Bloody cats and fleas!!!

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I've got 3 cats and, fortunately (touch wood), we've had minimum flea problems. Had them in the house before but I've never been bitten and when they've landed on my foot/leg they tend to just jump straight off. Cat fleas don't like human blood anyway really and only tend to bite us if they are starving. My long haired cut used to get ticks which were horrible to get rid of. Luckly he doesn't get them anymore (I think he used to get them by getting into a horse barn which he can't anymore). In terms of treating my cats, I use Advantage (like someone else mentioned) and it works really well. Do bear in mind it only kills fleas. Not ticks or lice. You need Frontline for that and Frontline is expensive (especially if you buy it from a vet).
 
Harrison said:
@AmiNeo. No mate, definitely fleas. Very big difference between the 2.

A tick will bury itself into your skin and look like a large skin tag, getting larger and larger as it fills with blood, until it's full and then will drop off. They will hardly ever attack a human as they leap into fur to get hold of their host, and then bury their head into the skin.

It's not good to be bitten by ticks because they carry a lot of nasty things, including tetanus.

I had loads of experience with ticks growing up in the New Forest. Never had one on me personally (touch wood), but our dogs were always picking them up and I had to try and remove them from their skin. Painting the exposed part with nail polish is a good one because it stops them breathing, so they back out of the skin. You can then grab them and burn them with a match. Trying to just pull them out with tweezers isn't a good idea because often the head and body snap off while still in the skin and cause an infected area.

Fleas on the other hand will just jump onto you, bite you and jump off again. And they are fast. Young ones are very small, black dots, but the older ones are much larger and brown... plus they are much slower so fairly easy to catch with your fingers. Drop them into the toilet works well.

We never had any flea issues until last year.
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Okay if you're sure. Sounds like you know a LOT more than me about those tick buggers then. :thumbsup:

These sure are stubborn fleas. Certainly cat fleas based on the description and what experience I've had of them too.

If nothing I have suggested above works then I'm stumped, we never had any issues controlling them with the things I've suggested. Our cats have always been house cats though.

I wonder if your cats have other people they like to visit on their travels who may be passing them on? It's predicable behaviour for outdoor cats to find other people who will feed them and give them some attention while they're out. If that's the case then you may never be rid of them. :lol:

---------- Post added at 13:09 ---------- Previous post was at 13:03 ----------
Hivernaal said:
oh yes i've got a bad story about those damned fleas !
One i let my vaccum cleanner (hope it's the right word) to e friend, but after 2 weeks he didn't gave it back. So i went to his home and the neighbour said that the guy is in hollydays. As the neighbour has the keys he let me go Inside. After opening the door i said to myself "oh he painted everything in grey", the ground, chairs, table everything....
it was not paint but thousand and thousand fleas everywhere (1 cm of fleas on the ground !!!!)
so nice little story for ever in my mind.
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Here's what my reaction would have been...

:unsure: :tumble:blink: :wooha: :run:
 
We are still not rid of the fleas! :(

I hoovered the whole house completely, right into every corner, moving furniture and beds out, then put flea powder down everywhere, and then sprayed over the whole carpets as well, concentrating more into corners and along edges. Left the house for a couple of hours, then hoovered everywhere again and there were loads of dead fleas in the hoover.

Next morning there were fleas jumping onto our feet again!

Cats have been treated with the tablets that instantly kill any live fleas, and have now had Flontline spoton as we had some left from the last time. And yet they are also still scratching like mad.

There are a lot of cats in this area so there can easily pick more up whilst out and about. The neighbours behind us also keep a lot of chickens, rabbits etc so that could be another source as that attracts mice and rats.

Isn't all good living in the countryside. :lol:

I will overcome and defeat these little buggers though. My next stage is to fit one of our baby gates across the bottom of the stairs, so the cats can't get upstairs to add more or pick up more. I'm going to then hoover and then spray everywhere again. We are off camping from tomorrow so I will then leave it like that until I return and hope that kills the remaining ones.

If they are still not dead after all that then the cats are getting shaved!!! and I'm resorting to stronger tactics for the carpets. I don't really want to resort to a flea bomb as they cause other issues.
 
its advisable to use products that break the flea life cycle, that means killing fleas, pupae, larvae and those products come at a cost. The active agent in frontline is fipronil which kills adult fleas (some papers indicate reducing efficacy from week 3 onwards and some owners report little effect on adult fleas but apparently this is not borne out by research) Frontline combo has the addition of methoprene which targets the larvae retarding development.

My roomba was working at full pelt but it was breaking the life cycle that was key, that means advantage/advocate for the cat and, indorex or similar johnsons sprays for the environment targetting skirting, nooks, pets sleeping areas etc.

Giving the cat a mild shake over a bright white blanket can be revealing for fleas and flea debris :o

My impression was that the main manufacturers that were successfully dealing with fleas were the proper pharmaceutical companies such as bayer, merel and johnsons (to a lesser extent)

bob martin products and flea bombs loaded with permethrin (highly toxic to cats) represent pharmaceutical technology from the 1980's and can be placed in the bin :thumbsup:
 
I remember there is a kind of "smoke bomb" for this kind of big problem, you let it the house, let it smoke (run out of the house) and after 1 hour or 2 everything's ok again. (oh don't let the cat Inside !)
 
Harrison said:
We are still not rid of the fleas! :(

...

Cats have been treated with the tablets that instantly kill any live fleas, and have now had Flontline spoton as we had some left from the last time. And yet they are also still scratching like mad.
...
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With Frontline Spot-On you need to keep administering it as per instructions (I believe it's 1 application every 5 weeks). It's not a one shot or one course treatment and then stop.

