Persistent fleas help!!!?
Hi,
I've had a problem with fleas inmy house for a while now. I have two 6 month old kittens and at first I didn't even notice they had fleas because I didn't know the 'black dirt' was actually flea droppings! They must have caught fleas during the hot weather throughout june and july so I'm guessing they've had them for about 4 months now. my friend noticed they had fleas around july so I deflead them and continued to do so next month, however I went on holiday in august and my friend who was looking after the kittens said they definitely still had the fleas. on my return I took them to the vets who gave me front line combo which I used a few weeks ago. I also thoroughly hoovered and sprayed everywhere with the best cat firendly house hold flea spray I could find.
Over the past few weeks I've been hoovering everwhere daily, spraying with flea spree things the kittens touch on a daily basis and also washing on 60 degrees cushion coveres, the kittens bedding and any soft furnishings I can. I have banished the kittens from my bedroom and thouroughly sprayed with flea spray. I also groom each kitten with a flea comb daily. on one kitten I'm finding almost nothing (i.e no fleas maybe 1 or 2 droppings however on the longer haired kitten I'm finding lots of droppings which means there are still fleas somewhere in my home jumping on her and feeding on her during the day and then pooping all over her 
I also found 2 fleas on her yesterday.
There seem to be less droppings on her than a few weeks ago but the front line combo doesnt kill the fleas just stops them breeding which is why theres less fleas, however i want to now kill whats left but i would have thought spraying flea spray and hoovering and washing everything would have done it by now. I'm taking long haired kitty to the vets today as she needs to be booked in for spaying but I'm thinking while shes in she could be shaved as this would help stop the fleas going on her as they seem to favour her longer fur as opposed to my boy kittens short sleek burmese coat.
Anyway, any advice would be much appreciated the vet told me to put moth balls in the hoover bag but ive got a bagless hoover and ive read that the heat from the hoover can make the toxic stuff from the moth balls come out and is dangerous to the kittens. Do i just need to be persistent and continue hoovering every nook and cranny and front line cobo -ing each kitten every month? Or do i need to get a pro in. how about flea bombs? I havnt tried them yet but I want to use a method that doesnt have to innvolve keeping the kittens out of the house for 24 hours or something as they dont go outside on their own yet, only went out in the warm weather a bit supervised which is probably how they brought fleas in the first place. that said I must need to treat the area outside the house too yes? Can i just use my normal flea spray?
I would continue with the daily clean up, also try this:
Fill a deep bucket with warm water add some shampoo gently stir in then take each kitten in turn and VERY slowly lower the kitten rear feet first into the water….the idea being that the fleas will seek out drier areas of fur and as you continue to lower the kitten they will flee toward the kittens nose… do not drown the kitten. as the fleas emerge they will be caught in the soapy water which will disable their jumping ability and they will die by drowning…. do this outdoors to prevent any escapees from breeding once more within your house….(It's something we did many years ago when we could not afford vet fees)
Good luck.
Flea bombs!
I've used to mortein ones, I had fleas in my carpet so bad just walking over it would make about six fleas jump on you.
so flea bomb the house THOROUGHLY one can per room and get your kittens collars or I think Front-line also make a pump spray that can be used on kittens from just a few days or weeks old – (its what we use on our puppy).
WARNING: do not leave any pets/children/the elderly in the house when flea bombing it's very poisonus stuff to breath untill the vapour settles.
I don't think vacuuming will do any good because I don't think you'll get all the flea/eggs.
You can also get powders and sprays that will work well but i personally prefer the bombs because if you do the whole house i think the stuff gets in every nook and crany and you know that you haven't missed a spot. plus it will knock down other house hold pests like cockroachs spider and stuff.
I'm sure you know that the most important thing is just making sure that you do the kittens and the house at the same time.
It sounds like you have such a persistent problem that you should call a professional exterminator. This is beyond what you can handle. Tell him that you are using Frontline so he doesn't use an products that can react to it.
You will need to use Frontline on your cats once a month, every month to avoid having problems in the future. It's totally worth it to avoid problems like this, and really effective.
I wouldn't want to use mothballs, either. My vet said just to vacuum and then throw the bags into the trash immediately so the fleas can't come back out into your house. but once you've had an exterminator in, it won't be an issue
I wish you the best and hope that your home and kitties are flea free soon!
I treated my cats with Frontline twice in the summer and it did not get rid of them. I then was advised by my Vet to use Stronghold and that did the job. I think Frontline has become ineffective as the fleas have got used to it.
It sounds like you are already taking good advice and are doing most of the recommended steps.
Frontline is the best way to treat your pet and flea spray for the house is also very good.
What I would recommend is for you to get the flea spray from the vets, normally they have 2 different strengths, one mild and one other stronger variety which may require the cats to be out of the house (or certain parts of the house via isolating to another room). if the mild one is not working as expected then try the stronger variety and follow the instructions very carefully, ensuring that every possible place is thoroughly covered and contiune with your strict washing regime.
In addition you may want to consider others ways the fleas can get in, perhaps you have a cat flap fitted, or leave doors / windows open, you should definitely put a stop to this if it is the case.
Also make sure the cats do not leave the house until this problem is completely resolved.
Hopefully this type of lock-down method, combined with stronger sprays may lead to a solution, if not then your only option is to get the place fumigated. unfortunately it is vital that you get this resolved soon as cats have a tendency to start biting themselves which is an even more difficult problem to deal – as I have found out recently!
Good luck with this.
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