Flea bites!

IMPORTANT: If your cat is in any distress or discomfort, please consult your own vet as your first priority.
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Joanne_
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Flea bites!

Post by Joanne_ »

In the summer I am always being bit by their fleas. Any tips to repel them? Of course we treat the cats but it doesn't stop them from eating me alive:(
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bobbys girl
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Re: Flea bites!

Post by bobbys girl »

I always get clobbered in the spring. But this year (with the rotten weather?) hasn't been too bad.

Treating the cats is only half the story. The little beggers (fleas that is) like to hide away in carpets and along skirting boards.

We are lucky that most of our house has tiled or wooden floors. But if we get fleas (I'm ALWAYS the one they go for), after treating the cats I give EVERYTHING a good vacuum then use a spray around the skirting and under the sofas. I do one room at a time and make sure the cats stay out of that room for a couple of hours at least.

That usually does the trick for the year. All you have to do then is stop the itching! :shock: :?
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Joanne_
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Re: Flea bites!

Post by Joanne_ »

ah isn't it the worst. I saw one IN my bed and went to get it and it hopped never to be seen again.... Yet I woke with like 10 bites. The itching is the worst. I try and hoover everyday also. But I find we go through period of having issues now and then.
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bobbys girl
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Re: Flea bites!

Post by bobbys girl »

Joanne_ wrote:I saw one IN my bed and went to get it and it hopped never to be seen again.... Yet I woke with like 10 bites. The itching is the worst. I try and hoover everyday also. But I find we go through period of having issues now and then.
I've done that, and you don't want to spray your bed, so what do you do?! The little beggers are really hard to kill - they just won't stay squashed! ;)
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Lilith
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Re: Flea bites!

Post by Lilith »

I once tried insect repellent! It was in the 70s and all there was then was Nuvan Top (for those who don't remember that ghastly stuff, it was an aerosol - you grabbed the poor cat by its scruff and sprayed it direct on to the cat :shock: :evil: ) Otherwise powders were still around; you put the powder in the pillowcase and then inserted the cat - with its head sticking out - and soon the paws and then the rest of the cat fought to get out too if you weren't careful, while all the fleas gathered on top of the cat's head, sniggering. There was a household spray too but despite that and vacuuming you could still see the little bleeders dancing fandangos on the carpet!

I was getting bitten to death but I was working for a couple of art colleges as a life model...I only hope the students didn't draw all my bites lol. Not a pretty sight. Every week I went to the chemist and bought a couple of tubes of insect repellent. Soon I noticed the assistants nudging each other and wondering why on earth I was buying this stuff...in the depths of winter, in Batley??? :?

It didn't really work either. I've heard lavender oil's a good flea repellent - a few drops in the bath smell great and you come out smelling lavender-y from top to toe which the fleas might not like.

I'm lucky nowadays as the garden is enclosed and they don't roam and odd flea outbreaks seem to have been dealt with by Advantage etc.

Good luck Joanne and Bobbys girl and to all of us who taste good to the dreaded Flea :)
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bengalsmeow
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Re: Flea bites!

Post by bengalsmeow »

same! i just locked my cat out of the bedrooms or anyother place i could get infected, but the kitchen and living room are all okay for him! :)
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snootycow
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Re: Flea bites!

Post by snootycow »

Hi there,
Newbie here, I was just wading around familiarising myself with the place when I came upon this post. I have 2 8month old boys who were infested with fleas when they came to me :(
I've just managed to get 99% flea free using a 3 pronged attack method;
1. Treat the boys
2. Steam mop all the carpets!
3. Spray the house with shop bought aerosol flea killer spray (including the mattress)


Fingers crossed it seems to have worked, I think the steam mop made all the difference if i'm honest, well worth the investment.

Hope this helps!
elastu
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Re: Flea bites!

Post by elastu »

i had cats for over 40 years and in rescue for over 20 so dealt with hundred of cats and never had a problem, even in the days of Nuvan Top. :) All cats were flead on a regular basis and the house sprayed once a year with Staykill, Indorex or whatever was at the vets at that time. Every day I used to run a comb through them from the back of the neck to the tip of the tail. Of course some rescue cats came into care full of them, I remember one poor cat and we stopped counting at 300. But of course with a very short time it was flea-less and possibly a lot happier. Also I am sure you all know that a cat with fleas will almost certainly have the tapeworm related to the flea, so it is necessary to get the correct tapeworm treatment and not just any brand that says for tapeworm.
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