Good luck Harrison. Hope you get it sorted :thumbsup:
 
We do the spot on fairly regularly, but I think we missed a couple in the winter. It never seems to work though so wil switch brands for their next lot.
 
Bare in mind that theres is a limit to how often you can use it too (should say on the label). Don't wanna poison the cats! lol.
 
Interesting reading !!!

Flea treatments[edit]

For humans[edit]
Fleas can settle in a person's hair in less than ten minutes, causing soreness and itching. The itching associated with flea bites can be treated with anti-itch creams, usually antihistamines or hydrocortisone.[16] Calamine lotion has been shown to be effective for itching.[17]
For pets[edit]


Flea and tick repellant powder being applied to a dog

Modern flea control is approached using Integrated Pest Management (IPM) protocols at the host (pet) level. IPM is achieved by targeting fleas during at least two separate life stages, with at least two separate molecules. This is typically achieved using an adulticide to kill adult fleas and an insect development inhibitor (IDI), like lufenuron, or insect growth regulator (IGR), like methoprene, to prevent development of immature stages. Flea adults, larvae, or eggs can be controlled with insecticides. Lufenuron is a veterinary preparation (known as Program) that attacks the larval flea's ability to produce chitin, necessary for the adult's hard exoskeleton, but does not kill fleas. Flea medicines need to be used with care because many of them also affect mammals.

Flea and tick ointment is hazardous to humans; the label of a commercial preparation warns: “First aid: If on skin or clothing, take off contaminated clothing, rinse skin immediately with plenty of water for 15 – 20 minutes; call a poison control center or doctor for treatment advice. . . Although (the product is) applied only between the shoulder blades and at the base of the tail, the dog’s skin and hair oils carry the product over the entire body . . . Wash thoroughly with soap and water after handling . . .”[18]

Cedar oil, a non-toxic natural substance, has been proven effective in the eradication of infestations in pets.[19][dubious – discuss][20]

Since more than three-quarters of a flea's life is spent somewhere other than on the host animal, it is not adequate to treat only the host; it is important also to treat the host's environment. Thorough vacuuming, washing linens in hot water, and treating all hosts in the immediate environment (the entire household, for example) are essential and if possible on a regular basis.[21]

Contemporary commercial products for the topical treatment of flea infestations on pets contain pesticides such as imidacloprid, permethrin, and (S)-methoprene. All flea control products are recommended to be used at least half-yearly because the life cycle of flea and tick can last to up to 6 months, and by using one of the flea and tick control products for so long, the infestation is highly prevented and, in the end, stopped. Although all these products are effective in fighting against flea and tick infestations, they have different active ingredients and, because cats cannot metabolize some of the compounds of the product, care must be taken in their use.
 
Yes the smoke bomb is the bomb! It works great!
 
Back from our camping holiday at the weekend and the fleas have rallied whilst we were gone and there are loads in 2 of the bedroom carpets! :(

Since coming home I've been hovering twice a day and it has been picking them up. but the biggest success so far is light traps. I've placed some flat dishes of soapy water in corners of the rooms and placed a spot light above them. In one room I caught 29 fleas in one bowl and once relocated to the other side another 16. This seems to have cleared out the adult fleas as I only got 1 in the water today. Tomorrow will be another powdering and spraying session all over to try and kill any remaining eggs and small young fleas.

What a nightmare. We have never had an issue like this before and have always had cats.

And the spot on doesn't seem to have worked because I combed one of the cats and managed to get 4 perfectly healthy adult fleas from around her neck. And as they have just been dossed up I can't apply any more for 5 weeks.. the hair clippers are looking inviting! :lol: Suggestion to wash the cats in a special solution to kill them, but can you imagine washing a cat??? I would need a protective body suit for protection against the claws!
 
A lint cloth with vinegar can avoid fleas on the cat.

Don't apply vegetables after the vinegar on the cat, they hate vegetables!

On a serious turn: never use carpet in the house! Fleas loves the carpet as it resembles the grass where they happily lives. A house without carpets is also good for people with allergic problems.
 
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Scanning through the thread I deduced the best procedure to solve the problem is:

- Gently shake the cats over a white linen cloth
- Gently shave the cats over a white linen cloth
- Remove all hedgehogs from the perimeter
Done!

:thumbsup:

:picard Sorry for the bad jokes, and what a bloody nuisance! I really hope Harrison you can (ex)terminate this problem, it sounds like living hell! Perhaps remove the carpets from the house for a few days and treat them separately where the cats don't have access..
 
It's not really an option to remove the fitted carpets.

Hopefully the Advantage Spoton the cats now have applied will work its magic as it is meant to kill the fleas on the cat, but also anything they come into contact with, so it should reduce the cycle based on where the cat sleeps and commonly goes.

My light traps and carpet hoovering also seem to be reducing them significantly.. and I'm going to apply another powder treatment around the whole house again tomorrow to try and clear out any remaining live fleas and eggs.

It definitely is a nightmare. Must be perfect conditions for them this year.
 
wot Snoozy said !!!

the flees arnt the problem its there eggs, where u think all them fleas where eating while u where on holiday

this is chemical and sometimes biological warfare on an insect

hovering helps a lot but remeber that bag is full of flea eggs/lava

cat fleas only live on cats, they will just bite u cos that is what they do as u are a heat source but they cant live on your blood. Now can heghog fleas live on a cat ????

at end of day if yor pet gose out side sooner or later u going learn about a parasite


I would love see some movies of your flee trap, sounds like good hunting
 
Sounds like a complete nightmare, glad I don't have any moggies in the house these days. I do actually like cats, just don't want to actually own one ;)

I wonder if fleas (like most other things) are becoming more resistant to man-made treatments.
 
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