FLEAS!

[XCashier]

I own two cats, both 15 years old, long-haired, indoor cats. They don't go outside, haven't been outside since kittenhood (except in travel carriers) and have never had a problem with fleas until we moved here.

Today I was petting the white cat and noticed something moving around in her neck fur. Sure enough, she had fleas. Combed her fur with her protesting all the way, and I think I got all of the nasty little bastards. Checked the grey cat, and he had them, too. Combed him (he's much better, just sat there and purred), got as many as I could find out.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to what to use? What else do I need to do to eradicate them? We also have a five-year-old boy, so we need to get something that's safe to use with him around. In all my years of pet ownership, I have never had a problem with fleas, so I appreciate any help I can get. Thank you!

[flybye023]

Frontline. My cat is a flea-magnet. Nothing we used worked until Frontline. It starts working within hours and in about 2-3 days...problem gone! It lasts about 3 months too so you aren't constantly having to stay on top of the problem. Only thing is that you have to go to a vet to buy it and it's a bit pricey. In my area the vets charge about $75 for six doses but it is well worth it IMO.

Oh, and you don't actually have to take your cats in for a diagnosis or anything either. The two offices I've been to just asked some general questions about my kitty (age, size, weight) and then gave me the treatments.

[Amethyst Hunter]

If you can deal with the mess and stress...first off I recommend a good flea shampoo. I wish I could remember the name of it, but there's a good brand that comes in a blue bottle (runs about $9 - 16 depending on the .oz size); you can buy it at places like PetCo or PetSmart. I used to use that when I worked as a dog-washer and would get the occasional dog with fleas. That stuff killed the little bastards (the fleas, that is) dead-on.

I haven't had any experiences with Frontline so I can't say anything about that, but I'd say it's worth a try, especially as a future preventative. The shampoo, best as I can remember, is supposed to leave behind flea-killing agents on the pet's skin/coat, but I think it's really more of an immediate solution-type-of-deal.

[iradney]

Frontline is definitely the way forward.
The house we lived in before this one had a horrible flea infestation in the garden, that the landladies didn't tell us about.
So we put the doggie in the garden while we unpack, and then let him back in as we go to bed. For a few hours, we're trying to sleep and he's pacing and whining. I take him into the bathroom, and check his tummy - and it is literally BLACK with fleas. I'm talking dozens and dozens of fleas strolling around his belly - no wonder he was uncomfortable!
The next day (we don't have 24 hour stores here :( ) I got the following:
Flea dip
Flea collar
Flea powder
Flea comb
Frontline
Bug Bombs

Dunked in him flea dip, powdered his bedding and all the carpets, put the frontline on, combed his fur till he looked like a puffball, and phoned the landladies and shat them out from a dizzy height. They would've known about the flea infestation since they had tidied up the garden before we moved in, and didn't do anything about it. That very same day, exterminators were sent to spray the garden, and we bugbombed the house.

He got the flea collar on about a week after all the dipping and such like, otherwise it'd be overkill.

So yeah, frontline works, but if you need a more immediate solution, you can use flea shampoo and combs. I personally gain alot of satisfaction out of drowning the buggers :D

[Geek King]

A lot of the over-the-counter stuff isn't stong enough. Talk to a vet office if you need to. My kitty got fleas after I moved into a new place (we had to move fast, the company didn't have time to do a full deep carpet shampoo), so I consulted the vet and got some stuff that gets applied in three treatments every 30 days. It will kill all the fleas in the house if your cat has roaming rights to all the rooms. Worked great for me, no fleas in the year since.

Oh, and be glad it was on the white cat. Mine's all black (think classic halloween cat), and it took forever to figure out what the problem was (although I had an idea).

[Shabo]

Definitely make sure you not only de-flea your cat, but that you also de-flea your house. If at all possible on the budget, a great way to get rid of everything all at once is to bring your cat into a groomers for the day, flea bomb the house, then take the day off to go to a park or zoo or the beach or *long activity that will allow the flea bomb to work without killing you*. But that does cost extra money.

*Edit* Oh, and make sure you tell the groomer that your cat needs flea treatment. They'll know what to do.

[Tanasi]

Assuming you don't keep the kid indoors all the time perhaps a good flea dip and collar for him. :roll:

[Amethyst Hunter]

Unbeknownst to us, they brought their elderly Cocker Spaniel with them for the visit. Not only was this dog mean as all hell,



I LOATHE cocker spaniels. Most batshit insane dogs ever to walk the earth. I have NEVER met one that wasn't messed-up in the head in some way, and it didn't necessarily have to be because of owner mistreatment. Plus, I just think they're plain ugly.

