Flea problem.

[dinky]

My cats have fleas. Not a lot of them, but being white, it's easy to see them. I Frontline Plus them every 6 weeks religiously, but it's only been 4 weeks and I found 2 very much alive fleas on Freddie this morning..Flea bombing the house is not an option as it is not safe for the bird. I was thinking of trying Revolution, a monthly treatment. Does anybody use this? My vet has recommended it.The cats are brushed and flea combed every day and I've found no more fleas but think I may need to switch from Frontline. Can anyone recommend anything other than Revolution?

[PoshPuss]

Hi Dinky, having an insomniac moment here so came on to see if anyone around. I use Advantage every month on my two and its successful, hope you find your monthly one does the job. x

[dinky]

Thanks PoshPuss, OK I'll try Advantage on my guys for a few months, vacuum madly every day ,wash all their bedding in hot water at the laundrymat weekly, which I do anyway, and see if that works. Christchurch is having a terrible problem with fleas, according to my vet, because of all the damaged homes and liquifaction problems. Hope your insomniac moment has now passed and you are back in bed, all snuggled up with a couple of kitties to keep you warm.

[Tink]

We use Revolution over here and have always been impressed with the results. Good luck! :D

[angieh]

In many areas of UK, it seems that fleas (little b*****s) have become immune to Frontline and have been so for several years now. I don't know anything about Revolution, perhaps not available here. As PP says, Advantage works well - I use it for Pip and the dogs and Kizzy has Advocate (it could be the other way round, need to check).

Sounds as if you are getting on top of it - good luck, hate fleas.

[fecto's mum]

We use Frontline and I've noticed it doesn't last as long. We have had a flea problem recently for the first time in years. Next time will try Advantage. Hope you got back to sleep PP, go get 'em Dinky, the jumpy little sods!

[dinky]

Thanks everyone for your help. I'm going to go with Advantage this time and then switch to Revolution next time. I think my NZ fleas are building up a resistance to Frontline.As I can't flea bomb the house, I'll have my old vacuum cleaner working overtime for quite a while, but mark my words, I WILL get rid of these blood suckers, or die trying. Never had this problem before.

[Feliss]

Use advantage here atm and not had a problem. Flea treatments won't stop a cat from picking up fleas, so maybe you've just seen them before they've had a chance to be "treated"?

[angieh]

I can recommend Acclaim as a household spray that works - not safe perhaps if you have a bird too, but maybe you could isolate the bird in a room not to be sprayed and spray the rest of the house?

My vet no longer sells Frontline but it really does seem to be a regional thing. I suppose fleas start to develop immunity and those that are immune continue to breed.

[dinky]

Thanks angieh for letting me know about Acclaim. Unfortunately, it isn't available here.I can't flea bomb as the stuff remains in the carpet for one year and Damon Bird plays on the carpet. I will get rid of the carpet anyway as it has been damaged by liquifaction and floods. Just waiting for EQC structural engineers to assess the house before we get out of it in August.Anyway, I do appreciate your help.

[Velvet]

Advocate best on the market x

[timber-]

I've used dawn dish soap to get fleas off a past foster dog, it worked really well. I was reading that for a cat, that won't let you bathe it, you can use the dish soap with a flea comb to brush them out.

[dinky]

Timber, I've heard of Dawn dish soap before ,but unfortunately, i can't get it here in NZ. Anyway, I've got rid of the bloodsuckers for the time being . I'm now using Advantage every 4 weeks and I used a mix of salt and baking soda on the carpet and vacuumed it up. My persian boy is bathed and groomed by a cat groomer every 3 months, so I'll get her to check him out then. I'll get one of the kittens bathed and groomed at the same time because he was the only one i found live fleas on and he has the longest fur. I do appreciate your help Timber, and if Dawn ever becomes available here, I'll grab some.

[fecto's mum]

Further to Timber's mention of Dawn, I remember doing the same thing with Fairy Liquid. Perhaps any washing up liquid works.