantage worked for five years or so, but then our local fleas evolved immunity to that too.
There was some other (possibly prescription) spot-on that our vet supplied which worked in the latter years of the cat's life, but mechanical methods always worked best.
This year has been bad for fleas - I am toiling too and my cat is tiny and I have very little carpet. I think it has been the long dry/long wet/more dry weather as well. I am convinced mine picked them up at the cat hotel she had never been outside until this week!
Cat fleas, the bad sort? Can I have your bikes please?
Have you tried sudocreme?
Combing, combing and more combing really. The prescription flea stuff works well but not as well as combing, combine the two is possibly the path to success.
Unless you shave the cat.
Fleas seem pretty immune to off the shelf treatments these days - prescription Bravecto from the vet was much more effective. Indorex spray then worked well to quell the indoors infestation (after treating the cat of course).
another vote for Bravecto plus separate worming tabs, not the cheapest but lasts 3 months.
Frontline never worked on our two cats, but whatever we switched them over two (can't remember the name) seems much more effective.
You really need to keep up with the monthly treatment, rather than just doing it when you see they have fleas.
We also did multiple applications of those giant cans for treating the carpets.
Would be tempted next time to get a pest controller in, if we had it again.
The main issue for us, was that the frontline just wasn't working. As soon as we switched to the other treatment, the problem quickly went away. Just checked & it's called Advocate - although our vet can no longer get that so will be trying the replacement (Stronghold) once all the Advocate runs out.
our collection of animals have not had fleas for many years but back in the day Indorex spray was the solution, and vet prescribed flea treatment, over the counter stuff (was) rubbish
Last time i had them i bought a blister pack (12 cans) of the strongest spray i could find.
One can per room as i left for the weekend.
Then a month later used the rest of the pack and did the same again.
Vacuumed as normal though (probably not often enough!)
It’s the same as nits in a school. Once one person has them, everyone does
We seem to have to do our cats all the bloody time and hoover constantly.
We’ve sussed out it’s because the crazy cat lady down the road doesn’t do hers at all, they’re all riddled with fleas and she just lets all cats, including our two into her house
When ours had them we used Advantage flea treatment which was very quick and effective. We used Indorex spray on the carpets which was also very good. Good luck!
Frontline doesn't work. Get some Advantage and yes, daily combing.
Thanks for the suggestions,will ditch the frontline and get something from the vets.
Tried combing but the cat doesn't really like it and awkward to get to some of the places where the fleas hide. Will persist a bit more.
Out cat is old - 21 this year and doesn't go out at all, basically sits in one place all day - no idea how she caught them! Assume one of the itchy bastards hitched a ride on one of our clothes.
If all else fails will call in the professionals.
Indorex for spraying furniture - recommended by the vet, and available on amazon. As for net getting fleeced for spot on stuff, use someone like Zoo Plus for Advantage spot on - you input the pet details (weight mainly) and get four applications for about £10, rather than £25 the vet will charge you.
Yep, Indorex ftw. Carpets, rugs, furniture.
Wash all the bedding
Shave the cat.
"<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; color: #000000; font-family: Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, 'Noto Sans', sans-serif, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol', 'Noto Color Emoji';">If all else fails will call in the professionals."</span>
Our youngest shared a house where a cat got fleas, they tried everything, failed - both him and his flatshare looked like they'd got the pox.
We sent over the contractor we use for 'vermin', wasn't particularly cheap but fixed the issue that day.
This'll work on the carpets for the residual ones
https://www.pest-expert.com/pest-expert-formula-c-flea-spray-5l-128-p.asp
Lasts for ages in the fibres.
Whilst bog standard Frontline seems to be completely ignored by fleas we’ve found Frontline Plus still works, plus a rigorous regime of combing with a flea comb - fortunately our 20 year old cat quite likes this except in the more delicate areas where PPE is required. Plus spraying round the house (and the flea comb) with one of the many flea sprays available and if possible leaving it for a few days before vacuuming. Last infestation took a couple of weeks to completely get rid of. I’ve found by accident that a good way of detecting an infestation in the house is to lie on the floor in the dark reading STW on an iPad and the little bastards jump onto the screen.
Is it fleas getting evolved and withstanding the insecticides or is it the continual banning or reducing concentrations of insecticides that has reduced their effectiveness?
Any way, I have not been a cat owner in 30 years so this suggestion may suffer the same as every other treatment, but DOOM fly spray used to contain the same insecticide as the vet supplied flea treatment, and cost a quarter the amount. It was in fact more potent, with a higher concentration of the insecticide so we didn't use it on the cats, they got the vet stuff, but we used DOOM on the carpets etc. It used to work very well. If by some miracle it has escaped the banning and watering down, it may still work...... but since I've not had the need in 30 years I can't promise I'm afraid.
If we are going DOOM, maybe go the whole hog and bring out the BFG?
Right, stop.
I've had cats throughout my life. I've tried every flea treatment on the planet from lotions to powders to foggers to literal grenades where you lob the ****er through the door and run. The only thing which ever worked was Frontline spot-on treatment, and it was an absolute game-changer.
However.
Frontline doesn’t work. Get some Advantage
Frontline stopped working. Maybe they evolved or something, I don't know.
Today, you've got Advantage and a couple of other spot-on treatments from the vet. Don't bother with any over-the-counter remedies, it's a waste of money.
Seresto collars on our cats have kept them flea-free all year.
Bought from Pets at home - less costly than from the vets!
Can't add much to the above. Repeated treatment with Frontline, Carpets sprayed once a week & repeated hoovering. Fleas tend to move away from the centre of carpeted areas towards the skirting so we paid extra attention to those areas. The flea comb also yielded good results and we got good at spotting the critters in his coat. Disposing correctly of caught fleas is important as they're incredibly robust. Our cat tolerated combing if he was completely relaxed otherwise he didn't take kindly to it :o) It took a few months but eventually they got the message and left.
Good luck.
My experience of flea collars is they do bog all about fleas but makes fur come out in clumps. You can still see the line on Mollie from when she had one three years ago.
YMMV.