I treated for fleas and it didn't work. Why not?

Question

My cat is strictly an indoor cat, so I don't need to worry about getting re-infested by her going outside. I think I must be the one who accidentally brought the fleas home with me. I treated my home with flea bombs and gave her a flea bath and it seemed to work but I found live fleas on her just a couple of days later. So somehow I didn't get them all on the first attempt. What do I need to do next time?
Since she doesn't go outside at all I don't think I need to use Frontline or Advantage or anything like a flea collar. I just need to get rid of the fleas I have now and should be OK, right? (As long as I take care to not bring fleas in with me again.)
Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

Buy a single dose of Advantage at your vet.

It will kill all the existing fleas and the ones in the environment will still go to her to eat since it does not contain any ingredients to repell the fleas.

Fleas live most of there life in the environment off the host so you do not want to buy flea products that have a repellent in them for indoor pets. Repellents are great for ndoor/outdoor pets so they will not bring in new ones but indoor only you need only 1 or 2 doses of Advantage and then maybe treat her once every 6 months or so or.... if she goes to vet or to kennel etc...

Answer 2

The best way to get rid of fleas is to use a dish soap bath. Dish soap kills fleas on cats and even on kittens which are sensitive to powders and sprays. Then, in a week or two you may need to rebathe, because the eggs do not die. The second bath will kill the remaining fleas. Additionally, you need to use a flea comb (you can buy these at any pet supply store or even at Meijer store), carefully combing all around the face, ears and eyes. The really fast fleas will run for the dry fur on the head, and of course you don't want to get the soap or preparation on the head or in the eyes. The flea comb works really well on this small area, and you can use it anywhere else you choose to devote the time to. By the time you do the second, actually successful bath, you should have the problem pretty well under control. The second bath will also kill any fleas that may have been on furniture and hopped onto the animal. Be sure to clean any kitty beds in hot soapy water to kill fleas or eggs.

Answer 3

Well, you started out right.
When you bug-bomb, that kills all the live fleas. ... NOT the ones in eggs... the eggs hatched and you have to repeat the bug-bombing.

Flea collars from the stores just don't do the job.
Get Frontline or Advantage and treat the cat for a few months.
It'll just make your life easier to do so.

You need to bug bomb every 4 days for 2-3 more times to kill the fleas as the eggs hatch.

ALSO...
if you can figure out where the fleas got on YOU outside, sprinkle that area with Diazanon to kill the fleas.

I brought fleas inside once and they got so well established that I had to bug bomb 6 times to make sure I got all the eggs as they hatched.

Answer 4

First of all, make sure you pups are old enough to even use Frontline or any other flea product on them. Check with different vets about their pricing on Frontline. Since it's an over the counter (OTC) product, you do not need a prescription, so you should have no problem in purchasing it from any veterinarian. As a convenience to our clients, our office sells the product by the application. We dispense it in a vial with a prescription label on it with directions. There are three applications to a box. If you can find a vet who also does this, it will be only 1/3rd of the price than paying for an entire box. Good luck!

Answer 5

Fleas are becoming immune to the chemicals in bug bombs and powders.
Plus, eggs are almost indistructable. You have to re-treat the house, yard and pets every week for at least 3 weeks. Then every other week for another 2 treatments.

I'm serious. New babies hatch into treated areas every few days and the immune bugs need a few treatments to die.

Vacuum. It's the only way to get rid of them. Vacuum everything several times a week for a least 2 weeks. Then every week until flea season is over.

You bring them in on your clothes (you were right about that), also, stray and wild animals (cats, squirrels, birds etc.) bring them into the yard.

Good luck

Answer 6

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RE:
I treated for fleas and it didn't work. Why not?
My cat is strictly an indoor cat, so I don't need to worry about getting re-infested by her going outside. I think I must be the one who accidentally brought the fleas home with me. I treated my home with flea bombs and gave her a flea bath and it seemed to work but I found live fleas on her...

Answer 7

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Dont use frontline on the pups, it can be dangerous to them. Use a quality anti flea shamppo and check that it is OK for puppies. I would say to continue to use frontline on the adult animals, but instead of treating all animals treat 1 dog and 2 cats. The reason for this is that teh fleas are likely to move between animals and thus eventually hit the treated one. Its better for the animals in the long run (rotate who gets the treatment!) and works out much cheaper. Dont forget to wash the bedding and spray carpets furniture etc where the animals lay. As a prevention, give the animals garlic capsules or buy some garlic juice (Dorwest Herbs sell it) and put it in their drinking water. The fleas hate the smell of garlic and will keep away.

Answer 8

You have to keep treating for at least a week. My two cats had fleas and I put them in a spare bedroom and gave them flea powder, flea mousse. The powder works good cause you rub it in their fur throughly. Then get flea carpet spray for the rest of the house. In about a week, if you treat them everyday, the fleas will be gone from them and the rest of the house. Make sure you spray the base boards of the carpet with the spray cause they hide there. Don't use the powder and mousse the same day though.

Answer 9

I had the same problem several yrs ago. Even though she doesn't go outside you must use a good flea removal on her from the vet like frontline for several months that also kill the larvae not just the adult fleas. Also, sprinkle flea powder on the carpets and vacumn up and be sure to throw away the bag ASAP!
Good Luck

Answer 10

i promise you if you follow this, it will work, and you will be flea free in no time...

get some regular pine sol. not an off brand and not any other scent but the regular pine sol.
get a spray bottle. fill it half with pine sol and half with water. shake. spray on bedding, furniture, and carpets. do this once a day for a few days.
bath your cat...when you put water in the tub, put some pine sol in the water. be sure not to get the water in her eyes. use regular cat shampoo, and when you rinse her, you are rinsing in the pinesol water.

fleas, lice, etc. can not take the oil base in pinesol and it kills them on the spot. i promise this works! i use it to maintain a flea free home for my inside cats, as well. so far, no fleas...i got the idea from my country vet. sometimes the old remedies work better than all this new expensive stuff.

good luck!