Fleas?

Ever2010

We've got two young cats about a year old, they're both flea-ed and wormed. But myself and my boyf have both got little bites over the past week or so - it could be anything but the cats would sometimes sleep on our bed during the afternoon.

Can anyone recommend something for the house just in case this is fleas (horrible thought). Tonight I plan on changing the bed clothes, hoovering the place from top to bottom (wooden floors) and washing all clothes that have been sitting on the chair in our room. I'll wash the cats' bedding too. I thought there might be some sort of spray or powder that we can use?

coco_lola

Hi there..

Just went through a flea infestation with my puppy!

First thing you need to do (im not too sure about cats but they might be different) is get a spot on treatment, I used advocate. Make sure not to touch where the spot on was put for 24 hours after as it wont be effective.

Then you need to attack anywhere the cats were. I spent a whole day pulling apart sofas, hoovering the curtains and walls, everything! Get into every corner. An idea would be to put flea powder (for cats/dogs) into the hoover bag, as when you hoover up the fleas, they don't die, merely stay alive in the bag. The flea powder will kill them. And remember when you're done, throw away the bag outside immediately. Better yet, shove it into a plastic bag and put it in the freezer, this kills them off But the flea powder should do it.

Make sure to wash anything they have slept on, in a hot wash, the hot water kills the fleas.. Do your clothes too, and make sure to hoover up the sides of couches and change your bedding as well.

When all that is done, the house should (hopefully) be rid of fleas. To combat it reoccuring, I used a mite spray which I actually bought in Lidl, it was very cheap. I sprayed all upholstery, curtains, floors, everything with it!! (You'll probably need more than one can ) Make sure the moggies are out of the house, they'll inhale the fumes, wouldn't be good

I didn't see the point of paying out a lot of money for expensive flea spray.. the mite spray from Lidl did the job!

When you are done with the house, after 24-48 hours of the spot on, comb through the cats with a flea comb. Keep a bowl of hot salty water at hand, and dip the comb in this after each brush, this will kill the fleas and stop them coming back on your cats. You will know you have fleas if you take the little brown dots you can see on your cat, wipe them on a white paper towel, it will turn red. Or if the water turns pink you have fleas. Thats dried blood

Your cats may still itch for a few days after if they're irritated.. Try rescue remedy cream, or a shampoo with oatmeal or tea tree, it soothes the irritation.

Hope that helps

Ever2010

Thanks coco.

We do use a spot-on treatment for the cats - but I think they're due another one in the coming week (will pick that up in the morning). We've got one of those bagless vacs! But I'll hoover everything and them mop with very hot water.

There's lidl very near us so I'll have a look for that spray this evening - many thanks!

Miss Lockhart

I'm covered in itchy lumps at the moment but it's not fleas - it's a reaction to harvest mites which my dog and one of my cats are covered in. They're an absolute nightmare to get rid of as there is really no products that can kill them and keep them away. This is an annual problem in our house!

Wisco

Miss Lockhart wrote: »

They're an absolute nightmare to get rid of as there is really no products that can kill them and keep them away. This is an annual problem in our house!

Try the frontline spray (not the spot on drops) for harvest mites- my kitty has them at the moment and have heard good things about using this (I put it on last night so will check the results today!). You do have to actually rub the stuff in, especially at corners of ears, etc but does work, apparently. Makes me wonder if the bites I have at the mo are from these mites too....had been wondering about bed bugs (ick!)


As for fleas- house spray often isn't needed unless you have a bad infestation. Use spot on solutions on your pet then hoover the place to death- flea larvae like crevices (baseboards) etc to hid in. You may find the odd flea for a few days, but the spot on does disrupt the flea life cycle (ie they won't reproduce)

Miss Lockhart

Wisco wrote: »

Try the frontline spray (not the spot on drops) for harvest mites- my kitty has them at the moment and have heard good things about using this (I put it on last night so will check the results today!). You do have to actually rub the stuff in, especially at corners of ears, etc but does work, apparently. Makes me wonder if the bites I have at the mo are from these mites too....had been wondering about bed bugs (ick!)

We use Frontline spray all the time, but unfortunately it is only partially successful. It kills the mites when they are sprayed directly but it has no residual effect - as it would have for fleas etc. This is because the mites (well, actually it's their larvae that infest the animals) don't actually bite the cat/dog so they need to be directly sprayed. We literally have to spray the larvae every time we see them. Then next time they go out they are covered in them again.

Knine

Miss Lockhart wrote: »

I'm covered in itchy lumps at the moment but it's not fleas - it's a reaction to harvest mites which my dog and one of my cats are covered in. They're an absolute nightmare to get rid of as there is really no products that can kill them and keep them away. This is an annual problem in our house!

This is what I found helped with harvest mites.

I used frontline on the dog or cat.

I treated the kennel, bedding etc

I used beaphar Mite foam on the dog (or cat) I used this every second day

I made a foot dip out of a small square container and before and after the dogs walk, I dipped all four feet in a solution made up of Dorwest Pennyroyal Shampoo which is minty. I found this very effective.

I regularly washed the dogs in the above shampoo, but any oil based shampoo works great such as tea tree oil or similar. I made sure I rubbed the shampoo against the dogs skin and got inbetween toes, under elbows etc.

Best of luck, harvest mites are a right pain but with the above I managed to keep the mites at bay.

Ado86

Indorex - made by Virbac - available from vets it kills fleas in the environment.