Bloody cats and fleas!!!

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Harrison

Harrison

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Someone was moaning about a fly in their house annoying them. That is nothing compared to what I have had to put up with at the moment. FLEAS!!!

We have 2 cats and they seem to have picked up a load of fleas from some visiting Hedgehogs in the garden over the last couple of weeks. We woke up Thursday to discover them hopping onto out feet from the landing carpet. My legs and feet are now covered in very itchy red bites!

We have just bought a load of powder and spray and are about to attempt to de-flea the house!.

I'm very tempted to get the clippers and shave the cats!

Has anyone else had any flea issues lately?
 
Our family dog had them years ago and they ended up all over the house. Definitely try to nip it in the bud because it's near impossible once they spread. I've never had trouble with my cats, but all my current ones are indoor only.

Good luck!

Heather
 
I was brought up with dogs, living the the middle of the New Forest, and we never had a single issue with fleas. I don't think they ever had any. Ticks are another matter, but I won't go into that.

But with cats, it seems a nightmare. I suppose because cats roam and can go wherever they like, unlike dogs, they can easily pick them up.

I also read that dog and cat fleas are completely different and won't transfer between the 2. And it is only cat fleas that bite humans normally.

Another reason to own dogs I think! ;)
 
I'm glad you guys keep reminding me why I don't want to have pets.
 
A while back, the stray cat that has me under her control brought 1 or 2 into the house and since then I've treated her with Spot-On. I'm sure she picked them up from a hedgehog. I also sprayed around with Indorex spray which kills any fleas, larvae and eggs, lasts up to a year. Also at night you can put a small tray of water on the floor of the affected area with a lamp above it. The varmints jump at the light and fall into the water (they can't swim). Have had no reoccurrence since.

Thought I should mention the spray is not for the animal, just the places where they sleep or rest and around the edges of rooms etc.
 
Yeah, having cats and dogs, fleas are a bit of a pest. You can get something called frontline from vets or boots that you put on the neck of the cat. It goes into their bloodstream and kills all fleas that bite them. Its expensive but is the only thing we have found to deffo kill them. A flea fogger will kill what are in your house. We havent had a problem in years with our animals after discovering frontline.
 
As has been mentioned indorex is your immediate best weapon, alongside prior hoovering.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Indorex-Hou...e=UTF8&qid=1374956314&sr=8-1&keywords=indorex

Protection starts at the source, advantage is the one to go for (Frontline has had its day unless you can find it as frontline combo)

http://www.mrpets.co.uk/p10868/Advantage-40-for-Small-Dogs-Cats-and-Rabbits-4-pipettes.php

Do not be tempted to use any Bob Martin products, as they can cause seizures and death, i believe the UK Veterinary Assoc are fighting to remove Bob Martin products from the market.

Last year my cat had flea allergic dermatitis and a terrible sore developed on her neck :picard This alone cost me £180 in vet fees and 4 months healing time.

The house flea treatment regime cost another £70 :o

But it worked after a few weeks :thumbsup:

Fleas cost me financial losses last year, this year i have been diligent with monthly "advantage" treatment from March onwards
 
Get them? They are infested with the little buggers!

Today I performed a complete house sweep. Hovered everywhere (we have a dyson with the pet filters), then shock flea powder over every carpet, plus sprayed flea killer around the edges and corners of everywhere. Left the house for a couple of hours, then came back and hoovered. Loads of dead fleas in the hoover! And they ranged from quite old brown adults to the very small black young ones, so that's good. But we definitely still have a few, so will need to do it again tomorrow, then repeat in about 4 days.

Definitely not cheap! Although I've been reading about a treatment that is meant to be really cheap and effective.
 
Harrison I would say invest in frontline for any pet that goes outside and
a hartz flea collar..
I have one Dog and one Cat the Dog gets both since she goes outside
and the Cat he gets just a Flea collar since he does not go out..


:coffee:
 
Family have had cats for over 30 years so far (3 different lots of cats). Frontline stuff will definitely keep the fleas off the cat (You can get it from your vet, I think some supermarkets may even stock it too). If they cant infest the animal, you'll get none in the house unless they find something else to live off.

