Cat flea infestation - please help?

Question

We've had cats for a number of years, but for some strange reason, we have massive problems with fleas and it's driving our youngest one mad (he's about 4 years old, if that matters).

We don't use flea collars, as we don't believe in them - especially as they could get hung by accident (or after hearing some horror stories, on purpose).

We've also tried a couple of flea sprays / powders, but with little success.

So, what other methods are there?
What do people recommend?
Should we take them to a vet / my mother vaguely heard that there should be an injection???

Please help!!!

Answer 1

My sympathies! My two cats had this problem some years ago, they were totally infested and nothing worked, until a new product came out called Frontline. It is widely used now and most vets stock it, though not usually pet shops as it is prescription strength. It kills the fleas, ticks and lice stone dead in 24 hours. You just put the drops on at the back of the neck so they can't get to it and it keeps them free for a month. I use it on my two every month, a three month supply (or one month for three cats) is around £18 but is well worth the money as it really will totally rid them of it. Mine haven't had a single flea since and that was over a decade ago. You may also need to get some proper flea spray for the house if there has been an infestation, the vet can recommend a good one, some of them just don't work. I seem to remember there was a good one called something like Nuvan, but I'm not sure. You will only need it once as the Frontline will prevent re-infestation from. Good luck, it drives you mad.

Answer 2

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Answer 3

I would definately go to the vet about this - they will probably recommend Frontline as a regular treatment for your pets.
This is a liquid you dab onto the back of your cats neck every 6 weeks (it gets put there so they cannot lick it off).
It makes it so that the flea eggs cannot hatch so the fleas stop multiplying.

You will then need a spray treatment for your hom to kill off the existing fleas - your vet should be able to help with that too.

I would recommend avoiding the treatments you can buy in supermarkets as the quality control on these is poor and very often they do not work. They have also been known is severe cases to be harmul to the animals (this is usually very cheap imported brands).

Most important here is not to use several different treatments together - this is potentially fatal to your pets as they can react badly together.
Your vet really is your best bet.

Answer 4

You need to get frontline from your vet a tad expensive but definatley woth the outlay, i prefer to do a spray on the first time (especially in a infestation) then a week later i do a spot on treatment (frontline do both the spray and spot on). BUT you will need to de worm at the same time because where theres fleas theres worms.
You also need to wash everything you cats sleeps on and any rugs carpets or warm areas need to be thourgly vacuumed, you then need to get a Flea bomb, or household flea spray (from your vets again as they are the only ones that work properly).
Once you have applied the bomb/ household spray you'll need to move your animals and yourself out for a good few hours whilst it works.
Then after the directed time return and wash, scrub, vacuum everywhere (because this stuff is toxic!)

After you have done the flea treatments on the cat, washed evrtything you can possibly wash that the cat has been on, vacuumed everything you can vacuum and washed down after flea bombing / spraying the house , you should be ok BUT please flea treat your cat every 3 to 4 weeks during the spring and summer and then about every 5 - 6 weeks over the winter (follow the directions on the packet and also keep an eye on your cat for these critters)

Flea collars only work inside hooverbags, i find them completely inneffective too and have seen first hand the injuries caused by flea and normal collars so i don't blame you for not wanting to use one

Answer 5

It's a bad year for fleas.
One of the best solutions is to get the once-a-month flea drops from the vet; the ones in the pet store aren't much good in an infestation. This will help a lot.
Another big help, in my experience, is boric acid powder. It is sold in 99 cent stores and some hardware stores. It is not toxic, but it damages a bug's exoskeleton causing it to dry out and die. You puff the powder all over the floor and furniture, sweep or brush it in so it doesn't show. I like this solution because it isn't poisonous to people or pets.
There is also a spray from the vet which you use around the house to keep fleas from maturing; you would have to wait for the adult fleas to die off, but new ones would not develop. Fleas are often brought in from outside, though.
If a pet is allergic to fleas, there is an injection which works very well; I had a dog with flea allergy, and she only needed one shot a year.
I have cats and dogs, and this year is just worse than normal.

Answer 6

It depends where in the world you are, in uk you can get stuff from the vets called Frontline or Stronghold, these products are applied to the back of the neck from a little pipette containing liquid, it gets absorbed through the skin.
When a flea jumps on they nibble on puss and then shortly after die because pusses blood is now toxic to fleas, this in turn means they stop laying eggs and if you keep it up for a few months all new hatchings are covered too.

Its not bad for the cats and most do all sorts of worms and parasites too that are very harmful to cats. I'm not saying the cats like the feeling of it when you put it on, but even if they manage to lick at it they will be ok.
If you have loads of cats and a low wage see if cats protection or vets, PDSA or RSPCA can help with cost.
Also dont be tempted to get cheaper versions from supermarkets, not all of them are any good. I only treat mine from march, when the weather is getting warmer until end of october, cos fleas dont tend to be a problem in colder months and it gives puss cats a rest from the medication.
I use essential oils around my house but never on my cats, you cannot medicate them with human medicine. I have also had my cats for 6 years and never had fleas because of the above medicines.
I did however help a freind who had a mighty infestation in the carpets of her house by, medicating the cats and sending them out of the house all day, each morning we would spray all the carpets beds and settee with lavender oil (20 drops) in a litre spray bottle, then shut the door and go to work. Did it for a week and changed the vacuum bag. hey presto no more fleas.

Just to add bathing a cat can cause pnuemonia, just get the pipette drops, it takes 2 minutes to treat em.

Answer 7

Ok this is what you need to do, and I know this from experience.

You need to take all your cats to the vet to have a flea bath. If it's a really bad infestation probably two, but the vet will say.

While your cats are at the vet you need to go set off flea smoke bombs in every room of the house. You can get them at most pet stores. This will kill all the fleas in the house, and the eggs.

Once the smoke is done vacuum the place up (dead fleas and eggs) and finally bring back the cats from the vet and put frontline on the back of each cat.

Frontline prevents infestation. If there are fleas, you put it once a month on each cat, if there are no fleas, once every three months.

Luck

Answer 8

You can get an injection of programme from the vets that works for a year against fleas, or you can use Frontline a spray that works for three months at a time, spray the cats, and all their bedding and any areas they sleep and hoover every day to get rid of the little buggers.

Hope this helps.

Answer 9

we had the same problem last year and he have indoor cats! we gor frontline from the vets which you put behind their necks, within a few days any fleas they have will die and no fleas can live on them for about 3 months i think. we also got an aresol spray which you have to use on your whole house. you spray all carpets, beds, surfaces, etc and it ensures that all living flea die and any eggs do not hatch. it lasts a year aswell which is good. both these can be purchased either at your vets or at a good pet store.

hope this helps:)

Answer 10

You can get some stuff that you put on to their skin on the back of neck between their shoulders I think it's called front line, but you must make sure that it's for cats and that you don't give them too much, i don't know if the pipettes come in different sizes for cats, as they do dogd, and the stuff for dogs can kill a cat. If you don't like the idea of that, you could try burning a citronella oil, apparantly it's not just good for nats, but all insects, I got some today to remove all flies and spiders from my house, it may shift fleas aswell.