Flea help

[sgw1988]

please help...

i used frontline last thursday on the kittens before they went into the cattery for a couple of days just to be on the safe side.
today i have noticed quite a few little fleas and one big one :( yuk!! on both kittens. they seem to be scratching their ears quite a lot and this is where they seem to be hiding!!
i have washed all their bedding on a 95 degree wash and used a spray (only from the shop not vet so dont know how effective it is?)hoovered everywhere (we only have one carpet which is in our bedroom which they hardly go in)
they are going to get spayed on monday so i will ask the vet for avice then.
in the meantime does anyone have any suggetions? and what's the chances of us gettin them??? (dont know if i want to know the answer to that.....)


thanks!

[farthing]

Hi, we had a similar problem when we moved into the house we live in now, it was crawling with fleas. They can live in bedding, carpets and even cracks in the wood. I treated my cats with frontline, also the dogs and sprayed the whole house with acclaim which seemed to do the trick. I did try some stuff from the shops but it didn't work. Acclaim, kills all insects and spiders ( was a but upset about that) for 6 months and all flea eggs for 12 months, it certainly sorted things out for us. The fleas will bite you, we kept getting bitten around the ankles in bed, but I don't think they can live on you. There is also a spray called Indorex with is also very effective, I believe.
Hope this helps.

[sgw1988]

thanks for your reply. I will get some acclaim other people have mentioned that!
Its just so horrible i cant stop scratching since i saw them, paranoid!!!
thanks again.

[farthing]

Yes, I know what you mean, it was the only time I regretted buying this house, but it soon passed.
I have a good barometer, Bruno, one of my dogs is allergic to flea bites, so we know very quickly if we have a problem.

[kado]

I posted on here about frontline a few days ago. It will become pointless putting it on if your cat weighs more than 6.5kgs it says on the packet 7.5kgs and frontline advised me of that and told me to use the spray instead. I have 5 cats one at 7.8kg and one at 9kgs.

jane

[farthing]

advocate also does fleas, but not ticks, and comes in 2 sizes, large and small.

[angieh]

Mags took Cassie to the vet this last week - see

http://www.catsey.com/showthread.php?t=28526

It would seem that Frontline is becoming less effective at getting rid of fleas. Mags' vet prescribed Advocate. Don't know if this also is ineffective with a larger animal.

I have also been troubled with fleas this year - I haven't found any on Merlin, they just seem to bite me! It does make you think there's something on you even when there isn't!

[kado]

Ive been bit a couple of times since being in the new house. They all have been treated but they are coming back. My landlord is taking a downstairs toliet out soon and replacing it so i realy dont want to spray the house yet, Also he used to have a cat and i know of at least another cat used to come in who doesnt get flead all the time.

jane

[Grete]

I can't recommend Program enough for fleas. Comes either as a monthly tablet or a 6 monthly injection. The way it works is the flea bites the cat, gets the program into it's system then any eggs it then lays can't hatch as it's now missing chitin. It's not a quick cure but used in conjunction with spraying/spot on treatments, once they are gone, they stay gone.

I was thinking on the ear scratching - could they have picked up ear mites? Especially if they've been in a cattery.

Hope you get it sorted anyway, fleas really suck! (no pun intended!).

[Mags]

As Angie has said, my vet said there has been a lot of feedback about Frontline spot on being less effective these days .....maybe the common flea is turning into some type of super-flea!:)

Cassie was prescribed Advocate spot on .......it comes in two sizes, cats up to 4kg and cats 4 - 8kg. Cats above 8kg can have the appropriate combination of pipettes as advised by the vet. It also treats for roundworm etc at the same time........ and is used for the treatment of ear mite infestation.

Hope you get it sorted anyway.

[sgw1988]

I can't recommend Program enough for fleas. Comes either as a monthly tablet or a 6 monthly injection.
where do you get this from? they are at the vet tomorrow so i will see if she reccommends anything else.
i saw the other threads about frontline but they are quite small just kittens so i dont think its because they are too heavy!
today is gonna be clean clean clean.....

[angieh]

It could be that because the flea reproduces so quickly, that they have adapted to to the active ingredient in Frontline and are becoming immune - guess that happens with all pesticides eventually. They're survivors genetically speaking. I wish they wouldn't survive in my house and I bet you wish the same!

Please let us know what your vet recommends sgw1988.

[sgw1988]

i will do!
so i just combed them through and only one flea came out??? i managed to do one better than the other because she seemed to like it but surely there should be more than 1?

[sgw1988]

some one mentioned ear mites, how different would they look to fleas could i tell the difference?

[Grete]

I think the mites can *just* about be seen by the naked eye but they don't look like fleas. What you would see is the droppings/irritation etc inside the ear. Just mention it to your vet and they can easily check with their ear scope thingy. I seem to remember when Fizz had them, one of the flea spot ons that was also a wormer, treated ear mites as well.

The program tablets/injection would also be given by your vet so they are the best people to advise anyway :)

Hope you get it sorted :)

[sgw1988]

just dropped them off for their op :( didnt want to leave my babies :(
vet said she will give them a full check up so if they do have anything she'll hopefuly fine the little ******s!!!

[dandysmom]

Do let us know what the vet said!

[sgw1988]

picked them up from the vet op went fine! one with a collar on and one not.
vet said they couldnt see any fleas, mites etc :S
i dont understand, maybe the frontline is just killing them off??? bought indorex done the whole flat so fingers crossed!!

[sgw1988]

found a few since they have been home :( :(