The good news is, although they can live for around 100 days or so, most wont get past 5 days without a host to feed from. Sources referenced also state that they can't survive well in temperatures below 70C and many will die in lower temperatures, which is likely why we see this sort of thing much more during the summer. They struggle in low humidity and thorough hoovering also appears to be effective at getting over 95% of them without any other means, too.
 
ah think talked this up, looks like my cats scratching at her neck again! i see a mark developing. I will reinstate her feliway calming diffuser :roll:

Its nearly 3 weeks since her last flea treatment, so i gave her a treatment of "advocate" which the vet told me is the gold standard in flea treatment.Ordered some more indorex aswell, the fleas must love this hot weather :picard

i think and hope i am better prepared to deal with this, this year.

my cat cost me a fortune!
 
ChrisUnionNJ said:
Harrison I would say invest in frontline for any pet that goes outside and
a hartz flea collar..
I have one Dog and one Cat the Dog gets both since she goes outside
and the Cat he gets just a Flea collar since he does not go out..


:coffee:
Click to expand...

Frontline and Bob Martin spot on treatments don't have any effect on our cats. The vets tell us the fleas are becoming immune to them. I don't think we have tried Advantage yet so will be trying that.

Flea collar's are no good for the animal and I would never use them.

Regarding fleas... I have my suspicions that they also live in the grass. Is that possible? Last year when we flooded and had to move into a rented place, I mowed the lawn at the rented house and my ankles got really badly bitten... and a few days later the living room carpet was infested with fleas.

Before last year I don't think I had ever been bitten by a flea. :mad:
 
Harrison said:
ChrisUnionNJ said:
Harrison I would say invest in frontline for any pet that goes outside and
a hartz flea collar..
I have one Dog and one Cat the Dog gets both since she goes outside
and the Cat he gets just a Flea collar since he does not go out..


:coffee:
Click to expand...

Frontline and Bob Martin spot on treatments don't have any effect on our cats. The vets tell us the fleas are becoming immune to them. I don't think we have tried Advantage yet so will be trying that.

Flea collar's are no good for the animal and I would never use them.

Regarding fleas... I have my suspicions that they also live in the grass. Is that possible? Last year when we flooded and had to move into a rented place, I mowed the lawn at the rented house and my ankles got really badly bitten... and a few days later the living room carpet was infested with fleas.

Before last year I don't think I had ever been bitten by a flea. :mad:
Click to expand...

If theyre from grass, they're ticks, not fleas. Different issue altogether :unsure: May explain why the Frontline doesn't work too.

Not certain about ticks except for the fact that they're arachnids, not insects as fleas are.

---------- Post added at 01:31 ---------- Previous post was at 01:23 ----------

Some valuable info from Wiki...

Ticks satisfy all of their nutritional requirements on a diet of blood, a practice known as hematophagy. They extract the blood by cutting a hole in the host's epidermis, into which they insert their hypostome, likely keeping the blood from clotting by excreting an anticoagulant.[12] Blood is a requirement for ticks surviving and moving from one stage of their life to the next. As such, ticks unable to find a host to feed on will die.[13]
Ticks find their hosts by detecting animals' breath and body odors, or by sensing body heat, moisture and vibrations. They are incapable of flying or jumping, but many tick species wait in a position known as "questing". While questing, ticks hold onto leaves and grass by their third and fourth pair of legs. They hold the first pair of legs outstretched, waiting to climb on to the host. When a host brushes the spot where a tick is waiting, it quickly climbs onto the host. Some ticks will attach quickly while others will wander looking for thinner skin like the ear.[13] Depending on the species and the life stage, preparing to feed can take from ten minutes to two hours.[13] On locating a suitable feeding spot, the tick grasps the skin and cuts into the surface.[13]
Click to expand...

And a couple of helpful sites that will provide you with more info and how to deal with them...


http://animal.discovery.com/pets/how-to-get-rid-of-ticks-on-cats.htm

http://www.petmd.com/cat/slideshows...ave-ticks-removing-ticks-on-cats#.UfW4eFOsbEk


:thumbsup:
 
Put a flea collar in the hoover bag to kill any you hoover up.

Use 'Nuvan stay kill' on the affected areas of the house.

Use spot on once a month.
 
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.
 
Good grief, thats horrific :o
 
@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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