UKC

Had fleas here for ages. Cat is much better since I found a flea comb and he realises he likes coming indoors for a combing, but seems an endless supply of them in the house. Think I am at end of 3rd can of house catflea killer in past fortnight (different brands) but they just seem unbeatable.
Any ideas? Ta

In reply to squarepeg:
Get a pro in to fumigate, failing that throw away all your soft furnishings and carpets

In reply to squarepeg:

napalm?

Failing that maybe use Frontline to fleaproof the moggy and just wait for the fleas to kill themselves by biting the cat?

In reply to squarepeg:

Have you treated the cat and any other animals, what with? What household sprays have you tried? Did you follow the instructions (e.g. hoover 1st, 13 secs spray per metre square of carpet)?
If you have done all that properly then as above, you might need the professionals.
We've had a problem with fleas this year and had to upgrade the treatment we use on the cats and dogs. I hate fleas.

In reply to squarepeg:
Flea infestation takes a long time to get on top of. The pupae are resistant to most chemicals and usually a three to four month period is needed before a house is clear, as you have to wait to kill the pupae as they emerge. Each flea on the cat represents many more in the environment. These will get onto the cat and be seen – even if they subsequently die.

1. Treat all pets with a veterinary adulticide (talk to your vet about a fast product that prevents eggs being laid before flea death)
2. Treat the house with a mixture of an adulticide (usually a pyrethroid) and an insect growth regulator now and in 4-6 weeks depending on the product. Hoover before the spray is applied as this may help with emergence.
3. Consider giving the cat an insect growth regulator as an additional therapy (again talk to your vet)

If things are bad, commercial treatments can be very helpful, but to prevent the situation continuous veterinary treatment is needed or the house will become infested again very quickly.

Hope this helps. Get a flea and look at it under the microscope - they are amazing!

In reply to squarepeg:

We bought a second hand sofa. A week later I had 300 bites. (I have some awful pics to prove this but wont post them). We tried every over the counter treatment available but nothing touched them. We then got local pest guy in and house needed two sprays but worked a treat. Best money I ever spent!

In reply to squarepeg:

My dog had fleas last year.
The first thing to do, is to read up on the 'flea cycle'. Once you know how that works, the easier it will be for you to know how to deal with the problem.
Next, get the cat on a proper flea program and keep doing it.
That's the easy bit...
Wash everything that the cat has been in contact with that you possibly can and even better, dry all those items in a tumble dryer.
Ideally, do not return those items to the house until you've done the next stage and if you do, seal them in bin liners, etc.
Hoover everything you possibly can, especially towards ground level and where the cat has access to. Empty the hoover as soon as possible.
Now you're ready for Insect Armageddon.
Spray anything that is remotely textile and don't spare the spray! Sprinkle powder in the bottom of cupboards, along the skirting boards and under the bed, etc. Please note, cats and dogs have different fleas and different insecticides accordingly. I know the stuff for dogs is poisonous to cats, not sure if the cat stuff is poisonous to other pets, etc. (think fish will need to be removed during the spraying process).
At the end of my de-fleaing process, there was dead insects everywhere and the place smelt like an industrial plant. Think they must have left their various cubby holes in a vain attempt to escape...
Good luck!

In reply to squarepeg:
We have had 5 cats over nearly forty years and had very little problem with fleas. The worst was a cat who lived mostly outside and roamed quite wide but Spot On usually kept her clean. Out last three have had no flea issues (Coincidentally since we moved to Scotland!) but are more house based than than the other two. I think a lot depends on the company they keep outside.

In reply to squarepeg:

We don't have a cat but many years ago on return from holiday found we had inadvertently locked in neighbour's cat (he'd fed it through letterbox). Some weeks later we found we were getting bites and this became steadily worse with many fleas jumping around in our baby's cot. Sprayed carpet etc but not clear for several weeks.
We were told it would have been better if we'd had our own cat as the fleas would jump on it in preference to humans (they will eventually die and not reproduce without cats of course).
Logically it would seem that it would be best to confine your cat to the house for some weeks, treat it with something so any fleas on it are killed but not repelled so it "sweeps" them up, and to spray carpets. After some weeks and when there are no fleas/bites let the cat out and treat it with repellent as well as insecticide, if such chemicals exist.

