Fleas... sigh.

[sarie]

Hey guys, so I'm an experienced cat owner but I've hit a bit of a wall with fleas this time around; it seems they're evolving!

Normally I keep on top of flea protection with my boys but they stayed with their grandparents for about 5 months when I was relocating to Scotland and they have 4 cats of their own plus a dog. Unfortunately, during their time there they've picked up fleas. I had them back with me for about 5 weeks before I noticed as they weren't showing any signs but I kept finding flecks of blood in the bath (Harvey goes in there to drink after I shower). I suspected it was flea dirt as Harv had no injuries and sure enough on inspection it was. I usually use Frontline Combo spot on as the standard Frontline sometimes doesn't do the trick. I was holding out for an alternative for Harv as he reacts badly (squinty eyes and runs around freaking out a bit for a while after) to Frontline sometimes but by that point he was showing signs of the fleas starting to bother him so I went for it and was relieved he barely reacted this time. However, neither did the fleas! 10 days later and the little sods are still there.

Does Frontline have a use-by date? I didn't check as I'm sure the stuff I have is only about a year old but now wondering if maybe it's out of date and not as good as it should be - either that or the fleas have evolved hehe.

It's too soon to treat them again with anything so strong - any ideas what I should do next? I cleaned the house from top to bottom when I treated them but I guess I'm going to have to do it again.. ! It doesn't seem like a bad infestation; I've yet to find any fleas in the house when inspecting and they're hard to find on the cats so I don't think they're covered but it does seem like the ones that are there don't want to shift and the cats aren't overly amused - Harv seems to be suffering more, constantly licking his legs and chewing his back.

[KittyWitty]

use this in your house: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00GKHI2PW/r ... flea+spray" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; it kills all stages of fleas and is a life saver!!!

then when a month has past from their last flea treatment get some advocate from your vet, from now until then just continue to use your flea comb daily and get out as much as you can.

[sarie]

Ordered!! Thanks KittyWitty I'll get them some Advocate and re-treat them as soon as it's safe to do so Fingers crossed this gets rid of the nasty little blighters

[KittyWitty]

yes fingers crossed you can get rid of them!!! They come at the worst possible times too!!!

[Lyn from Australia]

Don't know what it's called in the UK, but the Australian version is called "Comfortis" (Spinosad) - I believe it is approved for use in cats in the UK (only recently approved here) - it's a pill which kills all adult fleas on the cat within about an hour, and continues to kill them for a month. I seem to get through the summer with Frontline Plus monthly as usual and Comfortis about every 2 months from November - April or May. Treating my cats this way is much more affordable than just Comfortis monthly, which is very expensive here.

[KittyWitty]

Here is Comfortis in the UK: http://www.viovet.co.uk/Comfortis_Chewa ... ets/c4177/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[andrewh1973]

I'm sure that other stuff works great, but just as an alternative...

With the arrival of Arnie earlier this year a flea infestation quickly followed. I'd wake up each morning and often find fleas on my feet or legs by the time I'd got to the bathroom!

Arnie was duly frontlined and the flat was treated with this stuff:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Staykill-Househ ... s=staykill" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Used this stuff back in the late 80s and was pleased to find it still available, seems to be a flea spray equivalent of napalm as it truly stinks the place out for a couple of hours but it worked for me, after 24 hours I'd not seen a living flea again!