Extreme flea infestation - please help.

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CJ1603
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Extreme flea infestation - please help.

Post by CJ1603 »

About 6 weeks ago my husband started getting bites around his ankles but we didn't attribute it to fleas as the cats seemed fine. However as the week passed he continued to be bitten and so I Front Lined the cats.

Things however have spiralled out of control over the last month and we just don't know how to get on top of it.

We have flea bombed our house. We Hoover every day. I have bought spray to use around the house to supposedly kill the fleas, we use flea trap sticky pads and we brush the cats twice a day to catch and kill the fleas.

But they are just everywhere and me and my husband are at a loss. We are both covered in fleas and even our baby is getting bitten. I keep finding fleas on him and in his hair. I'm so upset by it all.

When we are brushing the cats we will easily get 40-50 fleas off them with each session. One day, between brushing the cats and counting how many fleas there were on the sticky pads there was a total of 200 fleas!!!

I just don't know what to do.

I'm desperate for help and advice because we can't carry on anymore.
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Re: Extreme flea infestation - please help.

Post by Meandmymunki »

You need to go to your vets and get the cats advocate or stronghold, and whilst there get their household treatment spray ( indorex or rip flea), then treat cats (you will also need to worm them as fleas cause tapeworm) and all of you need to leave the house for a few hours spraying every nook and cranny of the house before you leave, put a plastic cat flea collar in your Hoover cylinder or bag, this is the only shop brought product that will help in your Hoover to kill any that are in there.
Flea bombs and traps are largely in effective killing one in every seven fleas.
You will also find it beneficial to trat the house again 10 days later and then with monthly prescription product flea treatments for the cats your problem shouldn't return.
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greenkitty
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Re: Extreme flea infestation - please help.

Post by greenkitty »

Yes I agree with Meandmymunki you need to use the products she mentions, Frontline has been in the press a lot recently because fleas are becoming increasingly resistant to it. The Indorex house spray is good stuff, I took on a foster cat that was riddled and Advocate and Indorex sorted everything out.
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Re: Extreme flea infestation - please help.

Post by andrea8411 »

I've had fleas in my house in the past which have come in from mice that the cats bring into the house. I agree with the above people, the first thing you need to do is get them off the cats I use advocate as frontline didn't work on my cats, take advise from your vet or a nurse at your practice.
Get the very strong spray from your vets, do the sofa, skirting boards etc. it is very strong so make sure the baby isn't around. Boil wash all your beding and all the cats bedding, you may want to do the same a few days later.
But like I said first job get them off the cats otherwise you will never get rid of them in the house, advocate will keep them off your cats and then deal with the house.
Don't worry you will get rid of them
CJ1603
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Re: Extreme flea infestation - please help.

Post by CJ1603 »

Thank you everyone. My husband has been out this morning and bought them each a cat bed so they don't sleep on our sofas or beds.

The sprays we have been using say it can be used on soft furnishings, I take it that includes sofas and beds?

We have decided to lock the cat flap so they can't go outside - I read somewhere that fleas can also live in the grass and jump on cats that way.

We have also been considering confining the cats to one of our spare rooms in the house for a week so we can try and address all the fleas in the other rooms without more fleas being spread around by the cats roaming around the house - would this be cruel?

It has only been just over 3 weeks since I used Frontline so do I have to wait another few weeks to try another product?

We have bought a flea collar to put in the Hoover so we will give the place a good vacuum later!!

My baby has got 3 fresh bites on his face this morning - it's breaking my heart. The house is absolutely crawling with them.

My husband is making comments that if this can't be sorted then he wants to get rid of the cats because he's not tolerating the baby being bitten.
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Re: Extreme flea infestation - please help.

