Cat fleas

The vet can supply a liquid flea killer to be rubbed in if the cat will tolerate it. Although I use Frontline spot-on monthly, one of mine once came home from a week-long absence with large fleas lined up around her ears, which I had to pick off with a tick remover. For the house the best option may be room fogger/bombs, to be done an area at a time, moving around the house.
I shall never forget as a child coming home from holiday to find my faux fur bedside rug absolutely jumping with cat fleas! My vet neighbour says a poorly or elderly cat has less resistance which could lead to infestation despite preventative measures.
Good luck!

medic - nightmare isn't it.

We use spot on but also buy a flea-collar to wear all the time. We attach bells to the collar to try to give mice and baby birds some warning. The small wildlife round here are all deaf.

shysal; what are fogger/bombs? My dog had fleas this summer for the first time I can recall. I had got a bit slack with the Frontline as she very rarely comes into contact with other dogs and we no longer have cats. I don't think she'd had them for long as I noticed a few lumps on her head and I was worried that she'd got another kind of tumour [she had some benign ones the other year]; was horrified to realise she'd got visitors. Sprayed the rooms and the furniture but only with stuff bought from a pet shop, really needed something from a vet. I won't be so complacent again. My daughters cat has an injection when he has his annual check up that kills them [I'm sure she's not getting it mixed up with an injection for worms]. It really is horrible, isn't it [and embarrassing ]. The joys of owning pets .

The embarrassing thing if my cat gets fleas is - I don't react if I get bitten,as I suppose I do.
Which means that I only know about it when someone else, a visitor, gets a bite.....

Frontline Combo is good and you can get one that ensures fleas are obliterated throughout their cycle so any eggs laid in your house don't hatch.

My DiLs cats get an injection every six months for fleas.

Just had my son and his spaniels here for lunch and they were only treated for fleas yesterday after evidence earlier in the week. I can't stop scratching.

Frontline on back of neck has always worked for our Moggies. Its been a joy to be flea free for years...can remember the days before frontline....on hands and knees hoovering the blighters up!

Last year, on our return from holiday we found my DS and DiL's house infested with cat fleas. My DiL rushed down to catch the pet shop before it closed and came back with 'bombs' to set off in each room. We had to sit outside for a couple of hours but it was a pleasant afternoon!
Alie, I didn't leave your house with flea bites so you're off that hook.

That's good.
What I do is replace her flea collar rather more often than they say!

We used to use a spray called Nuvan Top [sp] on the cats. I'm sure it's a banned substance now [for once I'm not going to google it because I don't want to know] but holding a struggling cat at arms length whilst trying to spray it [and attempting not to breathe at the same time] was a nihhtmare. I suppose in the past houses didn't have carpets and they were much colder so there wouldn't have been such a problem. Given that I've got moths in my clothes, fleas on my dog and rats in my compost bin I feel as if I'm under siege.....[although I am using various things to fight back]

I can go one better, Tegan, having found a large slug in my kitchen a couple of weeks ago. No idea how it can possibly have got there.

You're right, Nuvan top is banned Tegan. I don't know why but I'm sure it was something pretty toxic - to us as well as the fleas. It worked a treat though didn't it?

I think in the past dogs and cats lived outside, so it wasn't such a problem. Except for those belonging to the aristocracy and my mum always said they were a mucky lot anyway.

Hope we haven't got any aristocratic gransnetters

That's just made me think of what you said on another thread kitty about your mother being Hyacinth Bucket. I think my mum was Hyacinth Bucket in reverse if that makes sense. She was very suspicious of anyone with middle class leanings or above

flea bomb/fogger . I avoid Bob Martin products which I feel are not powerful enough.

I'm wary of insecticides myself. I had a breast cancer in my 40s. We all search for reasons I know. But I did wonder whether using flea powder (for the dogs) containing lindane was one of the factors.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindane
Looking back I wonder why I put that powerful nit killer on my kid's scalps, which also contained organochlorides.
Hoovering carpets and furniture very enthusiastically and regularly, and boiling or changing any pet bedding should break the life cycle of fleas - the eggs and larval stages develop in such places and not on the animal.

I have just googled Nuvan Top to find it contained organophosphates. I am now wondering if that's what caused my dog to suffer liver failure and die at the age of 5. I agree with Jess that these products could be very dangerous and we should be careful about their use.

We have just had our workplace de-flead. I am wondering what they used and whether it's safe to go back.

Probably someone you might call my closest friend has a baby snake problem. Our view is that her cat is bringing them in. But we don't really know. After the first four and a break of four days she thought that was it.

Three baby snakes later. Maybe there are more as I haven't spoken to her for almost 36 hours.

These are baby versions of a harmless (unless you are a slug, snail, puppy dog's tail or a small rodent) snake that can grow to over a metre long.

Meant to add that the snakes, although sound horrid, are not the problem that fleas are.

not slow worms? Grass snakes? They may be drawn by the warmth. Not really a problem unless you step on them (I bet they are a protected species), or are snake phobic, is it? Lovely creatures - catch them an put them near the compost.
I once found some squashed lizards under a carpet. I think they crawled in via the air brick.

My DS's cat, when young, frequently brought in grass snakes and DS put them back into the woodland over the fence. He could never be sure if it was the same snake that she kept bringing back or if she had found a nest of them.

I`d be thrilled with the snakes! We always knew if our animals had fleas, I was the only human who got bitten! But now we know about Frontline, we`ve had no trouble.........touch wood!

This year is the year of the CAT FLEA,
The new MAY FLEA is at present all over the country and infects cats from long grass, flower beds and bushes.
WHAT YOU NEED TO DO......
1: Get the strongest spot on Flea treatment from your Vet and apply at the back of the cats neck.
2: Vacuum everywhere, carpet and rugs both on top and underneath.
3: Vacuum all floors taking special care with skirting boards, move all furniture and vacuum underneath. Laminate and wood floors vacuum between the joints. Vacuum stair carpets and bedrooms, beneath all beds and skirting boards. Wash all cats bedding and your bedding at 60 degrees temp in your washing machine.
4: BUY 500 ml cans of INDOREX. vets charge £20 per can but
www. medicalanimal web site has the same for about £10. Spray all cats baskets, floors, skirting boards, carpets on top and underneath, beneath beds and all other furniture.
5: Throw away all cat brushes and buy new ones, one for each cat and mark them with their names.
6: Buy a Firminator and stroke you cats fur gently to remove all loose hair and clumps of hair. Flees hide in hair clumps especially around their rear, tail areas and back legs.
7: Buy a fine cat flee comb with a handle and twice daily comb every inch of the cats body in every direction. Do this twice daily.
I have gone through this procedure for the past week and it works.
every time I touched one of my cats she started biting her front paws aggressively. when I checked for flees she was riddled with them and she is a house cat. I know this sounds severe but it's the only way to get rid of the flees.

Terry

How can you spray underneath fitted carpets to get rid of fleas ?

Just keep vacuuming. I agree the above advice a bit excessive - named brushes for each of your cats??!! There are starving children in the world!
Adult fleas live on animals and don't sit around on brushes. If they are off the animal they will be either laying eggs in "bedding" - beds, carpets, sofas etc or trying to hop on a passing animal.