cat fleas?

Question

Both of my indoor male cats have fleas. I tried a flea drop from the pet store (brand zodiac) and it was supposed to be effective within 24 hours. It hs been five days and there are still tonnes of fleas and my cats are really unhappy. Any suggestions? Should I bathe them??????

Answer 1

For the treatments that'll actually go on your cat, you should get those from the vet.

1. Treat the cat. Go to your vet and get either Advantage or Frontline Plus (I went with Advantage).

2. Get yourself a "flea comb" and comb your cat at least once per day. Have a bucket with dish soap in it handy to dunk the comb in and to collect the hair. Fleas can't jump out of the slippery soap. No point in combing them out only to have them jump back on your cat. Flush this down the toilet, pour it down the sink, or dispose of it away from your house.

3. Treat your house. Options are a borate powder product or something that uses diatomaceous earth. Fleabusters (BP), Fleago Natural Flea Control (BP) or Flea Away Natural Flea Powder (DE). Put about a tablespoon of this in your vacuum cleaner bag (or you can cut up a flea collar to put in there. Just follow the directions which will vary by product, but in general you'll sprinkle on the carpet and vacuum up and also sprinkle into cracks and crevices. (I chose Fleago because it's less expensive than Fleabusters. I may also try Flea Away in time).

4. Vacuum as often as possible. Before vacuuming, stomp around the house. This will bring the fleas to life because they'll think there's a tasty morsel out there. Then vacuum those little bastards up. Be sure to use your attachments to vacuum as many cracks and crevices as you can - they love to hide out there.

5. Wash any pet bedding in hot water, and you'll want to be particularly diligent about vacuuming/treating areas where your cat hangs out.

6. Treat your yard. Even if your cat doesn't go outside, fleas may enter your home if they exist in your yard. There's a small chance that you or others may bring fleas in the house with you (although this is unlikely). Get hold of some nematodes to spray in your yard. I believe you only have to do this once per year. These little creatures will eat the flea larva. As one website put it, these critters are too small to hug, but they deserve it! (I had to order this online; I wasn't able to find a place that sells them in my area and didn't feel like calling every place in the phonebook).

Things not to do: Don't use any essential oils on your cat, particularly anything with pennyroyal or eucalyptus. They're toxic to cats. Don't use flea collars. Don't give your cat any garlic/yeast formulations. Don't give your cat lemon baths.


You're going to want to continue treating your home as directed, whether that be sprinkling once per week or once a month. Continue treating throughout flea season (when it's warm). You can stop during the winter months, but start up again in the spring. You'll nip them in the bud!

The key is to treat the environment, not the cat. If you do that, you may never have to apply another flea product directly on them again.

Answer 2

Yes, bathe them, also keep a few damp wash cloths ready because the fleas will run into their eyes and up the nose and mouth and rear, so start shampooing around the head area and work your way down, place the cat into a shampooed water filled 5 gallon bucket so the cat will stand up, much easier to handle. then shampoo away. Rinse well. It is not necessary to use flea shampoo, reg cat shampoo works just as well. Also the vet has something you put on the base of the neck, once every 3 months, it works, give it that stuff and then wait a day and then bathe, then you must shampoo your whole home, pick up the throw rugs and wash them good luck to you, it is a job, been there too many times! There is a spray that the vet's office had to spray under difficul;t areas to killl the things that try to get away. Get those eggs up. Also, your cats will have to be treated for tape worms after the fleas are gone. Every animal that had fleas, get the worms that go with them. Prepare for plenty baths, so get very gentle shampooo at the vet's office, it is in a blue bottle that is oatmeal based or if you can't afford it, get something with sensitive skin and conditioner so your cat don't get skin irratation. P.s. the stuff that kills the fleas at the vets office, really works. They start dying off within one day, but you must kill the fleas in your home. Spray your yard and keep the cat's indoors.

Answer 3

unfortunately zodiac is not recommended by vets and it doesn't work. Use a flea remedy that does work like advantage frontline, revolution they can be bought at your vet. Stop trying to save money and get the real remedy. Nothing else works. Ask your vet if you can put anything on your cat after zodiac and how long you have to wait because you don't want to poison your cat now. Also it means you have fleas inside your house, May I suggest that you go to your local grocery store and purchase a box of 20 mule team borax laundry detergent and sprinkle it all around your carpet and under the cushions of your sofa and chairs and between the box spring and mattress of your bed, spread it around with your broom really good and leave it down for an hour or so, vacumn it up from the floor, it is natural borax(salt) and it rids your home of bugs fleas etc it dehydrates them for a year, It really works the natural way. Many people use it for just that. It may take a little time a few days to kill them but it does, do not put it on your cat!!!!! not good for kitty! But it does work on all those fleas in your house!

Answer 4

You need something like FrontlinePlus...good source and cheaper than the vets is petshed.com...I use it so I know it works. A flea comb with a cup of hot water & a little dish liquid to dip the comb in when you comb your dog/cat. LOTs of vac bags and vac everyday and remove the bag and tie it in a shopping bag and take out of the house. This will work and you should see improvements within two months. DON'T use sprays, powders, house bombs, flea collars and over the counter products. They are dangerous and are full of pesticides and can harm you and your pet! To let you know as I was given a paper from the vets...cycle of the flea...They hatch from a cocoon like a butterfly...in one week they are an adult....as a adult they lay a egg every hour of their lives up to 1-2 years they live. The eggs hatch into a larva in about two weeks...they spend three weeks as a larva and then they wrap themselves into a cocoon. In the cocoon stage you can't kill them unless you plan on burning down your house...fire is the only way to kill them in this stage. What makes them hatch from a cocoon is vibration, heat, and all sorts of things. They need a host to feed on within one week or they will die. ( problem being is the cocoons can take up to five months to hatch! and they all hatch at different rates!) WOW that is a lot of fleas! FrontlinePlus uses two ways to kill the fleas...they first have an ingredient that paralyzes the flea so it can't feed and it dies...it does this for two weeks. The following two weeks it just inhibits the flea eggs of the fleas that feed on them and eggs don't hatch. This is why it takes a few months, but it does work. BTW...flea baths don't work either and will make it so the FrontlinePlus won't work.

Answer 5

Zodiac is junk. So is Hartz. The only thing that really works is Frontline Plus or Advantage. The cheapest way to get it is online - a good site is Doctors Foster and Smith. Don't buy on e-bay - many scams.

Bathing in Dawn dishsoap will kill the fleas on them but won't stop new ones from getting on. Use it temporarily until you can get the Frontline or Advantage.

Answer 6

Get some Revolution from the vet. It works almost instantly. I rescued some feral kittens and they were full of fleas. I used Revolution and the fleas were gone within hours.

Answer 7

u can bate them or u can get frontline it is the best thing u can use for your cats my cats had fleas and was effective in a day and u can go to the vets office and ask what can i do or use to get rid of fleas

Answer 8

Try Advantage . I worked for my cat.

Answer 9

Don't waste your money.
Buy Revolution, Advantage or Frontline. They all work great.

Answer 10

We use revolution for our cats. It works really well.