Post by elastu »

I am sure you will be able to sort out the problem soon after treating the cats again and the whole home, another household spray which only has to be used once a year is Staykill, much cheaper at online pharmacies such as VetUK than vets. I will say however, that re-homing cats does not necessarily mean a flea free home. I know a a large Town Hall that had to be closed for a couple of days due to a flea infestation and also some floors of a large office block. People can take them in. You could be sitting in a taxi or on a bus and someone who has pets with fleas could have sat there just before you and before you know it you have inadvertently took them home.
I will also confirm that if a cat has fleas they will almost certainly have tapeworm. As you know the best and most reliable treatments are from the vets. In shops you see suitable for tapeworm but that does not necessarily mean the tapeworm related to the flea. Please let us know how you get on.

Re the Frontline it depends if you used Frontline Spray or the pipettes. I would have a word with your vet.
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Re: Extreme flea infestation - please help.

Post by Meandmymunki »

Yes you can and need to treat now using the veterinary products we mentioned.
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Re: Extreme flea infestation - please help.

Post by MarkB »

We moved into the house we are in now, nearly 10 years ago in the January. When it was spring, we suddenly had a flea infestation. We think they must have been from the previous owner's cat as we had never had a problem with fleas. i treated the house with Indorex and the cats with Stronghold. The fleas were gone and we haven't had a problem since. I treat the cats every month in the summer and a couple of times in the winter.

You could get a quote from Rentokil. I have never used them, but I remember someone posting on a forum that it wasn't as expensive as they expected it to be. http://www.rentokil.co.uk/fleas/how-to- ... -of-fleas/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

A cheap tip I heard about was to put a cheap flea collar in the vacuum cleaner to kill any fleas that are hoovered up.
CJ1603
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Re: Extreme flea infestation - please help.

Post by CJ1603 »

Well I went to the vets yesterday and they suggested flea tablets as opposed to treatment on the back of the neck. The dosage is dependent on the cats weight and the cost is around £8 a tablet. I was told it starts working within 30 minutes and most fleas on the cats will be dead within 4 hours. It works by over stimulating the fleas, causing them to go into spasm and die. We confined the cats to one room and when I went to them this morning there were loads of dead fleas in their beds and on surrounding blankets. I have given them both a brush this morning and any fleas I found in their fur were all dead.

I have put a flea collar in the Hoover and gave the living room and sofas and curtains a really thorough vacuum and then used the indorex spray. I haven't seen a single flea or received a bite today. I'm tackling the bedrooms later!

So I'm feeling more positive today!!!
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greenkitty
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Re: Extreme flea infestation - please help.

Post by greenkitty »

You have hit fleas from all sides and you'll probably need to give the house another spray in a couple of days. Keep combing out your cats to remove any dead fleas and eggs from their fur too. Sounds like you're heading in the right direction though :)
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Re: Extreme flea infestation - please help.

Post by nannymcfee »

hello, when we moved in to this bungalow over 25 years ago, i went in the bathroom one evening, and my legs looked like they were crawling... :o

the previous owners had had a cat and old dog, and never treated them for fleas i don't think

extreme measures but we ripped up all the carpets, and got rid of old curtains etc, but they seemed to be hiding in every nook and cranny, radiators too!!!!

we contacted our council, at the time it wasn't that much more compared with all the flea sprays etc i had purchased from vet and they came and sprayed every room,(in wardrobes too) as i have asthma, we had to go out for the full day, then open all windows when we came back.Just had to make sure no goldfish or food was left near it either

I also washed all bedding on high a cycle temperature as possible, and vacuumed every day EVERYWHERE.....

Dreaded the blooming things coming back, but they went after a few days...only for us to find a ferel little scrap of a kitten covered in them a few years later :D but she was treated there and then, and only found a few rogue ones every now and again..

I know how you feel, i was so fed up with the thought of finding them, i wish i had never moved in the beginning , ..

i too don't use frontline on the cats anymore but use Eliminall, ..

Hope you get on top of it soon
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MarkB
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Re: Extreme flea infestation - please help.

Post by MarkB »

The tablets the vet gave you were probably Capstar. They do kill existing fleas on cats, but that is it. The better flea sprays like Indorex, kill fleas in the house and also have a growth inhibitor that prevents new eggs from hatching.

Let's hope you have seen the last of them! :)
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