In reply to squarepeg:

As others have said, you have an uphill battle.

Treat the cat and any other animals regularly.
Wash and treat anywhere where it sleeps.
Hoover all carpets very regularly.
Treat hard to get to places in particular.

Do all this religiously for a few months. The idea is to kill the young before they breed. If you miss a week you could be back to square one. We've been through this mill a couple of times. On the plus side you'll be spider free for a while too.

In reply to squarepeg:
On thing that maybe obvious to you but nobody's mentioned it is limit the areas in the house your cat can get to, particularly bedrooms and places she might like to sleep. If they have free rein to roam the house you're just making the job of de-fleaing harder for yourself!

We've had one bad flea episode with our previous cat and it took weeks/months to deal with, since then we've made sure we treat our cats regularly with Spot On and we've not had any problems. Prevention is the key!

In reply to squarepeg:

We found with our dogs that the likes of Frontline no longer work. We now use Program (available for cats too), which stops the fleas reproducing. You also need to spray the whole house with something like Indorex which kills them, and in theory keep killing fleas for a year. When we got an infestation it took two sprays a week or two apart to kill them all. Not had a problem since.

In reply to squarepeg:

One otehr thing that I don;t think has been mentioned - Last time this happened to me (a few years back now) the Vet's were able to sell me a household spray that they said was stronger / more effective than the over-the-counter ones. Worth checking.

In reply to Phil Anderson:


Exactly the same here.
We have tried the over the counter stuff and the fleas done seem bothered.
The gear from the vets nukes them a treat though.

In reply to squarepeg:

Ta for the replies, looks like I need to get busy hoovering then spraying! Finding very few fleas on the cat now when I comb him, they seem to be in the house already. Probably why he hardly comes in now, in the warm weather, he glares at the carpet and is afraid to touch it.

In reply to squarepeg:

>he glares at the carpet and is afraid to touch it.

It took a few years before our cat would walk on the carpet again.
Being as he was an indoor cat (that someone let out hence the fleas) it was very amusing watching him jump from sofa to chair to TV to sideboard to move round the house.
It got to the point where I has to move stuff so he couldn't jump and had to walk on the carpet before he was satisfied it was safe again.

In reply to squarepeg:

Bought some "Jungle formula" insect repellant from Sainsburys, containing DEET, that seems to be more effective, though early days yet.

In reply to squarepeg:

Not going to spray it on the cat are you? It's toxic.

In reply to squarepeg:

not to mention it melts man made fibres.

In reply to squarepeg:


Have you thought about swapping the cat for one with less fleas?

In reply to beth:

Nope

In reply to balmybaldwin:

Not melted owt so far.

In reply to squarepeg:

keep it well away from ropes especially

In reply to squarepeg:

Fumigate the house.

Shave and varnish the cat.

In reply to shaymarriott:

Shaving 'tiddles' would indeed be a distraction from the fleas.

In reply to squarepeg:

its a bit of work, but not as difficult as some seem to suggest. but basically follow what many have said. a decent spot on flea treatment (make sure you part the hair and get it on the skin!!) (i use "broadline") seems to do the job, but be aware it cant be used in conjunction with certain wormers. and use a spray for the household, pretty much the best one is Indorex (do not use while any animals, including fish, are in the room). just Read and Follow the instructions on both carefully and you should be able to get the problem sorted!

I've worked with animals for several years, and have a rescue cat myself who is extrememly sensitive to flea bites etc. (as well as others who arent and roam around the local farmland) so need to be very vigilant with keeping the house flea-free!

hope this is useful.

Pete