[blas]

My redneck cousin decided that a cocker spaniel would be a PERFECT duck hunting dog.

I am a huge animal person, and it broke my heart that my idiot inbred sorry excuse for blood relative got ANRGY with the dog when it turned out to not be a good duck hunting dog.

I swear we aren't related.

I've never had a problem with any type of dog other than a pitbull that tried to attack me.

[NightAngel]

I didn't read all the replies so sorry if this has been posted:

Advantage from the vet is amazing stuff. The treatments you get from the store ARE NOT as powerful. It works- period. I just don't let my son pet the dog for awhile after putting it on.

If you can find it use dry Pennyroyal tea in your pets bedding. It is part of the mint family so it smells very good and fleas don't like it for some reason. I have even sprinkled it in my carpets and left it for a couple of days. If your kids eat it, well, it's mint- who cares? :lol:

[XCashier]

I LOATHE cocker spaniels. Most batshit insane dogs ever to walk the earth.
I had a half-Cocker Spaniel/half Chihuahua dog. She was the friendliest, best-mannered, most wonderful dog ever, and quite pretty, too. Perhaps the cockers where you live are extremely inbred; some less-than-scrupulus breeders will do that.

Okay, I've bathed both cats with flea shampoo, combed them again and again, shampooed the carpets and sent Hubby out to get some Frontline. I'll try the pennyroyal when the carpets are dry. I hope and pray that's enough. The cats were not thick with fleas, only a few here and there, so I'm hoping I stopped the infestation as it was starting. Thanks to everyone for their advice. I've never had to deal with fleas before and this just freaked me out.

[Primer]

If you can deal with the mess and stress...first off I recommend a good flea shampoo. I wish I could remember the name of it, but there's a good brand that comes in a blue bottle (runs about $9 - 16 depending on the .oz size); you can buy it at places like PetCo or PetSmart. I used to use that when I worked as a dog-washer and would get the occasional dog with fleas. That stuff killed the little bastards (the fleas, that is) dead-on.

I haven't had any experiences with Frontline so I can't say anything about that, but I'd say it's worth a try, especially as a future preventative. The shampoo, best as I can remember, is supposed to leave behind flea-killing agents on the pet's skin/coat, but I think it's really more of an immediate solution-type-of-deal.

The stuff in the blue bottle sounds like Adam's, which is a good mild short-term treatment. I prefer Frontline Plus, which also works against ticks, except for one dog who is sensitive to it, so I use Advantix on her. Dog.com is a relatively inexpensive source. The stuff that you can get in the grocery/department stores does not work. I take that back...the shampoos are good for a few days, but then so is any human baby shampoo. As for flea collars, the only one I ever had any luck with was Dursban from the vet, but I've not seen those in a long time, so I don't know if they are still available.

Good luck!

[RecoveringKinkoid]

diatomaceous earth is a non-toxic pesticide you can use in your carpet and upholstery, if you have them in your house. You can get it from the hardware store, or you can pay someone a lot of money to spread it around.

I'd do it myself, if I were you. It's safe when it's settled, but don't breathe the dust. Wear breathing protection and let it settle. Leave it for about a week or so.

[Crazeyal]

Yeah.. getting the house flea clean is REAL important. When YOU start scratching, it's bad!

[Tanasi]

My redneck cousin decided that a cocker spaniel would be a PERFECT duck hunting dog.

I am a huge animal person, and it broke my heart that my idiot inbred sorry excuse for blood relative got ANRGY with the dog when it turned out to not be a good duck hunting dog.

I swear we aren't related.

I've never had a problem with any type of dog other than a pitbull that tried to attack me.

Cockers were originally bread for hunting as bird dogs not water retrievers. Believe it or not standard poodles were bread for hunting, I have a friend that is searching for one that has parents from a hunting background. Could you imagine a show cut standard sized poodle pointing birds. I would figure the other dogs would make fun of it.

[Phoenix79]

I use Frontline or Advantage, whichever I can get from my vet at the time.

Whatever you do - DO NOT USE OVER THE COUNTER MONTHLY TREATMENTS!!!!.

I can't say that enough, we tried some made by Hartz on my dog a long time back, and it gave him chemical burns all over his back.

The price for the Frontline/Advantage is well worth it, trust me!

Phoenix